Overcoat lining

[jonathans]

Dear friends,

I am currently ordering my LL 1kg cashmere overcoat & I had a question: what do you think of a cashmere / silk blend lining?

I have a length of lightweight cashmere silk that I don’t know what to do with. I bought it a while ago. It’s a deep violet, almost navy fabric. I originally thought about making a shirt jacket with it, but I’m thinking about using it as lining for the 1kg cashmere to add an extra layer of elegance to the coat.

It’s a solid color.

Has anyone figured out a way to take advantage of the double facing cashmere? I am thinking just straight navy ulster. Wear it with the collar popped like a proper Italian.

[alden]

The lining you have sounds great, especially the color, but remember it's already 1 kg of cashmere. You better be up against some real cold weather.

Cheers

[jonathans]

Well that’s true, I am up against a relatively mild winter. Perhaps I should save it for a lighter weight coat. Perhaps something more fine.

I’m doing an ulster with the LL cashmere with a martingale back. Maybe I should save it for. Chesterfield.

[jonathans]

Update: I’ll take the fabric to Italy & the tailor will make the decision.

[alden]

Once upon a time I had a 600 gms overcoat lined in cashmere. At the time it seemed like a good idea. The tailor made it beautifully. Wonderful. And then I wore the coat on a snowy bitter cold day. The coat kept me warm alright, roaster oven warm, so warm I was drenched underneath it, drenched! And when I took the coat off, I looked like I had been hosed down and left to dry. Then the cold air hit my wet body. I started to shiver. Had to put the coat back on to avoid pneumonia. ......suffered mightily. What seemed like a great idea was in fact a disaster. I might have tried to wear that coat one other time with similar results. It has been a closet queen since then. Your post reminds me that I need to take that coat back to my tailor in Italy to ask him to remove the cashmere lining if possible.

10560996394_947f3165a0_o by The London Lounge, on Flickr

Your Everest cashmere is a once in a lifetime coat. We may never make it again. There are only about 50 coats on the planet made from such an exclusive cashmere. Only you know how your temperature runs and what Winter temps you will face. So I suggest you make the decision, not the tailor. A 600 gms wool coat lined in cashmere was like wearing a Sauna. I can't imagine what a 1 kilo cashmere lined in cashmere would be like, but I would not risk it.

Cheers

[jonathans]

Thanks, perhaps I should request a pure silk or regular lining then.

Which do you think is better?

For the record, she is quite a beautiful closet queen. I think, while it’s difficult, re-lining a coat is very doable. I’m sure your tailor, who you undoubtedly have a long relationship with, would be more than happy to reline it.

I suspect the cashmere / silk blend would be better than pure cashmere but, it’d probably have the same result, given the 1kg cashmere.

Thanks for the advice.

All the best,
Jonathan

[Noble Savage]

Thanks, perhaps I should request a pure silk or regular lining then.

Which do you think is better?

Pure silk, while traditional, and still used for formal clothing, is simply not as durable as regular lining. Silk can be used, and is beautiful, on things like white tie tailcoats, but these are not often worn, so silk is used, really, for tradition's sake, and as a very good excuse for driving up the cost of things.

Lining fabric has indeed advanced since the early 1900's, which we know not to be the case for woollens.

[Stobo]

My wife and I both wear our everst overcoats with standard modern linings, and the coats are more than warm enough to deal with the cold Canadian winter like that.