Last Chance to Change My DJ

[manton]

Order will be placed immenently.

Smith Woolens midnight barathea, 71% wool, 29% mohair, 10 ounces. Other option is Smith midnight barathea all wool. 10/11 ounces.

DB Shawl, probably 4x1 -- the button stance can be decided at the fitting. Can do 6x2, 4x2, 4x1 with the fastening at the natural waist, or 4x1 with the fastening lower than the waist. Probably will do the last option.

Midnight or black grosgrain facings (to be decided at fitting, leaning toward blue).

Covered buttons.

Side vents.

Buttonhole on left lapel only.

[alden]

Cher Manton,

All wool Barathea, shawl 4x1, lower than natural waist, no vents, preferably black w black silk facing, covered buttons (though plain black would work nicely on a shawl.) In retrospect, I might have gone with the plain buttons,but mine is as above (as you know.)

Cheers

Michael

[DD MacDonald]

Concur with the all wool, blue if you must, 4x1 (but I have the feeling that I'd end up doing 4x2), a tres moderne touch would be to go with 2x1.

Vents on a shawl colalr jackets always seem out of place - I would have the vents made and closed. Open them if you can't live with them closed rather than the otherway around.

Extra points for black bakelite buttons.

DDM

[Hartline]

Great choice of cloth. It was on my short list when I ordered a new set this month. I ended up using Lessers 12 oz midnight blue barathea all wool. Peaked lapels using midnight blue grosgrain with a medium rib. Ventless. Am now fixated on what type of buttons to use when the time comes.

[radicaldog]

All wool would be more sober (hence better, in my book). I really can't imagine a shawl DJ with vents. Now for a risque idea: how about black facings and black horn buttons?

[Montauk]

I'd highly recommend midnight blue facings. The Duke knew what he was doing. Foof too. Blue DJ with black facings has always seemed showbizzy to me for some reason. (Perhaps a preponderance of them in that slender slice of history when entertainers wearing DJ and color TV overlapped?)

Although my instinct would be for 4x2, 4x1 seems a good option considering your height.

[tazmaniac]

Having seen the Smith all wool barathea IRL (well, at least the swatch) and chosen it for my DJ, I heartily recommend it instead of the mohair. The feel is much nicer and the structure of the barathea much more apparent. The mohair looks more like a twill and much less "deep". Black facings, as the Smith midnight is really close to black.

[David V]

Please rethink the lower fastening 4x1.

One extra hors d'oeuvres and it looks like one has a paunch!

[yachtie]

I'd fasten at the waist. Lower and it'll look bad while seated. If you're getting vents anyway you should set your buttons in concert with that. You're tall and thin too, you don't need any extra height. Good pick on the mohair/wool. (still woulda picked the Tonik though.)

[DFR]

A button hole on a shawl collar looks dreadful. Whilst I can understand the shawl collar per se I would sacrifice the flower to avoid ruining the smooth line of the collar.

[shredder]

I agree with what yachtie et al said about the button stance. Not sure about vents but if you want them, then why not. As for the button hole in the shawl collar, I think it's fine as long as you do not fail to wear a boutonnière; if left empty, I think it would bother me.

[alden]

Here are a couple of illustrations from 1936 showing 4x2 and 4x1.



It is pretty much a toss up as they are so very similar.

My own is 4x1 cut at the natural waist made from Smith’s 13 ozs Barathea all wool in black. And yes, it has a greenish tint under the lights (that many of us love) and it has the advantage of looking dark in the early evenings in natural light.

I truly hope to do an unlined dinner suit in black Brisa someday, but I will need a few recruits to get the cloth made. Would be nice for elegant Summers eves..

Cheers

Michael Alden

PS If we could ever get Etutee signed in, he would have some choice words of counsel as well. NJS, will you be weighing in on this topic of paramount global importance?

[manton]

Justgot swatches:

SW 8810: 310 g (10 ounce) midnight barathea, 71% wool, 29% mohair.
SW 8829: 325 g (11/10 ounce) midnight barathea, all wool.
SW 8832: 390 g (12/13 ounce) midnight barathea, all wool.

The two all wool seem equally dark and inky. The mohair is a touch lighter and it's easier to tell it's blue. At the moment, indoors, none of them look blue, but the mohair does somehow seem lighter. In direct sun, they still look almost black, but better, deeper, richer -- hardly noticably blue at all. I wore my RTW black DJ yesterday and had to go out in direct sunlight it looked like $#!+ by comparison.

The two all wools are very matte, whereas the mohair has a slight sheen. Not nearly as shiney as my mohair suits or other bolts, but certainly moreso than the all wool barathea.

Strangely, the 12/13 seems to have the tighter weave of the two all wools. The 10/11 is more visibly "barathea." They feel about the same thickness but the 12/13 is noticably denser.

The mohair looks the least like a barathea; the honeycomb weave pattern just does not show that clearly to the naked eye. However, you can tell it is not a plain weave. It looks more like a faint twill with the rib about 20 degrees off the vertical.

Funny how many fine but noticable distinctions are possible within such a narrow range. I have a suit from Minnis 0131 which I have always considered "midnight" because it is noticeably darker than my other navy coats/suits, but these midnight formal swatches are noticeably darker than it. The Minnis still looks blue in a way that these don't.

[manton]

Thankfully I have a private etutee batphone, but I agree that he needs to come back.

[DD MacDonald]

I truly hope to do an unlined dinner suit in black Brisa someday, but I will need a few recruits to get the cloth made. Would be nice for elegant Summers eve.

Michael - not sure on this one, much as I love the Brisa cloth, surely a summer's evening calls for an ivory jacket. I attended a gala a few weeks back in the country side of Norther Virginia and about 15% of the gents wore ivory jackets, mostly single breasted, mostly shawl collar.

DDM