John Smedley

[sydneycentric]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at purchasing a grey cotton crew neck pullover from John Smedley and wondering if I could appeal to your expertise in helping me to choose the right one. I'm looking at wearing it primarily over a business shirt with a cutaway collar. I've looked at the Marcus, Luke and Cowley models. Anyone recommend the best one to get? I'm not looking at a heavy pullover.

Cheers, Sydneycentric.

 

[Murlsquirl]

Hi everyone,

I'm looking at purchasing a grey cotton crew neck pullover from John Smedley and wondering if I could appeal to your expertise in helping me to choose the right one. I'm looking at wearing it primarily over a business shirt with a cutaway collar. I've looked at the Marcus, Luke and Cowley models. Anyone recommend the best one to get? I'm not looking at a heavy pullover.

Cheers, Sydneycentric.

Hey Sydney, We have a weekly thread that would be great for questions like this. Next time you have a quick question, check it out. Here is the link for this week:

http://www.styleforum.net/t/455217/...er-inquiries-quick-questions-classic-menswear

I'm going to page @Cleav for you because I'm pretty sure he can give you some advice.

 

[Cleav]



Hey Sydney, We have a weekly thread that would be great for questions like this. Next time you have a quick question, check it out. Here is the link for this week:

http://www.styleforum.net/t/455217/...er-inquiries-quick-questions-classic-menswear

I'm going to page @Cleav
 for you because I'm pretty sure he can give you some advice.

It's all about sleeve length for me so getting the sizing right is key. All of those are good to go.

Everything is of the highest order whether you live 6 miles away (!) or the other side of the world.

LMK, may be I can look in on the FS for you?

 

[4characters]

John Smedley is a British company that makes knitwear of the finest quality in Great Britain and has been doing so for more than 200 years. It is a family business for and has been for 8 generations; it still owned and operated by members of the Smedley family. The machines they have are awesome and they use some really great materials my favorite of which is Sea Island cotton which is world renowned for its sheen, softness, extra long staple, fine fiber, and durability.

Some great and awe inspiring videos about the John Smedley factory:

I ordered a fabric colour card to go over the different colors; it has arrived. So far I am impressed with the overall presentation and quality. I have seen sea island cotton before and even have picked up a couple of Sea Island cotton shirts over the years, but I'm really blown away with the quality of the dyes and the sheen and softness of cotton in swatches I received...

So naturally I had to snap some pictures including some macro shots... Enjoy!






















































Anyway, I am absolutely in love with these fabrics so now I just have to select which colors to get then it's just a matter of time.

The Sea Island cotton collection: www.johnsmedley.com/us/mens/material/cotton#
The homepage: www.johnsmedley.com/us/

 

[simian]

It's all about sleeve length for me so getting the sizing right is key. All of those are good to go.

Everything is of the highest order whether you live 6 miles away (!) or the other side of the world.

LMK, may be I can look in on the FS for you?

I stopped by the factory store recently and came off with quite a haul of v-neck, vest, etc. All of the merino wool, around 50% off or thereabouts. My wife OTOH was less pleased with her purchases. I thought the products in wool were very good (and excellent fit for a slim guy like me); the cotton merchandise was less impressive (and overpriced).

 

[4characters]

I’ve have this old Sea Island cotton polo for a while now. The original manufactures name tag is gone, however there are still some tags left... Anybody have an idea who makes this shirt or about what age it is? Is this a John Smedley shirt?

 

[4characters]

Finally got one of these shirts

John Smedley’s Sea Island Cotton T-shirt Review:

Fabric: The shirt is a nice loose knit fabric that a nice loft to it and outstanding breathability for the summer. I would characterize the fabric as mid-weight.

– Cotton: Sea Island cotton is the #1 finest quality variety of cotton in the world. This (http://www.kaitoumen.co.jp/cont-en-02-02.html) explains the many unique qualities of sea island cotton.

Characteristics of Sea Island cotton:

– Extra long staple length
– High oil content
– Ultra fine fiber
– Natural sheen of silk
– High tensile strength
– Excellent color retention
– Hollow fiber
– Many twists in the fiber
– Great loft

Sea Island cotton is extremely rare and there are many who evoke the name without using the actual cotton. For example: clothing labeled “Sea Island Quality” is not actually Sea Island cotton, but rather is merely another lesser quality extra long staple cotton variety. *John Smedley’s cotton is authentic Sea Island Cotton.

– 2-ply: The yarns are spun from two separate strands which allows the yarn to be spun looser while maintaining strength. this adds more of a body and loft to the fabric.

– Color: There are 6 different colors of stripes, I love the stripes. The dyes are outstanding quality with unique and brilliant hues of blue and green. The fineness of the cotton fibers helps with colorfastness as well. I have already gotten some pretty enthusiastic complements in just the couple of days I’ve worn the shirt.

Construction: The shirt is knit in panels to the exact size, then expertly linked together by the skilled craftspeople at John Smedley. In addition to reducing fabric waste, this technique eliminates the need to wrap seams as there aren’t raw edges: sort of like the selvedge of knitwear.
And the stripes line up from the body to the sleeves.

Care/Washing: It is fairly common among high-end clothing to have to cold wash and hang dry or dry clean only, but one of the many advantages of Sea Island cotton is that it can be machine washed in hot water and tumbled dry warm. I personally just throw my sea island cotton shirts in with my other washing in hot water and they’ve retained the sheen, color, and softness outstandingly well.

Drawbacks/Random whining: The loose weave, though quite comfortable, seems to be more prone to catching on sharp objects such as the end of the zipper on my A2 bomber... The slightly hairy surface looks like it might starting pilling at some point. It's held up fine so far, but I'll be sure to update with how it ages.

Fit/Styling: This shirt very much reminds me of what a t-shirt would look like from the 50’s with bright colors, tons of stripes, fitted body, and loose sleeves which seem perfectly suited for summer activities.

Fit picture (size medium):

And under an A2:

Overall, this is an outstanding shirt, it’s in a totally different league from pretty much any other t-shirt. I love the playful use of color, stripes, fit, Sea Island cotton, ease of care, construction, attention to detail, and general ethos of John Smedley. And most importantly it's just a great shirt to wear and the one that I've found myself wearing the most since it arrived.

 

[crazn]

how is the sea island cotton doing?