I just commissioned the OneBlazer (Corneliani MTM)

For the last several months I've been on a quest to find the ultimate staple sportcoat to build my wardrobe around for years to come. After searching endlessly from various RTW brands with no luck, I decided to go with a Corneliani MTM and just commissioned it.

The requirements were:
-the design must be timeless so it can last several years
-the jacket must be low-key enough that it can be worn multiple times in a week with numerous different shirts/trousers
-the fabric must be hardy enough it can travel without excessive wrinkling
-the jacket must be wearable in all four seasons
-the jacket must be full-canvas

To me the obvious starting point was a solid navy fabric - I decided on a hopsack wool that is slightly lighter than your traditional almost-black navy. Many jackets I saw were too light blue - and those restricted the wearability to spring/summer. I found that smooth-textured navy wool fabrics looked like orphan suit jackets. Of course given that travel is a requirement - any fabric containing cotton/linen/silk was out because it's prone to wrinkle. A super 100-130 wool is the way to go - appropriate for all levels of formality, and resists wrinkles.

Originally I was planning on doing a quarter-lined jacket because I like the extra attention to detail in the construction, but after consulting with a few people, it seems that fully-lined gives the jacket an edge in terms of long term durability over several years. To offset the demure navy wool exterior, I picked a contrasting solid bright purple lining with the corneliani logo imprinted. To finish it off, I selected the most magnificent matte smoked mother of pearl buttons - just to make it stand out from the crowd a little along with the surgeon cuffs.

The shoulders will be softly tailored with minimal padding, it will be notched lapels with pick stitching throughout (although it's difficult to see on a hopsack wool), it will have patch pockets on at the waist to give it a bit of personality and a casual feel (I almost never wear a tie) - but I still went with a welt pocket on the chest because I don't like the pocket to stick out when I wear a pocket square. Of course it will be two-button, and after some back-and-forth, I settled on single vents.

Originally I was looking for something much cheaper than Corneliani MTM - I couldn't find anything this season that grabbed me from SuitSupply, I almost pulled the trigger on a SS13 Canali Kei jacket in a solid blue wool - but it was a shade too light for year-round wear. I was eye-balling Samuelsohn since I adore their Gable model since I have several in RTW - but surprisingly the fabric I wanted was quoted at $1,500 in MTM (which is quite high since their RTW jackets are typically in the $900 range) - and that's without the optional extras like surgeon cuffs. In the end I went with Corneliani MTM since I've always admired their workmanship and their products, and it came in around $2K with all the extras - which isn't much more than the Samuelsohn would have been.

Unfortunately - now comes the hard part - the waiting game - 6 to 8 weeks I'll be sure to post tons of pics when I get it!

 



Who is NSM? I've heard of WW Chan - but they don't come to my neck of the woods.

 



lol - I just tune out names of companies that aren't available to me. We don't all live in NY or Napoli.

 



Unfortunately I don't have fabric pics - once the finished product arrives I will happily post pics and report my experience. The fabric was a 9oz solid navy hopsack wool - the corneliani swatch book didn't state the mill or s # for that particular swatch. They had a much finer S170 wool/silk blend - but those types of fabrics are more suited to jackets for occasional wear, and the price you pay for such a luxurious fabric is it will often burn out faster if you wear them regularly.

The ~$500 was the difference between getting a comparable jacket from Samuelsohn. When I priced out a Samuelsohn they quoted $1,500 for the jacket with a comparable fabric, and an additional $125 for the surgeon cuffs - so around $1,600 all in which is surprisingly expensive for Samuelsohn since their RTW jackets are almost always under $1K. If you want things like quarter-lining with Samuelsohn, they charge extra for that too - I think it's to keep their base price down. But the fabric I was after was in their priciest fabric grouping. I have a few Samuelsohn's and the quality is nothing to sneeze at - full canvas and it competes with the best of them although it doesn't have much in the way of handwork (although few brands in the under $2K range will feature any significant amount of handwork.) Quality wise - Samuelsohn is more or less on part with Canali/Zegna/Corneliani from what I've seen.

The base price on the Corneliani was $2K - they only extras were $100 for the surgeon cuffs and selecting special buttons - although I personally think at that price point this should all be included. The quality of the Corneliani jackets seems more or less the same as Samuelsohn, the cut is pretty comparable as well to the more modern cuts from Samuelsohn like the Gable. I basically went with Corneliani just because I liked their linings and buttons a little more and never owned anything from them - if the price gap was any larger, I probably would have went with Samuelsohn instead.