S.E.H Kelly

[KennethLogan]

Hello Paul, just asking from curiosity...
Is it someday possible using vintage zippers, for instance Lightning Zips (since thats from UK) or make a snap fastener/zippers by yourselves by any chance?

 

[Remy Fool]

Hello Paul, just asking from curiosity...
Is it someday possible using vintage zippers, for instance Lightning Zips (since thats from UK) or make a snap fastener/zippers by yourselves by any chance?

That seems highly improbable since SEH Kelly really values sourcing things from within Britain and according to Paul, no one in Britain makes a good zip.

“On the other hand, we’re a bit top heavy with fall/ winter. There’s a lot of good tweed and wool here. Cotton is a bit trickier to get, so we’ve had to source things from upholstery mills – things that are typically used to cover sofas. And we don’t use zippers because nobody makes a good zip in Britain. Everything we make has buttons."

https://dieworkwear.com/post/166054336824/that-sleepy-british-look

On an unrelated note, the tropical wool proper trousers have been amazing. Thank you.

 

[sehkelly]

That's interesting. I hadn't thought of using vintage or deadstock zips before ...

It's not really my thing, I suppose, to use old or pre-existing cloth or components. I admire some others that use them, and am envious of the great variety of such things and the story and provenance of the components ... but I'm more comfortable designing and developing things anew, from top to bottom. This isn't always possible, but I think I get more satisfaction from working with different manufacturers to develop our own dimensions or thicknesses or weights or finishes of buckle of button, say, rather than dipping into things from the past. The more "up steam" I can get, the better. I would be mining ore for buckles and herding cattle for horn if I had the means.

I also believe with zips you need a means to repair them if they fail. If you have a YKK zip and it breaks, I imagine you can get it fixed relatively easily -- either with the manufacturer or brand or retailer. But with a vintage one, that would be tricky, and you risk letting down the customer.

To my knowledge, only YKK make zips in the UK, and only plastic ones, which aren't my cup of tea.

Other things which would be great for design are out of the question because of minimums. We make a very small number of garments ... so a conversation with a manufacturer about custom press-studs or metal clips for 20 coats is a non-starter. I don't fancy having 20,000 custom press-studs lying around the workshop: it'd take me the best part of a century to use them up!

Paul

 

[sehkelly]

thats

... and I also had Lightning down as being a Canadian manufacturer, back in the day, but might be wrong.

 

[sehkelly]

We are going through a fairly purple patch with development, with one or two new jackets and coats queued up, and a few other older styles -- such as the car coat and what used to be called the hood jacket or anorak -- being quite extensively reworked.

One of the former is this -- the cooks jacket. It is a short, double-breasted jacket, very much in the manner of that worn by cooks and catering corps and chefs and the like.

Perhaps the most notable aspect is that it will be fully reversible. Such jackets are usually advertised as "reversible" in the sense of the wearer simply being able to fasten the underside of the front over the top after a particular heavy session at the griddle ... but this will be fully inside-out-able.

Oh, and more pockets than the norm, too.

And a split-sleeve, as you can see in one of the photographs above.

We have a very good heavy melton and an equally very good "workwear worsted" lined up for this one, after the summer.

 

[sehkelly]

Hi @sehkelly
Would you, in the future, consider adding sleeve measurements from center back?
Reason I ask this is because as a shorter than average guy, getting clothes with the proper length is a real issue for me.
I think sleeve length measured from center back is more useful and consistent, and I think that's what most people use.

Done.

I've been weighing this up for weeks but decided to switch everything over to "sleeve from centre-back neck".

I prefer "sleeve over shoulder" for the intuitiveness of it, but since we've just developed a shirt that has a wide neck, finally the brute consistency of "from centre-back" has won out.

Thanks for the suggestion and for putting me on the right path.

 

[ojaw]

Done.

I've been weighing this up for weeks but decided to switch everything over to "sleeve from centre-back neck".

I prefer "sleeve over shoulder" for the intuitiveness of it, but since we've just developed a shirt that has a wide neck, finally the brute consistency of "from centre-back" has won out.

Thanks for the suggestion and for putting me on the right path.

Now if only you could add a sweep measurement to all upper garments.

 

[sehkelly]

Now if only you could add a sweep measurement to all upper garments.

No plans for that one!

... but if there is a particular garment whose sweep measurement you’re curious to know about, I can always take a look. I’m never more than a few feet (or 0.305 metres if you prefer) from a tape-measure.

Paul

 

[ojaw]

Thanks Paul, will enquire when the time comes.

 

[sehkelly]

Grand.

We've had a few more of our polo shirts and v-necks made in the super-soft cotton in "carbon grey".

A well-meaning local man was kind enough to model them outside the workshop the other day.

He also took the time to layer up his field shirt in canopy cotton with a waistcoat in the same cloth, to eye-popping "double canopy cotton" effect. Admittedly not quite the thing for the climate at present (though the cotton isn't half as heavy as first impressions suggest) ...

Paul

 

[sehkelly]

More — yes, more — photographs of our kind and photogenic friend wearing some of our newer creations for the camera.

There's the field shirt here, and below it the cardigan. In both instances, he's wearing the shorts in burlap, which really are an enjoyable thing to wear even in hot weather, despite their considerable heft, because of the openness of the weave. And with the cardigan, he's wearing the shirt in super-fine merino cotton, which for me has been another revelation in these warmer times: how something woollen can be suitable for the summer is a novelty yet to wear off here.

We've also been busy writing on our website (at https://sehkelly.com/sleeve-preservation-society/ and https://sehkelly.com/summer-feeling/) — and, for the first time in many years, on reddit, where I was afforded the chance to witter on about many different subjects. That's at .

 

[Blackmaged]

Paul, any chance the parka major will arrive in new fabrics when the weather gets a bit chillier?

 

[sehkelly]

Paul, any chance the parka major will arrive in new fabrics when the weather gets a bit chillier?

Afraid not, sorry!

The parka is taking a breather until next year. Our pipeline is already bulging with other coats, and I couldn’t find space to squeeze it in. We have been working on some new shades of the canopy cotton and cotton sail-cloth, both of which will be great candidates when the time comes around. We also just finished making for a customer the parka minor in weatherproof ripstop (the synthetic) and it worked very well indeed, which is certainly good for thought.

 

[sehkelly]

In case anyone was of a mind to visit our workshop over the next few weeks, I can advise that it isn’t a very good idea.

We are closed, see, for the summer. This is a sort of summer break, which is a play on words, because I broke my arm when climbing (or rather falling from) the ladder at the workshop last week. Rather than stand around more useless than ever — unable even to put a jacket back on a hanger or button up a shirt — we decided to do more productive things on the days we’d usually open the place to the public. Which is frustrating, but hopefully the silver lining will emerge in due course.

Normal service continues online.

I’ve busied myself so far wittering on about factories in London with an up and coming journalist at https://www.permanentstyle.com/2019/07/the-inside-of-a-london-factory-by-paul-of-seh-kelly.html, and posting several blog posts on our website, most recently about the upcoming Chesterfield at https://www.sehkelly.com/single-breasted-vision/.

 

[ojaw]

This is a sort of summer break, which is a play on words, because I broke my arm when climbing (or rather falling from) the ladder at the workshop last week.

Well that is ****, I hope Grace wasn't involved.