saharienne

[uppercase]

I think that you designed a great looking shirt jacket. Lots of interesting details and it certainly presents itself as a bespoke work, something from another period altogether.
I like the bold, exaggerated details such as the pocket flaps, etc.

Yes, liberate the back vents.

Nice touch with the ascot!

I wonder if you can also wear it open, with a shirt underneath, for a more casual, less studied look. It's going to require some thought on when to wear it and with what trousers, etc.

For me, I'd like to wear it on vacation, around the seaside in the day with contrasting linen trousers or maybe on a Summer's night , casually thrown over the shoulders, for alfresco dining. Or maybe for traveling as well.

I think that you have got to be OK to get it wrinkled up and dirtied up a bit as well to get the newness out of it.

Great job.

[Costi]

Thank you all, on my shirtmaker’s behalf, for the compliments.
It was not an easy one-shot. Besides all the time we took to discuss what can (and cannot) be done before I bought the linen and brought it to my shirtmaker, it took 3 fittings. It is a difficult piece of garment to work because a shirtmaker cannot follow the usual shirt pattern - this Saharienne, with its pleated and belted back, revers and collar hangs quite differently. Then, to achieve a good fit (which I think she managed quite well) WITHOUT any allowances (because all seams are closed as on a normal shirt), one has to cut the garment loosely (based on body measurements) and then define the fit directly on the body, during successive fitting sessions (shirt length, sleeve position, sleeve length, belt position, buttoning points etc.). On the last fitting, before closing the side seams, the shirtmaker kept me in her workshop for 2 hours, during which she machine-basted and then unstitched the thing 3 times successively before we both agreed that the fit was good in all areas (chest, waist, hips). If you make a mistake, there is no way back (much easier for tailors in this respect).
I did have a lot of styling input, but my shirtmaker did a great job at filling in with all the appropriate styling and constructions details that I couldn’t possibly have specified myself.
Clasp and buttons are plastic, because I was unable to find horn. Perhaps I’ll change them if and when I get a chance to find horn.
As for the back pleats - yes, they’d probably look better free at the hem. The fact is that my shirtmaker finished the thing just before going on holiday and, after all the work she had done and as everything else was fine, I didn’t want to shadow her satisfaction with an immediate alteration. I’ll have enough time to ask for it later, when she’ll probably see it with different eyes, too, and perhaps even agree with me.
The garment is, indeed, rather spectacular, now that I see it on me I have no idea where I’ll wear it, either (because its natural environment is not in my plans yet), but then neither should we wear tweed jackets in the city, should we?
I am glad I am not the only one considering it a sartorial success and I thank you all for your appreciation and suggestions; and last but not least for sparking off my apetite for such a garment (which turns my personal issue of where to wear it into a moral responsibility of the Loungers )

[Costi]

For me, I'd like to wear it on vacation, around the seaside in the day with contrasting linen trousers or maybe on a Summer's night , casually thrown over the shoulders, for alfresco dining. Or maybe for traveling as well.

I think that you have got to be OK to get it wrinkled up and dirtied up a bit as well to get the newness out of it.

It looks just out of the box (although it came out of no box) - when I took the pictures it was freshly ironed and never worn. Time and wear will give it the right patina. I very much agree with your ideas of where and how to wear it.

I wonder if you can also wear it open, with a shirt underneath, for a more casual, less studied look.

I don't know about that - a shirt (after all) over another shirt (don't forget the barrel cuffs and the sleeve vents)?

[Costi]

Costi:

That is absolutely beautiful. I have no idea when I would ever wear one, but, no matter . . . I would still enjoy having one even if only to hang in my closet. It is that beautiful.

As my saharienne sees the light of day quite rarely, I thought I'd post a couple of pictures e-mailed to me by a friend who was with me at a dog show last weekend.



The trousers are linen, loosely woven brown and ivory pied-de-poule.



Unfortunately the dogs are all in their cages, as the picture was taken during a break...

[storeynicholas]

Costi, Did this start out as a suit?
NJS

[Costi]

No, just a shirt and a pair of slacks. Why, does it look orphaned to you?

[storeynicholas]

Costi - no, it doesn't look orphaned but it I was just thinking that it would work nicely as a suit.
NJS

[The Doctor]

I have a few issues: first, can anyone point me to threads or pictures discussing this type of jacket?

Second, why doesn't the search feature ever seem to work, or search the forums (it seems limited to the other sections)?

I can't seem to get the search to work either.

[Costi]

Tip: don't use the Search function listed in the main menu at the very top of the page (Home, Chat, Contribute, Photojournal, Forum, Events, Search, Links). Instead, click on Forum (or any topic or thread) and use the small Search button preceded by a magnifying glass sign in the forum sub-menu (FAQ, Search, Profile, Messages, Log out).