Cloth for first casual tweed suit

[YoungLawyer]

I'm interested in your suggestions for a cloth for a first bespoke casual suit (having the essentials of a shirt pattern and two business suits already). The use is for university teaching and weekend use. It would have to withstand some regular cycling, so I plan to find a good tweed.

In terms of the pattern, this is planned to be 3 piece, single breasted, with notch lapel, slanted hip pockets and ticket pocket, with a single vent. Button stance would be on the high side, and the coat on the long side. Trousers would be high waisted and flat fronted, vertical pockets and a change pocket. Waistcoat would be single breasted, 6 buttons, 5 to fasten, two pockets. So far, so conservative. However, I'm considering, in light of Frederic Leighton's latest success (viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11107&start=45), and the fine example of this (http://laurencejohn.blogspot.co.uk/2012 ... chive.html), having a half-belt back.

The real decision is cloth, and I'd like to hear your experiences as I've only had formal suiting before. I think something in the 16oz-ish range would be appropriate for the various uses. However, my initial thoughts are between:
>black and white herringbone (similar to the second link above, and https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745341236/);
>blue/grey donegal (similar to viewtopic.php?f=31&t=11107);
>green donegal (similar to https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745461216/); or
>green lovat.
I'd like to stay away from anything too loud, so smaller patterns seem best.

Within these choices, I haven't narrowed this down to any particular cloths. Do you have any fabric recommendations for a casual suit? Better still, do you have any pictures of relatively plain tweed suiting that you're willing to share here?

[Concordia]

If you want to play it safe, both in terms of versatility of pattern and warmth, you might look at the Porter & Harding Thornproof. Donegal style (more or less), but a firmer and more open weave.

As far as color, it really depends on where you live and how rural you want to look. I'd think of a tan/fawn as being quite useful in a lot of contexts, although mid/charcoal grey will be less obvious, and more useful in evening or city trips, if that is what you need.

[davidhuh]

Dear Young Lawyer,

In terms of style, my advice would be to stay classic, thus avoiding a design as shown in the Laurence John blog. In terms of cloth, you have many choices. Here is what I would consider:
- corduroy (2-piece suit plus cashmere waistcoat)
- donegal (2 or 3-piece suit, consider knitwear combinations)
- linen
- flannel

What I would also consider is a tweed or cashmere sports coat and some flannel trousers. This would actually be my favoured choice because it allows you all kinds of combinations.

Cheers, David

[YoungLawyer]

Thank you already for those suggestions. I've two odd tweed jackets and cords and a blazer already. For the temperature where I teach, and for some rural use, I'm decided on tweed of some variety.
The whole coat on the LJ blog is rather too obviously vintage, the only detail I was looking at was the half-belt (although, on that blog, it's extended round the front). I quite liked the cloth, albeit that I'd find a blue stripe a little loud.
I'll look out for Porter & Harding.

[Concordia]

I'll look out for Porter & Harding.

(Somewhat) out-of-date pics can be found at the Harrisons of Edinburgh site. For the newer versions, which include some nice-looking midweight tweeds, try Merino Brothers of HK. Their Facebook photos, while hard to navigate, have more or less everything that Harrisons produces.

[YoungLawyer]

That's a great first start: I particularly like,
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512376/
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512378/ (this one in particular from the sample - I'd really like to see a picture of something made in this)
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512380/
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512381/ (and this one - I've seen this or one very similar made as a suit before, and it looked very smart)
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512384/

Concordia, have you used any of these cloths before?

[Scot]

If it is still possible I would recommend you have your tailor take you along to W Bill, where you can rummage among bolts of cloth, mostly tweed, to your heart's content.

[Simon A]

My first tweed suit was made with this Lovat Mill cheviot



It is a great shade of mid-grey and the overcheck is very subtle, so you can wear it as a city suit. It always gets good comments and is very versatile.

It is hard to go wrong with Molloy and Sons Donegals; either plain weave or herringbone, they are beautifully soft and comfortable to wear. https://www.flickr.com/photos/molloyandsons/

[Concordia]

That's a great first start: I particularly like,
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512376/
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512378/ (this one in particular from the sample - I'd really like to see a picture of something made in this)
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512380/
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512381/ (and this one - I've seen this or one very similar made as a suit before, and it looked very smart)
https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/419749627745512384/

Concordia, have you used any of these cloths before?

I have jackets of Harris and Hartwist. Both are pretty substantial fabrics. I would be reluctant to do a suit in Harris tweed. The cloth is not an obvious match for trousers. Hartwist should be much better as a cold-weather suit, although you should handle the cloth to see if it will work for you. There are some very nice patterns in that book.

[Melcombe]

A mistake I made (25 years ago) with my first tweed suit, was to go for something too heavy. It rarely got worn, lovely though it was .

I now have 2 which get much more wear, they are both about 16 oz. The cloth of one is a dark lovat h/bone & windowpane affair from W Bill (as guided by the splendid Mr Hammett) but the one which is the most practical is a charcoal herringbone (Dugdale).

Now broken in (took a year...), it is supremely comfortable and of course very hardwearing. Its in a very similar format to the style you mention 2B,SB with a single vent and slant pockets. I always have single pleats in the trousers and I find this is a great comfort-benefit with the tweed.

It's also warm without being stifling; the open weave lets it ventilate nicely. It's comfortable in an air-conditioned office, but also in the seemingly unheated public buildings Im obliged to visit regularly, or when conducting a site visit on a chilly day.

Despite being charcoal, the very slightly spongy drape of the tweed makes it somewhat less than formal. I regularly wear it with a tattersall check shirt in London - when colleagues (all aspiring comedians plainly) often ask after the wellbeing of my gundog or the price of corn.

If I were ordering a replacement for it, I might just go for a very dark donegal.

[uppercase]

Not sure as to the etiquette of wearing tweed in London , though it is my view that sports coats and odd trousers make the most interesting ensembles regardless the city, I do wonder what the price of corn is now.
Nevertheless, consider suits a bit boring and mundane and favor the creativity which coat and odd trousers allow.
That is to say, I like suits in the evenings and to formal day meetings. They are safe and sound.
Otherwise sports coats are nice depending on your work. And allow the sartorial artist to blossom.

[couch]

You're right about the flexibility, UC. These days, though, I see (in the U.S.) very few tweed suits, and lots of tweed odd jackets. So there's also something to be said, from a creative standpoint, for the road less traveled.

[Luca]

On the issue of weight, London Lawyer, I would opine that unless you "wear very [very] cool", a tweed suit is a purely outdoors job. In that sense, perhaps, a fuzzy flannel might serve a similar purpose more efficiently.

If you are going for tweed, i think that the classic Donegal pattern, in a mid to dark shade is both extremely attractive and avoids the loud-checks effect*.


(*) I love suits with loud checks. Then again, I'm buying a boater, next summer... I think that most reasonably discreet men end up leaving loud checks in the closet after the third "price of corn" joke. Donegal is just so classy. I wish some mill produced that kind of flecked-effect fabic in weights one can wear in the 20-25 C tempratures one finds in offices/shops/public transport in the winter.

[Frederic Leighton]

I'm interested in your suggestions for a cloth for a first bespoke casual suit (having the essentials of a shirt pattern and two business suits already). The use is for university teaching and weekend use. It would have to withstand some regular cycling, so I plan to find a good tweed.

In terms of the pattern, this is planned to be 3 piece, single breasted, with notch lapel, slanted hip pockets and ticket pocket, with a single vent. [...]

>black and white herringbone;
>blue/grey donegal;
>green donegal;
>green lovat.

YoungLawyer, you will really enjoy your tweed suit! It's a very versatile item of wardrobe and, with some care in planning the details, you could end up with a coat that can be worn as sport jacket as well. I find the 'suit look' more interesting than sport coat and odd trousers; less obvious. Tweed suits have been considered the uniform of the man of books for more than half a century; enough to call it a safe choice and even a tradition. Apparel Arts calls for big checks for the university teacher (you will find several illustrations of this style there), although, like you, I also favour smaller patterns.

I'm sure you're already familiar with William Faulkner's tweeds: b/w herringbone, Donegal and plain weave. You just need to know yourself; then you can't go wrong with the details.

I don't feel comfortable in Lovat green; it always makes me think of hunting jackets. Other check, herringbone and houndstooth patterns were commonly used for sportswear and leisure; I think they suit me better than Lovat green. I have a green tweed suit that received several compliments from well dressed men in central London; I'm sure you won't feel uncomfortable for wearing tweed in urban environment, especially if you're out to do your own business.

If you go for Donegal, Molloy's is softer and richer in texture than Porter & Harding's Thornproof. I still have to find a b/w herringbone that I really like; I checked at least a dozen different swatches and decided to wait patiently for new options coming up (LL Cloth Club?). I would add large barleycorn to the list; I've seen photos of suits in this weave and loved them!

Hope you will share the journey with us. Best wishes!

[Melcombe]

Nevertheless, consider suits a bit boring and mundane and favor the creativity which coat and odd trousers allow.
That is to say, I like suits in the evenings and to formal day meetings. They are safe and sound.
Otherwise sports coats are nice depending on your work. And allow the sartorial artist to blossom.

Good point.

I have some b/w puppy-tooth check trousers in a heavy flannel that go well with the charcoal tweed suit coat. Now I don't wear that in London unless Im there on a weekend.

As for 'etiquette' in London these days, you have to look pretty hard to find it. 20 years ago, a covert coat in the West End might have marked you as a bounder at best or even a four-letter fellow. It's now commonplace, indeed quite the thing in the single-digit SW postcodes. Even the well-educated seem to wear brown shoes in the City with no sense of irony.

O tempora, o mores!