S.E.H Kelly

[sehkelly]

A few new shirts plopped into the website this week (he says, trying to segue into talking about fashion from what feels a very still standing start) -- including the good ol' shirt with granddad collar in good ol' desert cotton.

We've made this shirt a few times over the years, but I don't think it ever appeared on the website. It works well in this cloth: the sturdy desert cotton makes for a nice, firm, round collar-stand.

We have it in light grey, too, although in pretty small number. It should also appear online at some point this weekend.

And then there's also the shirt with granddad collar in our suiting-grade linen. No other cloth has so unassuming, quotidian appearance, at the same time as utterly fantastic quality. It might look like a fairly run-of-the-mill linen in these photographs -- though I try my best! -- but it is heavy, hard-wearing, fully shrunk / sanforized and mercerised, and is made with the finest linen yarn the mill can get its hands on (and given the size and history of the mill, they're no slouches in this line of work).

We've made a few shirts with it over the years, but this is the first time we've taken a full plunge with it. The shirts age wonderfully well, as they don't shrink, and fade in the right places, and since the cloth is so thick and springy, it folds and crumples rather than creases in the usual manner of linen.

Ahem. Sorry: get carried away sometimes, I do.

Paul

 

[sehkelly]

Huzzah! The shirt with the granddad collar in light grey is up at http://sehkelly.com/shirts.

But the main course this week is the proper trouser in cotton Bedford cord.

I have been trying in vain to develop Bedford cord (which looks like corduroy but is quite different) but about five years. Several mills have tried to make it for us, working from scraps of old cloth, but it has never quite worked out.

But last month blessings came our way and dream became reality: a very good mill has brought back Bedford cord from their archives in a handful of very palatable colours. Perfect for the proper trouser (and jackets, probably, at some point).

These'll be online in a day or two.

I sincerely hope everyone is keeping well and as upbeat as can be.

 

[ojaw]

These'll be online in a day or two.

I sincerely hope everyone is keeping well and as upbeat as can be.

I love Bedford Cord, but is it as unavailable as you say? I've purchased some cloth through Etsy in the past and have also gotten trousers made of the stuff from Best Made and more recently, Thoro-Stitch.

 

[sehkelly]

I love Bedford Cord, but is it as unavailable as you say? I've purchased some cloth through Etsy in the past and have also gotten trousers made of the stuff from Best Made and more recently, Thoro-Stitch.

I can't speak for the other companies, but we source our cloth only from within the British Isles (and only of the very highest standard at that) and it is certainly the first time we've encountered it since we set out.

 

[sehkelly]

I can't speak for the other companies, but we source our cloth only from within the British Isles (and only of the very highest standard at that) and it is certainly the first time we've encountered it since we set out.

Glad to hear of a fellow appreciator, of course!

 

[ojaw]

Gotcha, it looks beautiful from your pics.

 

[RozenKristal]

Hi Paul,
For some reason I can't look at:

Trousers — S.E.H Kelly

Trousers of varying leg-widths, and the occasional pair of shorts, too — all made in the British Isles.

www.sehkelly.com

 

[sehkelly]

Hi Paul,
For some reason I can't look at:

Trousers — S.E.H Kelly

Trousers of varying leg-widths, and the occasional pair of shorts, too — all made in the British Isles.

www.sehkelly.com

Fixed now.

For some reason, I had set the page to being viewable only by people logged into the back-end of website, which is quite a restrictive control in commercial terms.

 

[10dence]

Picked up my shirts today and loved both the desert cotton and linen pinpoint (much softer than I had anticipated!). Especially the cuffs are a detail I, and most likely other people with under-dimensioned wrists, appreciate.

Have you considered a polo shirt in some variation of linen? I haven't found many that are not transparent, and imo it defeats the point of a linen polo if you have to wear an undershirt.

 

[sehkelly]

Picked up my shirts today and loved both the desert cotton and linen pinpoint (much softer than I had anticipated!). Especially the cuffs are a detail I, and most likely other people with under-dimensioned wrists, appreciate.

Have you considered a polo shirt in some variation of linen? I haven't found many that are not transparent, and imo it defeats the point of a linen polo if you have to wear an undershirt.

Great to hear, sir!

We do cut a tight cuff, and there's a small dart at the elbow (easily missed) to ease in the lower half of the sleeve.

We do have the knitted polo at https://www.sehkelly.com/polo-shirt/ (returning again soon, short of sleeve and in cotton) but which I'm guessing isn't quite what you have in mind. Still, it has a collar sufficiently tight and high to look quite nice under a tailored jacket, and I'm a great advocate of ramping up texture wherever possible in summer.

We also have / had a popover shirt in development, which is probably closer to what you're thinking, being made in a woven fabric rather than knitted. It has a one-piece collar, short sleeves, and will be made in the same heavy lining suiting as e.g. https://www.sehkelly.com/shirt-in-linen-suiting-in-dark-navy/ (which is a bit heavier and more structured than your new shirt in tobacco). Unfortunately, it has hit the hurdle that is the lockdown here in London, so development and production, while not suspended, are moving slower. It might appear before the summer, or it might be postponed until next year (now I know how Tokyo 2020 feels).

We have one in cardboard if nothing else ...

Paul

 

[10dence]

Thank you as always, I have a lot to look forward to then!

The knitted cotton polo was already on top of my list, but I would love to hear more about it now that we are on the subject. How many colour variations will we see this season?

 

[sehkelly]

Thank you as always, I have a lot to look forward to then!

The knitted cotton polo was already on top of my list, but I would love to hear more about it now that we are on the subject. How many colour variations will we see this season?

We've actually gone against our usual effort not to make the same thing twice, and made the same porridge colour as last summer. It is a good colour and doesn't fit any of the other knitted styles as well.

And then dark blue, too.

The colour palette for cotton knitting yarn that we use is nowhere near as extensive as lambswool or cashmere, so we stick more to what we know. They're all marbled combinations of two yarns, but still -- there are only so many permutations.

(The polo isn't actually quite the same as last year: the collar is tighter and the placket longer.)

 

[10dence]

The porridge does look quite nice, could you please send me a message when it's available?

 

[sehkelly]

The porridge does look quite nice, could you please send me a message when it's available?

We have a few of them here already, actually — they arrived from the knitter on Monday. What size had you in mind?

 

[10dence]

If they are the same snug fit as last time an XL would be for the best I think.