The Cloth discussion and review thread.

I know we have the unfunded liabilities thread already, but I think we could do with a thread where we can discuss cloths in much more detail, how they wear, how they feel and especially talk about new cloths when they come out, observations on trends patterns and colors.

Ill kick off with my review of Scabal's Calibri. I put this on my thread and blog a while back but hopefully this can spur some interesting discussion here.

SCABAL COLIBRI CLOTH REVIEW

"Colibri" described by Scabal in their own words:

True to its avian namesake, the award winning Colibri collection is alive with color and energy.

Including 18 articles that each experiment with color, weave or sheen. Gun club checks, jacquard patterns and checks are just some of the designs available, with others so innovative they have not yet been named.

Such a colorful collection is ideal for the informal connoisseur who wants something different, and the fashion forward man who enjoys style experimentation.



Well….let’s dive in shall we?

This is an interesting book that unfortunately does not photograph too well on my iphone, too much color variation going on and this is a strength and a weakness of this rather flamboyant and whimsical collection, its amazing looking but ironically may not translate too well on camera.



After showing this new book to a few clients here initial reaction is negative at first when looked at perhaps in a purely modern commercial context, but when you frame these as rather fun and retro cloths, that perhaps Johhny Carson or a 60s or 70s playboy may wear people start to see the appeal.
These are cloths which would be great for a host of a party or to wear at a fancy cocktail bar to many this may seem like a frivolous use for bespoke tailoring but I am always of the mind that we are in fact doing style here and style is all about who you are and your lifestyle and your choices.



I have seen (and encouraged) a real trend to not just confine bespoke tailoring to work or important meetings and events in the past few years. Usually this has meant dressing down bespoke and the utility of tweeds, moleskins and corduroys but maybe the next frontier is bringing fine(er) cloths into our leisure time as well? Maybe its about what we wear on a Friday or Saturday night and this is about refinement, sophistication but also fun and of course confidence.

My only real critisim of this book outside of its rather niche context is that it sometimes does not go far enough, we have quite a few repeat patterns here in different color ways and at 18 cloths the book is not quite the bold offering it could be but I can understand why.



Colibri is not for everyone, its rather advanced and will probably be for the client of considerable means who has his” basic” Bespoke wardrobe covered, nothing wrong with that though. I think it is great that cloth houses are taking risks with cloths like this rather than going for the safe route of the mythical all year round, fits all needs, commercial cloth with colors and patterns like we see everywhere else.



Colibri is 100% wool made in England and weighs in at 250 grams or 8.8 ozs
My personal rating is a solid 3 out of 5 stars, this is brought down from 4 because of the limited nature of the collection but also because there are a couple of weaker designs in here in my opinion which bring down the overall rating and stand out especially, again, in such a small offering, still a very interesting book and worth a look.