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10dence

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Maybe some knitwear?

I'm with this guy (not on the balmacaan, still want one of those). Would like to see a really textured cardigan with a shawl collar.

Another thing would be a waxed cotton jacket without bellows pockets. Or generally any outerwear that you already have except with more storage on the inside, moved there or added. The patch pockets from the peacoat would make a nice addition to the inside of almost every outer I have from you.
 

sehkelly

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I'm with this guy (not on the balmacaan, still want one of those). Would like to see a really textured cardigan with a shawl collar.

Another thing would be a waxed cotton jacket without bellows pockets. Or generally any outerwear that you already have except with more storage on the inside, moved there or added. The patch pockets from the peacoat would make a nice addition to the inside of almost every outer I have from you.

Thought I'd start at the front and work backwards ...

We're not averse to a shawl collar. It has hovered near the top of list of ideas for a few years, but nothing has quite yet crystalised in our minds that would make it exciting or interesting or different to a normal sweater with shawl collar. I'm sure an idea will form before too long.

The field coat is due to come back after the summer. It does have bellows pockets, however! And we've been working on a long coat that will likely be made in a dry-wax or "stay wax" cloth — and it might even have something akin to those huge internal pockets you mention! That too will appear after the summer.

In terms of full / wet wax — I'm not a fan of the feel of such cloth in generally, personally speaking, and a waxed cloth requires a full lining (and a full lining of a substantial wax-proof cloth) which precludes almost all of our styles, not to mention our general preferences for construction.
 

sehkelly

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I like the slippery slope you are going down Paul :)

I would like to buy stuff re-released from the archives so that we can get our hands on the greatest SEH Kelly pieces never seen again eg;
- natural sheep trousers
- a below the knee version of the early minimalist version of the grey top (?) coat on the SF homepage
- etc etc

And also, Frankenstein versions of your overcoats eg:
- a topcoat + tielocken = toplocken. Chesterlockens, balmalockens, parkalockens etc
- more casual versions of your more formal pieces eg chesterfield + tweed = chestertweed
- etc etc

Ok, I will stop now :)

It is a slippery slope ... you're right!

I love the idea of a balmalocken. Ha.

And we're currently working on a project in the far north of Scotland which will hopefully result in something akin to the trousers in natural sheep twill. It involves a flock of heritage-breed sheep and a weaver in a very small weaving shed.
 

sehkelly

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Cargo pants!
Only sorta kidding.
Raglan sleeve shirts!
Not kidding.

The raglan sleeve shirt idea might be satisfied with the sleep shirt idea that we're toying with now. Not quite raglan sleeves, but a very close relative ...
 

sehkelly

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Agreed with a longer Balmacaan.
Also with a longer trench.

Something I’d be crazy about would be some belt loops on the proper trousers. I know they have slides adjust buttons but XS is too small for me in the thighs and waist and S is a bit too big in the waist with the asjustement. A belt would help a lot.

We're happy to provide extra cloth for belt loops (which should be easily made and attached by a local tailor).

So long as we have the cloth to hand, of course!

The longer balmacaan idea seems popular. Extra length wouldn't hurt the trench, either, and I like any excuse to roll out that coat again. As mentioned in one or two posts previous to this one, we are working on a longer coat (longer than the trench, I mean) which might satisfy the desire of some for extra-long outerwear.
 

sehkelly

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Personally, balmacaan got way overplayed in 2020. Not seh kelly specifically but just 2020 fashion trends in general. So selfishly I'd like something other than those.

Maybe some knitwear? I've been on the hunt for a good polo-cardigan and I'd love to see seh kelly's take on those.

A polo-cardigan sounds good. I know our knitwear maker would do a good one of those.

The only problem with knitwear for a (purely hypothetical) project such as this is that there are few avenues for design or creativity — at least compared to some cut and sewn.
 

sehkelly

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I'd throw money at a revival of the tour jacket tbh. Also would be into any sort of great or long coat.

If we're being silly, I'd like a tour jacket and trousers both made with the Aramid fibre, please, with a reinforced crotch area and some other cycling-friendly features we could talk over.

Good to know!

We have made trousers before in the aramid cloth, for Journal Standard in Japan. They worked fine — not really my cup of tea, but perfectly nice and serviceable. So that's an idea.

The tour jacket gave its life so that other jackets may flourish. The field coat is the current bearer of the collar (in improved form) and the work jacket and I think one other style borrowed other elements. The field coat will likely return after the summer. We have made that in aramid cloth before, a few years back (not on the website) and it worked very well. What you lose in character versus, say, a wax-like cloth, you gain in performance and near-indestructible durability.

A great coat is a great (ahem) idea, too, and I know has been mentioned here a few times over the past year or so. With the trench and peacoat and tielocken, we seem a little top heavy in the "coats with big collars" department, so it isn't a priority, but we will come around to it one day, I should think. Also doorman coats — like those worn outside the great London hotels.
 

sehkelly

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I dont know about others, you might want to gather some sorta polling to do it. I think a lot of people, both on reddit and here, seems to want a balmacaan to go past the knee, so a longer balmacaan might gain a lot of traction. Can I throw in a houndstooth pattern for the balmacaan that go longer than the knee? I will be first in line to buy it lol.

A 3 sleeves tielocken? @_@

Yes — I have heard "longer balmacaan" mentioned in a few places, including my inbox!

Houndstooths are never something we look at very often, as we tend to prefer cloth that is either plain or whose "pattern is derived from its structure (like the ripstop) or its yarn (e.g. Donegal yarn). I tend to avoid things interfering too much with the design of the garment, you see. That's not to say they don't look good, of course! The jackets in gun-club check (Donegal, no less) spring to mind.
 

sehkelly

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+1 for more wilder fabrics. Most of the clothes are plain color and I wouldnt mind patterns or colors outside of the usual.

Cheers.

I have spent ten years looking at subdued cloth so I'd have to have a good look around! We do see some very lively tweeds every now and then, and some of the materials we use come in truly bombastic colours (the luminous orange of the weatherproof ripstop springs to mind).
 

Superb0bo

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^ long coats in weatherproof ripstop, the darker color the better! I would love a waterproof raglan coat.

I feel like the selection of semi-classic rainwear in general (not with your brand) is just thin, surprisingly enough.
 

sehkelly

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^ long coats in weatherproof ripstop, the darker color the better! I would love a waterproof raglan coat.

I feel like the selection of semi-classic rainwear in general (not with your brand) is just thin, surprisingly enough.

I hope we'll have a few things for you to consider over the next few months, then!

Production of the new car coat began today. It is being made in a weatherproof cotton from Scotland: a sort of "stay wax", as they call it, with all the benefits of a waxed cloth without the stickiness. The coat has a split sleeve, which although set-in at the front is, in terms of fit and general behaviour, a three-piece raglan sleeve.

It will be quite like the tielocken, so semi-tailored in appearance, with a nice big collar (but shorter: car coat length).

More serious rainwear will come in the form of the new coat I've mentioned a few times this morning, which will be our longest coat to date. It has a big collar, big pockets, and additional layers around the shoulder and back to better keep out the rain. It has a one-piece raglan sleeve, the same as our trench coat, which is arguably the king of all things raglan (when it works). Plus on account of its lack of seams, it is inherently the most waterproof, too.

Most of our coats are raglan or raglan-hybrids — even the most "tailored" ones, like the Chesterfield. We truly love raglan sleeves here. We work with a pattern-cutter who is very well-versed in the form, and when the pitch is right and you achieve the right balance and shape from a single piece of cloth, it is very satisfying.
 

Superb0bo

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^^ that new coat sounds wonderful (in black, or similar)!
 

sehkelly

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^^ that new coat sounds wonderful (in black, or similar)!

Funnily enough, the sample we have here is black (some old Ventile Ripstop we still have hanging around) and I've rather enjoyed parading around the factory as if in Matrix cosplay. Have to have fun when you can get it, don't you?
 

Csus2

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I'd be very happy to see a fabric like this used on a SB3. In fact, I think a jacket was made with this cloth? Or a similar fabric, at least?


My response to this whole custom idea is basically "ooh make me that thing that I regret not buying on the first go-around"
 

sehkelly

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I'd be very happy to see a fabric like this used on a SB3. I think a jacket was made with this cloth? Or something similar?


We did make an SB2 jacket (a close relative of the SB3) with that very cloth, and in another, similar colour.

It is woven with the yarn of organically reared, locally bred sheep on an island in the Inner Hebrides — sheep which in fact graze the land on which the cloth is woven. Incredible stuff. We were lucky to visit at the time of making, and did a little write-up at https://www.sehkelly.com/makers/woollen-mill-inner-hebrides-scotland/.

To cap it all off, the mill is beside a beautiful beach. What a life it must be.

The mill has changed direction rather, so the cloth is no longer available (it was woven to our specification, if I remember rightly). Still, one of the projects we are working on now is similar in terms of scope and scale, and probably also in result.
 

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