• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

Cashmere Sweater Hierarchy

garigo

Senior Member
Joined
May 19, 2020
Messages
622
Reaction score
978
I’m considering a William Lockie cashmere roll neck sweater. Apparently these are only available in 1 or 2 ply knit.

I’ve read several testimonials on the durability of their 4 ply chirnside sweater on this forum.

Can anyone vouch for the durability of the 2 ply roll neck sweaters given they aren’t available in 4 ply? Are they as durable as the chirnside? How’s the pilling and how do these sweaters holdup over time?
Just a couple of weeks ago I bought a 1-ply (Oxton) Lockie rollneck. Can't talk about durability yet of course, but so far it feels very sturdy and comfortable, and warm enough even for East Coast weather.

By the way, where did you find the 2-ply rollnecks? I don't see any on the Lockie website.
 

aristoi bcn

Distinguished Member
Joined
Aug 12, 2015
Messages
1,486
Reaction score
2,381
Fransboone has some 2 ply but knitted on 4 ply machines so they are a little more loosely knitted than a regular knit.
 

sipang

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 12, 2009
Messages
8,814
Reaction score
12,744
I have a couple of those Hermès made in Scotland 4-ply sweaters I need to list on the B&S (size M/L), I figure someone in here might be in the market and they don't come up often. I think cashmere is wasted on me...
Can't really speak to finer comparison with the usual suspects from lack of sampling, probably not the best value at retail though, no surprise there.


1a.jpg

2a.jpg
 

Sartorium

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2015
Messages
1,464
Reaction score
1,388
Well, N. Peal made a mistake in the measurements of my custom sweater. I assume with the holiday rush my replacement won't get here until we are well into January. A little annoyed, but they are remaking the sweater and haven't asked for the other one to be returned to them, so I've put it up for sale (link in signature if you're interested). Clawing back some of the cost should make up for some of the annoyance. Will report back when they get it right.

I will say, for the record, that the cashmere feels very nice to the touch, quite plush and not itchy at all.

Update for anyone who cares about this saga, apparently N. Peal is unable to manufacture a sweater to my desired measurements, and they only adjust chest shoulders and hem normally. The drop from my chest to my waist is apparently impossible for their factory to accommodate.
 

Son Of Saphir

Distinguished Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
1,556
Reaction score
853
@RJman The famous Ballantyne intarsia of Fred Astaire owned by Rjman.
Made in 2000's. :inlove:

Baggy coat/face and trouser creases = very very difficult to knit intarsia.
It high work of art.
Ballantyne - fred astaire intarsia.jpg
 

Son Of Saphir

Distinguished Member
Joined
Dec 28, 2009
Messages
1,556
Reaction score
853
I once received a bunch of Brooks Brothers OCBD for a story I was working on regarding the history of the Brooks button-down. When I received them, I asked the people who were loaning me these shirts to give me approximate dates. I also took photos of the labels and contacted Brooks Brothers' company historian, and showed the labels to the different vintage collectors. That is, the guy who sent me the 1940s OCBD would get to see all the labels, so he could date them for me. The company archivist also gave me dates.

I found that everyone disagreed on the dates. Some people would label something as being pre-Marks and Spencer (which allowed me to get a rough date); others said it was post. Some said something was 1940s, others said 1960s. In the end, I went with the company archivist for convenience.

Anyway, we're talking about sweaters, so it's not that serious. But I think a lot of the forum lore around this stuff is partly about forum culture. Same with the suit rankings, shoe rankings, etc.

There seem to be different label for different era with some brand like Ballantyne.
Look!
Ballantyne label - era 1.jpg
ballantyne label - era 2.jpg


There are many way to check.
Me use old trade mark register
Me use old men to tell me many many thing
Me use internet to look up seller to see what they say
Me use many many way to cross check.
There are many many label for each decade,
and each label seem to change for new decade.
1950's Ballantyne sellers also use BALLANTYNE such as this,
and it match the all capital on trade mark register.
Ballantyne 1950's label 1.jpg

Other rare 1950s Ballantyne labels also match the trade mark register.
Other 1950's Ballantyne seem to use brown dragon,
numerous seller sell the brown dragon as 1950's
Ballantyne 1950's label 2.jpg

Ballantyne for Magnin and co also use the brown dragon which many sold for 1950's.
Lot of changes happen to Magnin after 1960's so 1950's magnin might be right.
Ballantyne 1950's magnin and Co label.jpg


1960's Ballantyne have some different label and hard to find.
Lucky buyer find this rare 1960's label.
It have red dragon instead of blue dragon.
Ballantyne 1960's label.jpg


1970's sellers and old men tell me the Ballantyne label look like this,
and it match trade mark register.
Ballantyne - 1970 label.jpg
Trade mark register show no label after 1970's era,
but old man and many seller say this is 80's label for Ballantyne,
it go back to no dragon again.
Ballantyne 1980's label.jpg

Me not sure about 1990's label,
but it could be this

Ballantyne 2000's label.jpg

2000 - 2010 use similar label ?
me not find it


2010 to end of Ballantyne in 2012 use many like this:
it original Ballantyne with capital letter again.
Ballantyne label 2010's.jpg

Me avoid the Ballantyne cashmere after 1980's,
it not very good.

Remember the brown dragon and the red dragon and the blue dragon and no dragon.
It all mean something.
 
Last edited:

Sartorium

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2015
Messages
1,464
Reaction score
1,388
Shameless plug part 2, sweaters now listed :hide:




View attachment 1518327
View attachment 1518328
View attachment 1518329
View attachment 1518330

Bought the turtleneck, anyone know who makes these for Hermes?
 

Sartorium

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2015
Messages
1,464
Reaction score
1,388
Barrie.
They do the extra thick ply that make it spongy and good.
Hermes made-in-Scotland = the best cashmere today.
You lucky,
me wanted it.

There are a few others left! If I don't like the fit of this one I will message you though. But only if you promise to talk normal in the DMs.
 

Sartorium

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2015
Messages
1,464
Reaction score
1,388
Last bump to buy the sweater in my signature if anyone is looking for an ivory rollneck. Dropped price to the discount they offered me, otherwise I will return it to them.
 

Sartorium

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 14, 2015
Messages
1,464
Reaction score
1,388
Putting this back on the market for the price I paid for it if anyone is interested.

 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 35.3%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 61 39.1%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 17 10.9%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 27 17.3%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 28 17.9%

Forum statistics

Threads
505,204
Messages
10,579,261
Members
223,891
Latest member
dfkoknee
Top