It is obvious that the cloth club has been on a tear of late and that your design juices have been flowing. Though I missed the very first selection, which is my favorite to date, I very much like the next three that I have already subscribed for. Despite having plenty to be thankful for, I still ask of you two favors. First, let us know when this prodigal output will slow down and what you think the full collection will look like. My resources are not unlimited and if I have to pick and choose between the available options, it would be better to know what the full set of choices will be. I don't want to choose today something that I like only to have to pass next week on something I like even more.
That is request one. Request two is that we use the cloth club to create a more traditional city suiting that is still somehow special. The one cloth of that nature that I have been thinking of is mid-gray flannel with a darker stripe (rather than the usual lighter stripe), perhaps in a blue (an illustration ion can be found in one of Tutee's articles). The only version I have seen is from H&S, and for whatever reason, it did not sing to me. Another possibility would be based on something I saw in the Bateman & Ogden books Desmond Merrion brought with him to New York. Those had 12 or 14oz worsteds with stripes on a ground of a wonderfully mottled gray, almost like the gray equivalent of a Lovat tweed - that is something I had never seen before. The only problem is that the stripes were in colors I did not like. I would be open to other ideas, of course, but what I am thinking of is the possibility of a conservative town/business suiting that has a carefully thought out and unique design element not obvious enough to be distracting to the uninterested but still riveting to the aficionado.
A Public Plea to Alden
Good idea, Dopey. I don't mind weighing in to get the subscriptions up and running, but a standing order that yields 30 suit lengths is not at all practical.
Pending success with the Triple Check design, I might propose a solid blue-grey based on the background color. Most grey flannels are a little warmer in color-- a cool N/NW grey would be useful and distinctive at the same time.
Pending success with the Triple Check design, I might propose a solid blue-grey based on the background color. Most grey flannels are a little warmer in color-- a cool N/NW grey would be useful and distinctive at the same time.
Dopey,
What I have been endeavoring to do is to recruit a team of weavers who will agree to support the clothclub. With every commission of cloth, the reputation of the site grows within the community of cloth manufacturers. This is a good thing as it will permit us to do various types of cloth.
As you know my desire has always been to work directly with the manufacturers and not with wholesalers or distributors for the simple reason that they do no carry what it is the LL members want.
I have found weavers capable of doing custom pieces of both tweed and flannel. My latest addition to the team is a fresco and a mohair maker. If these four relationships function as I plan, the clothclub should be able to produce just about anything. It has not been an easy road and the support of the LL members has been and will continue to be key.
Some projects are a lot more ambitious than they may seem. Turning an idea or fabric from an illustration into real cloth is much more difficult than one might imagine. Commissioning cloth is like commissioning custom clothes, one gets better at it with time. One understands what can be done and what cannot be done. I hope to be improving with each commission and to date the results have been pleasing.
As an example, I would love to recreate the legendary Reid & Taylor tweed suitings of the past.
I flew to Scotland and went to Reid & Taylor. I met with the designers and managers of the business. The answers didn’t come back positive. So I went to see an ex M.D. of the company who now has his own factory. He was kind enough to explain in detail why the cloth could no longer be made the way it was…the machines that twist the cloth in the way to give the wonderful mottled and marled finish do not exist. Well after all that time and effort (and temptation seeing the sample books from the 1930s in their archives) you can imagine that I really would have rather spent my time in Scotland doing this:
To give you an idea of the projects I am working on now and that should appear in the near future:
1. The “AnthonyEden in Paris” suiting, gray with sky blue/white highlight, large windowpane in a 11 ozs high twist fabric.
2. A reverse chalkstripe gray with either black or bordeaux chalk in flannel.
3. An offwhite with bluish/gray tone Spring flannel for trousers as per Etutee’s AA illustrations.
4. A spring weight N by NW blue/gray PoW in the above referenced high twist fabric with windowpane.
5 and 6. Expect to see a first LL limited edition houndstooth and a herringbone suiting with windowpanes.
You see a decided emphasis on windowpanes and checks. I feel that solids and stripes are readily available. But the next cloths will get into recreating some of the great multiple colored varied stripe designs in flannel and high twist cloth.
I hope this gives you an idea of the upcoming projects. More details and precisions will follow as I receive input from the weavers.
What I have been endeavoring to do is to recruit a team of weavers who will agree to support the clothclub. With every commission of cloth, the reputation of the site grows within the community of cloth manufacturers. This is a good thing as it will permit us to do various types of cloth.
As you know my desire has always been to work directly with the manufacturers and not with wholesalers or distributors for the simple reason that they do no carry what it is the LL members want.
I have found weavers capable of doing custom pieces of both tweed and flannel. My latest addition to the team is a fresco and a mohair maker. If these four relationships function as I plan, the clothclub should be able to produce just about anything. It has not been an easy road and the support of the LL members has been and will continue to be key.
Some projects are a lot more ambitious than they may seem. Turning an idea or fabric from an illustration into real cloth is much more difficult than one might imagine. Commissioning cloth is like commissioning custom clothes, one gets better at it with time. One understands what can be done and what cannot be done. I hope to be improving with each commission and to date the results have been pleasing.
As an example, I would love to recreate the legendary Reid & Taylor tweed suitings of the past.
I flew to Scotland and went to Reid & Taylor. I met with the designers and managers of the business. The answers didn’t come back positive. So I went to see an ex M.D. of the company who now has his own factory. He was kind enough to explain in detail why the cloth could no longer be made the way it was…the machines that twist the cloth in the way to give the wonderful mottled and marled finish do not exist. Well after all that time and effort (and temptation seeing the sample books from the 1930s in their archives) you can imagine that I really would have rather spent my time in Scotland doing this:
To give you an idea of the projects I am working on now and that should appear in the near future:
1. The “AnthonyEden in Paris” suiting, gray with sky blue/white highlight, large windowpane in a 11 ozs high twist fabric.
2. A reverse chalkstripe gray with either black or bordeaux chalk in flannel.
3. An offwhite with bluish/gray tone Spring flannel for trousers as per Etutee’s AA illustrations.
4. A spring weight N by NW blue/gray PoW in the above referenced high twist fabric with windowpane.
5 and 6. Expect to see a first LL limited edition houndstooth and a herringbone suiting with windowpanes.
You see a decided emphasis on windowpanes and checks. I feel that solids and stripes are readily available. But the next cloths will get into recreating some of the great multiple colored varied stripe designs in flannel and high twist cloth.
I hope this gives you an idea of the upcoming projects. More details and precisions will follow as I receive input from the weavers.
Last edited by alden on Sun Nov 12, 2006 9:13 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Concordia
The N by NW blue gray is a lovely cloth when it is just slightly more gray than blue. That is, when the gray dominates and the blue in nuanced. It is much more useful than a light blue with some gray.
Getting this blue/gray color right took me some time and a few sample runs. Look to see something soon in a Spring weight cloth PoW and plain.
Cheers
The N by NW blue gray is a lovely cloth when it is just slightly more gray than blue. That is, when the gray dominates and the blue in nuanced. It is much more useful than a light blue with some gray.
Getting this blue/gray color right took me some time and a few sample runs. Look to see something soon in a Spring weight cloth PoW and plain.
Cheers
Though I have no first hand experience doing this, I have no doubt that it is true. Certainly, over time and with the assistance of the LL and its members, I have improved my ability to just see cloth. I can only imagine the learning curve is steeper when it comes to commissioning cloth. Nonetheless, results to date have been good and I am happy to support this endeavor as I can.alden wrote:Commissioning cloth is like commissioning custom cloths, one gets better at it with time. One understands what can be done and what cannot be done. I hope to be improving with each commission and to date the results have been pleasing.
This is the perfect target. That is what was evoked in the B&O book I mentioned. I recall that something in that vein was also in a book of Harrison suitings I saw at Raphael‘s shop. It is also exactly what was so appealing in the example of his father’s suit that DD MacDonald posted recently (particularly beautiful was the way the windowpane is picked out not just in color, but by reversing the twill).. . . As an example, I would love to recreate the legendary Reid & Taylor tweed suitings of the past.
A pity. This is exactly what I was looking for.…the machines that twist the cloth in the way to give the wonderful mottled and marled finish do not exist.
Well you know how I feel about this one. Thanks.2. A reverse chalkstripe gray with either black or bordeaux chalk in flannel.
As you refine the design of the cloths, I hope you use one of the nice techniques used in the picture you posted - the vertical blue bars use more threads than the horizontal bars use, giving the cloth an overall vertical feel. The same effect is realized in DD MacDonald’s example, but there it is through additional vertical lines in the same color as the windowpane.
I haven't given up yet by a long way. A cloth can be made today that will "look like" the old R & T cloth, but it is a facsimile at best. The real thing is rich with lustrious color and rugged high twist hand.A pity. This is exactly what I was looking for.
BTW, if any LL members scouting around tailors shops anywhere in the world, happen to find cloth that looks like this...they should reposrt the finding immediately to the LL clothclub. Who knows...its worth a try. I have picked up bits and pieces this way over the years.
Have you checked with the NY suppliers?
Alden, Thank you for your efforts.
Thanks for sharing this Michael.
I am particularly keen on Nos 2, 3 and the multi-colour varied stripes in flannel. May I ask you consider No 2 in blue/navy as well?
Looking forward to the commissions.
p.s. thanks Dopey for voicing and asking what no doubt many of us are feeling, but do not articulate.
I am particularly keen on Nos 2, 3 and the multi-colour varied stripes in flannel. May I ask you consider No 2 in blue/navy as well?
Looking forward to the commissions.
p.s. thanks Dopey for voicing and asking what no doubt many of us are feeling, but do not articulate.
Alden, thanks for this pre/overview, and thanks for your diligence. As much as, or maybe because, I love the tweeds and heavier flannels so much, I find myself in dire need of spring/summer cloths, so the Eden and both NxNW variants sound very appealing. But I love the R&T patterns, and houndstood and herringbone with windowpane are tempting . . . . Didn't somebody say the word "ruined"?
This sounds super, as do several of the othersalden wrote:Concordia
The N by NW blue gray is a lovely cloth when it is just slightly more gray than blue. That is, when the gray dominates and the blue in nuanced. It is much more useful than a light blue with some gray.
Getting this blue/gray color right took me some time and a few sample runs. Look to see something soon in a Spring weight cloth PoW and plain.
Cheers
Hear hear...
Can't wait for a North by North West inspired cloth. You can count on my support!
Can't wait for a North by North West inspired cloth. You can count on my support!
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