The history of large herringbone suitings

[bespokewrinkles]

In old Apparel Arts/Esquire illustrations, I've often seen suits in large herringbone weaves, such as the one below. These days, it seems that herringbones of this size are only available in some tweeds and coatings. Back in the days, would these also be tweeds, or were there worsteds also?

[Mark Seitelman]

The artist had to exaggerate the size of the herringbone, otherwise, it would not be visible as a herringbone.

An excellent source of images of the 1920's and 1930's is www.voxsartoria.com. Do a search under "herringbone."

It seems that the large herringbone was mostly used for sportscoats and overcoats although I recall an occasional large herringbone suit in an old movie.

Yes, it seems that the large herringbone is found mostly in topcoats and overcoats. Why not make a suit in a light topcoat material, such as 18-20 ounces?

Good luck.

[alden]

I very much like medium to large herringbone suitings. But good ones are very hard to find these days, especially in the tweeds so popular in the 30s. Tweed suits in general have gone the way of the Dodo and all that remains are various jacketing few of which make sense as a suit. Its a pity. I would love to make one someday. And I have had some tests made recently in medium herringbones in tweed. We shall see how they turn out.

Its even quite hard to find larger herringbones in worsteds or flannels.

2pcherringbonefishcopynv3 by The London Lounge, on Flickr

[Concordia]

The LL R&T patterns definitely lean in that direction.

[alden]

The LL R&T patterns definitely lean in that direction.

Yes they do, and I really like the way they turned out. Are we due to make a new one? Did we do a dark charcoal?

Cheers

[Concordia]

Between the previous two greys? Some serious potential there.

[alden]

Of the past LL creations in tweed herringbone, the LLTW9 made a beautiful suit.

And the LLTW8 is another herringbone that would be splendid as a suit. And there is meterage available.

Cheers

[J.S. Groot]

I'm looking to have a gray tweed herringbone suit made some time next year. Is there any cloth at all out there worth going for? Molloy & Sons do beautiful Donegals, of course, but their salt n' pepper herringbone is 610g/m, and I think that a bit more than what I'm looking for. I've been looking at W. Bill's Cheviot bunch. Any tips?

[davidhuh]

Molloy & Sons do beautiful Donegals, of course, but their salt n' pepper herringbone is 610g/m, and I think that a bit more than what I'm looking for.

Dear J. S. Groot,

my advice would be "get a swatch first, and talk to you tailor if in doubt". I have seen beautiful suits made up with the Molloy Donegal quality and would not hesitate a second.

Cheers, David

[bespokewrinkles]

The artist had to exaggerate the size of the herringbone, otherwise, it would not be visible as a herringbone

It might not be an exaggeration on the artist's part. Here's an actual large herringbone suit from the 1939 flick "Golden Boy", very similar to the illustrations from earlier in this thread:



What do you think? Do you like this fabric?

[Mark Seitelman]

The artist had to exaggerate the size of the herringbone, otherwise, it would not be visible as a herringbone

It might not be an exaggeration on the artist's part. Here's an actual large herringbone suit from the 1939 flick "Golden Boy", very similar to the illustrations from earlier in this thread:



What do you think? Do you like this fabric?

I also said that you can find large herringbone cloths in films of the 30's and 40's.

I would say that the large scale herringbone was not a business look. It is a bit flashy. The character in the large herringbone is Joseph Calleia who plays an underworld type in the film. Incidentally, great character actor, Charles Lane, is at left, along with William Holden in the bold striped suit. Note that Charles Lane, who has a subsidiary role, is wearing business attire. Calleia and Holden are the centers of attention.

I like the look, but I would confine it to less formal and non-business occasions.

[JCH]

The text in the apparel arts for the picture Michael posted seems to support everyone's comments. It starts out saying "the hard part is to apparently arrange an unavoidable business trip into the trout country at the right time." When describing the herringbone, the text refers to the man as "the other loafer'" wearing a suit "made up in a very fine saxony fabric of which the pattern is an arresting version of the old herringbone."

[Nem500]

A largish herringbone suiting could be worn fairly casually (i.e. with roll necks, flannel shirts, denim shirts, polos or a white shirt and black knitted tie). It would even be suitable for many professional settings given the decline of formal dress codes. Larger PoW are quite common these days. A largish herringbone would fit in the same category.
If made in something like the estate tweed quality, it could also be used for jackets and coats.

Given how uncommon such a design is these days it would be amazing if the lounge made such a cloth someday.

[Concordia]

What my old Ivy League tailor liked to refer to as "museum wear". To help one be civilized with family on a weekend excursion.

[davidhuh]

What my old Ivy League tailor liked to refer to as "museum wear".

lovely expression! He didn't say "costume"

Cheers, David