Fabric tips for new bespeakers

[alden]

It is often the case that new arrivals to custom clothing make a few classic errors, fall into "traps" as TK recently called them. In TK's case it was a question about using worsted suitings to make a casual jacket.

Suitings are suitings, they are made for suits; and jacketings are for odd coats. Except for the navy blue blazer, there are very few worsteds in suiting books that can be worn as an odd jacket. This is especially true for worsted suitings with a pattern. So ask your tailor to see a dedicated jackets book of cloth if you are looking for a sports coat.

There are also times when making a suit out of what seems like a jacketing makes good sense. Tweed is a classic jacketing fabric. But all too often new bespeakers miss the opportunity to make a great suit of the fabric. If you are making a tweed up, make a pair of trousers as well. You can wear tweeds easily as jackets or suits. And by making up a trouser, you have the option to wear either.

Linen can be worn as a suit or an odd jacket with one condition. Linen jackets look best when paired with linen trousers. You can certainly wear linen with other materials (denim, cotton and even flannel) but the default choice is to wear a linen trouser of the same quality linen as the coat.

Cheers

Michael

[bestsummerever]

What wonderful advice to keep in mind as I dip my toes in the raging Nile of bespoke tailoring, Mr. Alden. Thank you.

In fact, I think I may just avoid worsteds altogether after the first navy or charcoal suit.

[alden]

What wonderful advice to keep in mind as I dip my toes in the raging Nile of bespoke tailoring, Mr. Alden. Thank you.
In fact, I think I may just avoid worsteds altogether after the first navy or charcoal suit.

A good blue or charcoal worsted suit is a staple wardrobe item. After that, and depending on your needs for work or play, the field is wide open for tweeds, linens and flannels. But there are, or there used to be, some wonderful worsted fabrics in great patterns that can be wonderful to wear....a Glen check, birdseye or large herringbone can be very stylish and practical as well. And cloth like the Piuma, Brisa and Mistral makes warm weather and traveling (and warm weather traveling) a breeze.

Have fun and always buy the very best fabric you can. There are no bargains when it comes to real luxury, only mirages.

Cheers

[Concordia]

Another way to think of this is to look back to The Preppie Handbook and think of the essentials for a school (or college) wardrobe, acquiring those first. A blazer, a dark suit or two, a tweed jacket, perhaps a black tie rig. Except for the sport jacket, those are all worsteds. If you're going on business trips a lot or working in a cubicle where you'll have your jacket off, consider a second pair of trousers for the suit(s). Rinse and repeat for summer and for the dead of winter if you have very varied seasons.

After that, as Michael says, life gets more flexible.

[Kayak81]

I sometimes find myself on business trips where my suit coat has to do double duty as an odd jacket. Sometimes the reverse is also true (I'm on vacation and bring along a jacket to wear, but need to squeeze in one or two business meetings as well). Does anyone have a suggestion as to what would work well in these situations? If I'm on a business trip, then I usually pack a small bag and get by with the orphaned suit coat look. If I'm on vacation and not moving around much, then I'll normally pack a larger bag and bring both a proper odd jacket and a business suit. Neither solution is entirely satisfactory and I'd love to find a fabric that fills the gap.

[bestsummerever]

But there are, or there used to be, some wonderful worsted fabrics in great patterns that can be wonderful to wear....a Glen check, birdseye or large herringbone can be very stylish and practical as well. And cloth like the Piuma, Brisa and Mistral makes warm weather and traveling (and warm weather traveling) a breeze. Have fun and always buy the very best fabric you can. There are no bargains when it comes to real luxury, only mirages.

Thanks. I plan on especially looking out for old and old-fashioned heavier fabrics.

I'd love to find a fabric that fills the gap.

Edit: This thread may be relevant - viewtopic.php?f=4&t=11309

[davidhuh]

Does anyone have a suggestion as to what would work well in these situations? If I'm on a business trip, then I usually pack a small bag and get by with the orphaned suit coat look. If I'm on vacation and not moving around much, then I'll normally pack a larger bag and bring both a proper odd jacket and a business suit. Neither solution is entirely satisfactory and I'd love to find a fabric that fills the gap.

Dear Kayak,

subscribe to the upcoming MOAM RAF blue Mistral and turn the coat into a blue blazer. With the corresponding trousers, you wear it as a suit; for your time off, all you need is an extra cotton or flannel trouser. Look what I did with a recent Mistral acquisition: http://www.thelondonlounge.net/forum/vi ... ral#p72761
I could not take pictures of what I do when less formality is required, but here are my favourite options: hopsack trousers in mustard, light grey or cream flannel trousers, sand cotton trousers. You could likely use a well fitting chino.

If your tailor is a genius, you can do what Steed did for a well known client: http://steeds-view.blogspot.ch/2009/04/ ... -suit.html. I was considering this option, but then I found the button changing exercise being complicated. Taking my early alz into consideration, I see myself spreading those buttons all over the planet in 2 weeks

By the way: what is called Mistral on the LL is generally referred to as hopsack. This is a workhorse of a cloth.

Cheers, David

[Concordia]

Steed is obviously in the groove for changing blazer buttons. Wouldn't this be a standard sort of thing for military tailors to do as well? I did once get a set of blazer buttons that came with a set of cotter pins for easy removal/reattachment. So somebody else must think it's a useful idea.

[alden]

By the way: what is called Mistral on the LL is generally referred to as hopsack. This is a workhorse of a cloth.

"A Mistral by any other name..." or so wrote the Bard. The Mistral is a heavyweight (500 gms) travel cloth that is made in a hopsack weave. It is not, by any means, a traditional hopsack fabric. Just to be clear....

Cheers

Michael

[davidhuh]

By the way: what is called Mistral on the LL is generally referred to as hopsack. This is a workhorse of a cloth.

"A Mistral by any other name..." or so wrote the Bard. The Mistral is a heavyweight (500 gms) travel cloth that is made in a hopsack weave. It is not, by any means, a traditional hopsack fabric. Just to be clear....

Cheers

Michael

Dear Michael,

I stand corrected - but you will allow me beating the drum for the Mistral…

Cheers, David

[aston]

When I travel (which is sadly much more than I would wish) I tend to wear a Navy SB hopsack blazer with either chinos or jeans on the plane . In my bag, a simple pair of grey worsted trousers and, depending on the length of trip, one or two suits made up from 4ply Finmeresco. This allows the blazer and worsted trousers to team up once arrived, and keeps the whole creasing thing to a minimum.

[alden]

I stand corrected - but you will allow me beating the drum for the Mistral…

Beat the drums! Yes, Mistral is a wonderful cloth and this last edition turned out great...and the RAF blue is going to be special. We have lost so much great cloth in the last decade, it is a real tragedy. Making some Mistral is a great show of defiance and refusal of mediocrity. Thanks to all you who make these creations possible.

Cheers and lets beat some drums!

[Kayak81]

If your tailor is a genius, you can do what Steed did for a well known client: http://steeds-view.blogspot.ch/2009/04/ ... -suit.html. I was considering this option, but then I found the button changing exercise being complicated. Taking my early alz into consideration, I see myself spreading those buttons all over the planet in 2 weeks

Thanks everyone for your advice. I actually use Steed as my tailor and almost had my Navy Mistral made up in their Swiss Army Suit style. What Steed essentially does with this type of suit, is to turn the buttons into cufflinks by sewing a smaller button on the back of the principal button. This means that the coat must be a one button style (which wasn't too much of a problem for me) and it must always be buttoned (which was a bigger problem). Otherwise the button flops over (and possibly falls out), and the whole thing looks terrible. I'm somewhat ashamed to admit that I don't always keep my coat buttoned, so I decided this wasn't for me. Luckily I have a second length of the Mistral that I'll someday make into a blazer. In the meantime, my Blue Mistral is the principal suit I use for cool weather business travel, and I also use the coat to double as a blazer when I need to wear something a bit more casual. It's not a perfect solution, but it's the best I've found so far.

[J.S. Groot]

I am currently considering having my navy blue Piuma made up as a single breasted blazer suit, which is to say that it will have dark brown horn buttons instead of the customary blue/black ones. The dark brown buttons should enable the jacket to be worn as a blazer without looking like an orphaned suit jacket while maintaining the coherence and integrity of a suit when worn as such.

[Frederic Leighton]

I am currently considering having my navy blue Piuma made up as a single breasted blazer suit, which is to say that it will have dark brown horn buttons instead of the customary blue/black ones. The dark brown buttons should enable the jacket to be worn as a blazer without looking like an orphaned suit jacket while maintaining the coherence and integrity of a suit when worn as such.

I must confess being not familiar with this option. It would be great if you could elaborate a bit - is it your own idea or are you following some more or less illustrious example? (not that this would make any difference..). Thanks!