Qirrel
Practically Family
- Messages
- 590
- Location
- The suburbs of Oslo, Norway
That flannel is excellent., and one of the best deals out there regarding quality/price. I have a few metres of it waiting to be made up into a suit.
My tailor in Sheffield has recently been offered quite a few bolts of vintage cloth, going back to the late '40s as far as we can tell. Simply from the feel of the fabric compared to that in the swatch books, it's possible to tell that the quality of modern cloth, even the low-end stuff, is miles ahead of what it once was, manufacturing-wise. Perhaps the most telling point is that the low end cloths were sometimes recycled wool, hence the 'Pure New Wool' labelling we have today.
The availability of heavier weight fabric is another matter entirely but purely from a manufacturing standpoint, the quality of fabric is astonishing these days.
I found a shop where they sell traditional guild clothing to carpenters and such. They have 800 grams all cotton cord, moleskin (Pilot) and a German variant of moleskin, Deutschleder (German leather), which comes in 800 grams also. They have the fabric made specifically for them. I asked them if they can sell me some fabric or point me to the manufacturers.
http://www.original-veddel.de/html_new/herkules.htm
http://www.original-veddel.de/html_new/deutschleder.htm
Fox have also added this 18 oz classic navy serge to their range:
i have a swatch. it has a very slight two tone effect; the ridges appearing lighter than the spaces between.
it's nice, but i'm still unconvinced if serge is interesting enough to warrant making a suit from.
Serge is a great choice for a travel suit as it's very wrinkle resistant.
That explains why it was so ubiquitous back in the day when most men had only one or two suits.
Guttersnipe, i would always recommend heavier -18oz- over lighter for a better drape, but their prices are eye watering. i would order a swatch and see if you're swayed by it.
Do you think there is any point at which cloth becomes too heavy and doesn't drape well?
Are the nephews actually tailors or do the run the front of the shop? I've never met a tailor who loves working with the supers as they can be very persnickety.The tailor I go to (a transplanted Hong Kong bespoke tailor who's nephews opened a shop in S.F.) is always game for interesting projects, but my choices in heavier fabrics does meet with comment. I suspect the nephews think the fabrics I choose are too heavy to drape well, but they are of the generation that is only used to lighter "luxury" supers.