S.E.H Kelly

[sehkelly]

In other news ...

We have been developing a spectacle frame / sunglasses for the best part of 14 months now.

It is being made with one of the last frame makers in Britain, all hand-made, with a handful of people cutting and shaping and whittling and buffing the frame like woodworkers. Remarkable. The final drawings were, um ... drawn-up, yesterday, and this means they aren't far away at all.





Here they are, along with the most recent -- slightly thicker than the final thing -- acetate and gold prototype.

Paul

 

[Asian Afro]

I'm size 38. Should I take the rip-stop Ventile tour jacket in small or medium? Would a small give a tight fit or would it have room for layering?

 

[sehkelly]

Hello

If you're a 38, then the size S is certainly the way to go. We size our padded garments such that they fit the same on the inside as their unpadded equivalents, if that makes sense.

With regards to layering -- well, the tour jacket is intended to have a fairly relaxed fit, so you'd be able to wear at the very least a shirt and overshirt / sweater beneath it.

I hope that helps somewhat.

Paul

 

[Asian Afro]

It does help. Thank you.

 

[sehkelly]

Hello Styleforummers

What with all the hot weather on the way this week and next week, we decided to make some jackets with the thickest and heaviest cloth we've ever encountered. It's a brand new type of Ventile, which has the appearance of a really thick and dry duck canvas, and all the water-proofness of, well ... Ventile.



It is great, though it doesn't half hurt your hands if you're cutting it all day long. We are making some hood jackets with it. There is the colour above, which is sort of a very strongly brewed tea colour, and also a very very dark blue. They should be ready in a few weeks.

We've also made some new shirts. It is a fairly old raglan shirt pattern we used to do, but improved, with a cleaner shape, and a two-piece rather than one-piece sleeve -- so you get the nice heavy seam all the way down the outside of the arm. Again, with the hot weather coming up, we have selected an angora-lambswool from Sara's neck of the woods (south-west Wales).



Wool shirt, yes -- but the softest and bounciest wool we've ever come across. Must be the rabbit content. Charcoal and a biscuit-y colour (above).

Paul

 

[Werder]

Hi

Has anyone of you tried on any of the SEH Kelly shirts? If so; What do you think of it?

 

[sehkelly]

... if you'd like specific advice about our shirts, you can always drop me a line at [email protected].

In other news, I hope everyone is having a good weekend.

We seem to be ahead of ourselves this year, with most of the spring-time stuff done and dusted, and lots of work going on behind the scenes for winter.

What we're doing at the moment is developing a duffle coat.

We want to make a traditional duffle coat, deep down -- so it will be quite long and unlined, and made with very heavy duffle from Somerset. But then we are adding a more technical-style peaked hood. It will also be split-sleeve -- so inset at the front, so it looks smart, but raglan at the back, for movement. A right headache-causer, this, in the pattern-cutting stakes, but we hope it will be worth it.

Here is the current toile (the cloth is just what we had lying around; not the actual duffle material).





Next comes the sourcing of toggles. Should be fun.

Paul

 

[Asian Afro]

Will the duffle coat be knee-length or longer?

 

[sehkelly]

Will the duffle coat be knee-length or longer?

I am just over six-foot and the current toile sits at knee level.

We are always conscious of balancing our collection, so since we have the car coat and peacoat above the knee, and the balmacaan and trench coat both below, putting the duffle coat in between seems to make sense.

Always open to suggestions, mind.

 

[Asian Afro]

Wait, a balmacaan? Are there pics?

That duffle coat sounds long enough. Thanks!

 

[sehkelly]

Yes -- the balmacaan appeared earlier in the summer in a heavyweight herringbone linen, below, and will return in a few months in a Donegal tweed (also herringbone, coincidentally enough).





And, if you do your shopping in Japan, there's a heavy cotton-twill version making its way to a few shops over there next month.

It has a one-piece sleeve, goes down to knee level, two-way welt pockets, and a throat latch hidden under the collar.

Sorry -- I know these images aren't terribly enlightening when it comes to the shape and fit of the thing.

 

[Asian Afro]

Thanks! Too bad I missed the linen balmacaan. Will keep an eye out for the fall version.

 

[ojaw]

Hi

Has anyone of you tried on any of the SEH Kelly shirts? If so; What do you think of it?

I was lucky enough (or otherwise, depending on your finances) to try on the biscuit melange linen Kelly Collar shirt in person at the Cleve Workshops.
I was impressed enough to buy the company, but only had enough for the garment.
This has to be one of the best finished and (for me) best fitting shirts around, it looks almost as good inside out as it does worn properly.
I'm just short of a 36 chest and the XS fits very nicely.
Not really tuckable if you wear relatively low rise trousers, but that's not what I was looking for.

The location is charming and the gentleman who sold me the shirt was very personable and attentive, though I imagine ignoring a customer in a space that size would be nearly impossible and awkward in the extreme.

 

[sehkelly]

Morning / afternoon / evening all

Since I alluded to a couple of developments here, a few weeks back, here is an update on the end results.

First is the use of a new quality of Ventile -- a very canvas, duck-like in look and feel, which weighs in around the 18oz mark. A pleasure to work with, this, although rather tiring on the hands if you're cutting it all day long.

The other one is the lambswool-angora raglan shirt. Not so hard on the hands this; it is as soft as cotton-wool.

Over and out.

Paul

 

[irbe]

Always so impressed with your offerings....