Unfunded Liabilities: a/k/a The Cloth Thread

[mr_goosey]

Hi all.

Tailoring beginner seeking some advice on fabric choices. I am planning to have a MTM suit made in the next month or two, in a dark brown colour, to be pretty much exclusively worn in casual settings. The pictures below are pretty close to the styling I have in mind. The top image is closest in colour to what I would like.

In an ideal world, the suit would have 3 season usability (Autumn, Winter, Spring). I live in Tokyo, Japan, where between July and September, the weather is too hot and humid for me to wear a suit of any kind. Winters being generally speaking fairly mild here, I'd chuck a jumper or sweater underneath and overcoat over the top.

I have been reading some of the discussions here about the pros and cons of cotton suiting and while I like the look, am leaning towards wool for it's breathability, durability and "spring". However I do like the idea of being able to stuff a cotton jacket in a bag, where needed, and to be able to use it in a rough(er) way.

My workplace is near Ring Jacket's store here and I dropped by to talk to them earlier today. They recommended some 280g, 290g fabrics from Drapers and Fox Brothers, which were all nice, with an interesting texture. Another option I am considering is to have it made at Drakes as obviously the aesthetic I have in mind leans heavily towards their house style.

Anyway, if anyone has experience with having a suit made in this kind of colour for this kind of very casual/multi season use, I'd be grateful to hear your thoughts on fabric types, fabric weights, and wool vs cotton.

 

[classicalthunde]

Hi all.

Tailoring beginner seeking some advice on fabric choices. I am planning to have a MTM suit made in the next month or two, in a dark brown colour, to be pretty much exclusively worn in casual settings. The pictures below are pretty close to the styling I have in mind. The top image is closest in colour to what I would like.

View attachment 2148369


View attachment 2148371
View attachment 2148373

In an ideal world, the suit would have 3 season usability (Autumn, Winter, Spring). I live in Tokyo, Japan, where between July and September, the weather is too hot and humid for me to wear a suit of any kind. Winters being generally speaking fairly mild here, I'd chuck a jumper or sweater underneath and overcoat over the top.

I have been reading some of the discussions here about the pros and cons of cotton suiting and while I like the look, am leaning towards wool for it's breathability, durability and "spring". However I do like the idea of being able to stuff a cotton jacket in a bag, where needed, and to be able to use it in a rough(er) way.

My workplace is near Ring Jacket's store here and I dropped by to talk to them earlier today. They recommended some 280g, 290g fabrics from Drapers and Fox Brothers, which were all nice, with an interesting texture. Another option I am considering is to have it made at Drakes as obviously the aesthetic I have in mind leans heavily towards their house style.

Anyway, if anyone has experience with having a suit made in this kind of colour for this kind of very casual/multi season use, I'd be grateful to hear your thoughts on fabric types, fabric weights, and wool vs cotton.

Plenty of good browns in this book, its a casual-ish open weave fabric which seems to be designed for 3-season use:

Fox City, Three Season

The quintessential three season collection. Suitable for Trousers, Jackets & Suits and would make the perfect travel companion.

foxflannel.com

 

[bjhofkin]

Posting this q both here and in the overcoat thread b/c the two have some non-overlapping participants:

Looking for heavy, very wide herringbones for an overcoat.

I know Marling & Evans makes some lovely 720g spongy herringbones, and I'm not against going in that direction – but really I'm looking for something wider.

Even this wouldn't be too wide:

View attachment 2147023

Any recommendations?

Bumping this question.

 

[Simon A]

Hi all.

Tailoring beginner seeking some advice on fabric choices. I am planning to have a MTM suit made in the next month or two, in a dark brown colour, to be pretty much exclusively worn in casual settings. The pictures below are pretty close to the styling I have in mind. The top image is closest in colour to what I would like.

View attachment 2148369


View attachment 2148371
View attachment 2148373

In an ideal world, the suit would have 3 season usability (Autumn, Winter, Spring). I live in Tokyo, Japan, where between July and September, the weather is too hot and humid for me to wear a suit of any kind. Winters being generally speaking fairly mild here, I'd chuck a jumper or sweater underneath and overcoat over the top.

I have been reading some of the discussions here about the pros and cons of cotton suiting and while I like the look, am leaning towards wool for it's breathability, durability and "spring". However I do like the idea of being able to stuff a cotton jacket in a bag, where needed, and to be able to use it in a rough(er) way.

My workplace is near Ring Jacket's store here and I dropped by to talk to them earlier today. They recommended some 280g, 290g fabrics from Drapers and Fox Brothers, which were all nice, with an interesting texture. Another option I am considering is to have it made at Drakes as obviously the aesthetic I have in mind leans heavily towards their house style.

Anyway, if anyone has experience with having a suit made in this kind of colour for this kind of very casual/multi season use, I'd be grateful to hear your thoughts on fabric types, fabric weights, and wool vs cotton.

A canvassed jacket, made of wool, linen or cotton, must be treated the same; you can't abuse them as the canvas interlining and shoulder pads may become badly creased or damaged. You can pack such a jacket in a garment bag or ordinary suitcase, gently folded, pretty well. If you want something you can roll up and stuff in a backpack, you need something without the canvas interlining or shoulder pads; a tailor can make it for you but it does not hold its shape as nicely, it is more like a shirt than a jacket.

 

[jeremygo]

Hi all.

Tailoring beginner seeking some advice on fabric choices. I am planning to have a MTM suit made in the next month or two, in a dark brown colour, to be pretty much exclusively worn in casual settings. The pictures below are pretty close to the styling I have in mind. The top image is closest in colour to what I would like.

View attachment 2148369


View attachment 2148371
View attachment 2148373

In an ideal world, the suit would have 3 season usability (Autumn, Winter, Spring). I live in Tokyo, Japan, where between July and September, the weather is too hot and humid for me to wear a suit of any kind. Winters being generally speaking fairly mild here, I'd chuck a jumper or sweater underneath and overcoat over the top.

I have been reading some of the discussions here about the pros and cons of cotton suiting and while I like the look, am leaning towards wool for it's breathability, durability and "spring". However I do like the idea of being able to stuff a cotton jacket in a bag, where needed, and to be able to use it in a rough(er) way.

My workplace is near Ring Jacket's store here and I dropped by to talk to them earlier today. They recommended some 280g, 290g fabrics from Drapers and Fox Brothers, which were all nice, with an interesting texture. Another option I am considering is to have it made at Drakes as obviously the aesthetic I have in mind leans heavily towards their house style.

Anyway, if anyone has experience with having a suit made in this kind of colour for this kind of very casual/multi season use, I'd be grateful to hear your thoughts on fabric types, fabric weights, and wool vs cotton.

One thing to consider is what the value of MTM is for you. Are you a difficult fit OTR? If not, you may be best served by picking up one of the Drake's games suits which are canvas free/unstructured and designed for basically exactly what you're looking for.

 

[circumspice]

Plenty of good browns in this book, its a casual-ish open weave fabric which seems to be designed for 3-season use:

Fox City, Three Season

The quintessential three season collection. Suitable for Trousers, Jackets & Suits and would make the perfect travel companion.

foxflannel.com

Fox City would likely render more formal than the casual Drake's lookbook vibe. The last 2/3 photos in his post appear to be cottony-lineny type rumpled casualness. The first photo in his post is hard to get a read on. If he is looking for a suit that he could possibly wear with sneakers/hiking boots/Paraboot things, I don't think Fox City is it - perhaps a chocolate corduroy or donegal

 

[classicalthunde]

Fox City would likely render more formal than the casual Drake's lookbook vibe. The last 2/3 photos in his post appear to be cottony-lineny type rumpled casualness. The first photo in his post is hard to get a read on. If he is looking for a suit that he could possibly wear with sneakers/hiking boots/Paraboot things, I don't think Fox City is it - perhaps a chocolate corduroy or donegal

Fair, I was going based off of the first image (which looked to me to be a worsted wool) and the fact that he said he was leaning to wool overall...

 

[TheLawBeard]

Has anyone seen any completed makeups of this Fox tweed? Or does anyone have it that can comment on it? Fabric code is TD49.

TD49 : Chestnut, Taupe, Tangerine & Claret Check Tweed

This jacketing cloth is woven in the town of Wellington, Somerset by Fox Brothers, who have been weaving cloth for over 200 years. The range of patterns and designs are directly inspired by Fox Brothers’ extensive archives dating to the mid-1900s and echo the colours of Somerset’s surrounding...

foxflannel.com

 

[mr_goosey]

Thanks all. I would plan to wear said suit with brogues, cordovan LHS loafers or dark brown suede clarks desert boots. But not sneakers.

Is there any fabric which is compromise between wool and cotton - some kind of mix that has qualities of both?

 

[mr_goosey]

What kind of fabric is this?

 

[JHWilliams]

Commissioning a bespoke suit in cotton means that God has given you entirely too much money. You will sweat your twins off in the summer and freeze your twins off in the winter time.

Not to mention cotton is a ***** to clean, almost always requiring dry cleaning, where wool is more forgiving.

 

[sake99]

is a cotton suit ever a good idea in the summer (thinking 30 degrees celsius/decent to high humidity)?

 

[Concordia]

Seersucker has some comfort from the texture. When you get into gabardines, there is a lot of fragility and opacity to cope with.

 

[mr_goosey]

is a cotton suit ever a good idea in the summer (thinking 30 degrees celsius/decent to high humidity)?

Definitely not. I won’t be wearing any kind of suit at all during July-Sept here, where it routinely gets to 38 degrees C with insane humidity…

 

[JHWilliams]

Seersucker has some comfort from the texture. When you get into gabardines, there is a lot of fragility and opacity to cope with.

Even cotton seersucker wears warm. The Loro Piana silk and wool mare is the way to go.