H. Lesser vs. Smith Woollens

[kolecho]

I am looking for a selection of staple design 8oz and 11oz suiting cloth from these two cloth merchants. Are they equally as good for the two weights I am looking for, or is one better than the other in certain weights?

Thanks in advance.

[manton]

In my opinion, Smith gets better as it gets heavier. Lesser is better at lighter weights. The 10 ounce and Superfine tropicals books are terrific.

[Mark Seitelman]

I have had both. I would say that they are equal.

[bry2000]

When comparing similar patterns of Lessers and Smiths cloth, I often find that the Lessers cloth has a more refined finish. I have never ordered from Smiths, but would be happy to.

[TVD]

Smith is very reliable and offers an extremely wide range of cloths. If I had to stick to a single merchant, it would be them.

Lesser's are famous for the quality of their cloth, and especially their deluxe Golden Bale and S150s offering is fabulous. The drawback is a currently rather limited range in the Golden Bale qualities. Golden Bale is in a different price league from Smith.

[tteplitzmd]

Remember they are both woolen merchants not manufacturers (read: mills). I believe there is significant overlap in the mills used. That said, Smith (including W Bill) clearly has a larger range. Lesser, has very little in tweeds or jacketing, but what they do have is very, very good: 4 ply lambswool jacketing, Carlo Barbera 9 ounce jacketing, and so on.

I am fond of saying, you can get any (worsted suiting) color from Smith, so long as it is grey.

[Thomas I. Kim]

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[kolecho]

Alden ranked Scabal in third tier, whereas Lesser and Smith are both first tier. See link below.

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/article.p ... 0060508486

Back to the main discussion, it is interesting to note the difference between Lesser and Smith. It sounds like Lesser offer finer worsteds, while Smith is good at staples for daily use suitings.

[Romualdo]

I carry Lessor in my shop. Do you know who distributes Smith in the US?

[TVD]

Scabal specialises in much lighter cloth than Lesser, it is more "Italian" in style, prides itself on its high Super numbers. I personally like its cloth for "luxury" purposes.

[bry2000]

I carry Lessor in my shop. Do you know who distributes Smith in the US?

I believe the US distributor is Isle Textiles.

[Hartline]

The website for Isles is sometimes difficult to find.

Here it is: http://www.islestextilegroup.com/index.htm

[MildlyConsumptiv]

Does Lesser's US distributor also distribute their line in Canada? Lesser's site does not list a distributor for Canada.