Linen suiting weight

[radicaldog]

I just ordered a two piece, half-lined Irish linen suit. The cloth is from a Zegna book (my tailor is in Italy), and it's 11 oz. I take it this is a reasonable weight for a summer suit, especially as I like heavy cloth. Yet the colour selection in the Zegna book was very limited. I ruled out Italian-made linens as they appear too soft and fluffy, almost spongy; however there was another book (Drapers or Carnet, I think) with another Irish linen in a much wider colour selection. In fact I would have liked those better, had they not been a mere 6.5 oz. Am I right in thinking that wouldn't make up well, or did I just make a mistake? I might just be able to telephone the tailor and stop him from ordering the Zegna cloth. I should add that the Zegna cloth also looked nicer in so far as it had more irregularities in the texture, as proper linen should have.

 

[Concordia]

11oz is not too heavy. I have no idea if Zegna's is worth using.

 

[Nicola]

The Zegna travel jacket I bought can't be 11oz. It feels much lighter. Can you get the same cloth they use for the travel line?

 

[meister]

Originally Posted by radicaldog

I just ordered a two piece, half-lined Irish linen suit. The cloth is from a Zegna book (my tailor is in Italy), and it's 11 oz. I take it this is a reasonable weight for a summer suit, especially as I like heavy cloth. Yet the colour selection in the Zegna book was very limited. I ruled out Italian-made linens as they appear too soft and fluffy, almost spongy; however there was another book (Drapers or Carnet, I think) with another Irish linen in a much wider colour selection. In fact I would have liked those better, had they not been a mere 6.5 oz. Am I right in thinking that wouldn't make up well, or did I just make a mistake? I might just be able to telephone the tailor and stop him from ordering the Zegna cloth. I should add that the Zegna cloth also looked nicer in so far as it had more irregularities in the texture, as proper linen should have.


Everything you did was correct re weight. Holland and Sherry or our own SFers might have a better cloth like Minnis.

 

[radicaldog]

Thanks for the responses. I should note that the linen is not made by Zegna, but selected by them. In fact it's made in Ireland! I've got a couple of other bespoke pieces where the label says 'Cloth selected by Ermenegildo Zegna': in Italy they also work as cloth brokers. The quality of the cloth seemed good, and it's also a bit more expensive than some of the usual English suspects, so I'm not terribly worried about the quality. I just wanted to be reassured that 6.5 ounces is too light.

 

[JTA]

Understand that the thread is already long outstanding however am seeking wisdom regarding linen fabric weight and size as I'm a bit confused with the information on how to convert the weight from running meter or running yard to linear meter or linear yard.

Would a linen fabric with a weight of 180 gram per square meter (width 150cm) be suitable for jacket? and what about linen fabric with a weight of 430 gram per square meter (width 90cm), would it be suitable for jacket? Am thinking of year around one for weather similar to San Fransisco.

Thanks.