Vintage Suitings: Discussions of, and sourcing modern equivalents, etc.

[Baron Kurtz]

Mid weight. Not super heavy but not light as a feather. I'd be guessing around 13-14 Oz, but it's just a guess. Nice for a spring/autumn weight suit. A 1920s German one I sold was about this weight of cloth.

Similar style, but lighter weight, to this one:

This selvedge is from the inside pocket of one of Dinerman's jackets from the 30s. My fabric has similar white yarn double pinstripes in the selvedge.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I thought folks might be interested to know that I found a pretty good modern equivalent/substitute for heavy vintage gabardine. Harrisons makes a line of barathea cloth, which I believe is intended for formal wear (so on that score, the colors are a bit limited). However, they do make a navy and a midnight blue, which range from 400-430 grams.

What first made me think about checking out this fabric is that I've noticed over the years a lot of late '40s and '50s suits made from wool-rayon blend barathea are misidentified as gabardine.

I had a two-piece suit made in ~415 gram navy blue and I am very pleased with the results. The weight and drape are right on, and the barathea has that sheen so associated with vintage gabardine suits. I just had my final fitting, so the suit is still at the tailor, but when I pick it up I'll try to post some pictures.

 

[Qirrel]

I think they also make a barathea which is even heavier (600 gram IIRC).

 

[Benny Holiday]

That's a great find Baron!

 

[Guttersnipe]

I think they also make a barathea which is even heavier (600 gram IIRC).

Really? I found this fabric via their eBay store, which I don't think has everything they make. I'd love to see more colors and weights!

 

[Two Types]

BK: coincidentally, I'm currently wearing a pair of German trousers (probably German - they have all the details like rear extenders for the braces, pocket style etc) in a mid-weight black wool (maybe 1930s, could be as late as the 50s). A great fabric. I just wish i had the jacket to go with my trousers.

What's your plan for the fabric?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Not sure yet. Prob a suit like a German suit cut along 1920s lines (see above).

 

[Guttersnipe]

Does anyone have a recommendation for a good gray flannel, other than a wallet busting one from Fox Brothers?

I'm wanting to get a pair of 30s style gray flannels made for fall, winter, spring. I'm guessing an 18 oz will be too heavy for California, but perhaps something from 14 - 16 ounces?

 

[herringbonekid]

Guttersnipe, only the Harrisons mentioned a few pages back... but i thought you'd bought some of it ?

 

[Guttersnipe]

I did. In person its finish is a bit harder and the twill weave more pronounced. It's actually a great fabric, and I had a suit made from it (my final fitting was last week, hopefully it will be ready in a week or so). However, for flannel bags, it's not quite what I had in mind. I was hoping for something with a softer finish that's a bit more fluffy like this:



Edit: BTW, this is by Hunt Winterbotham, but it's only 340 grams.

 

[herringbonekid]

i believe Barmey is also about to make a suit from the 2080 solid mid-grey Harrisons flannel. that particular ebay UK seller has no more of the solid grey left.
as for quality flannel suppliers, other than Fox, i'm currently drawing a blank.

 

[Rudie]

J&J Minnis flannel is great. Not as pricey as Fox but still hefty.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Thanks guys!

On the Harrisons' site, there are two flannels that look like what I'm after (39248 and 39249), but I need to check the exact weights. They are somewhere between 350 and 495, which is an awfully broad range. Do they sell directly to the public from their online catalog?

The Hudderfiled site also has a 475 g flannel (0317) by Minnis that is what I'm looking for. At £70 / meter it's certainly a lot less than the £92 flannel I was looking at on the Fox Brothers' site.

 

[Belloqinabush]

Although it's 20 degrees outside my thoughts are of summer at this moment. In the thirties were linen suits often left unlined and uncanvassed with the exception of the sleeves of course? I have seen one recently on ebay that was clearly vintage and unstructured, but the photos were not of someone wearing the item. Looking up images of people wearing such suits back then gives me little insight into the construction and I wanted to know if getting a completely unstructured linen suit made would be shapeless to the point of coming across slovenly.

 

[herringbonekid]

In the thirties were linen suits often left unlined and uncanvassed with the exception of the sleeves of course?

usually linen (and Palm Beach) suits had no canvas.
this early 30s US linen suit jacket has no canvas, but there is a very thin piece of cotton where the canvas would normally be:

the fronts are unlined, but have a wide facing which adds some extra body to the chest front area like this:

(this is a 30s British college blazer).

the sleeves are unlined on the linen jacket above, but some sleeves were lined.

the linen jacket above has 'petal' lining at the shoulder-blade area (most US linen jackets do). same as this, but in thin lining fabric:

bear in mind that these fabrics are pretty weighty compared to most of today's linens.

 

[Don.Nicholas]

hey guys I finally found 30s like collars check it out here'shttp://www.bespokecollars.com/index.html the link

 

[Don.Nicholas]

 

[Tomasso]

That looks like something from Goodfellas.

 

[herringbonekid]

anyone know what the fabric content is of these 30s 'teddy' coats, and if there's a quality modern equivalent ?

 

[Rabbit]

anyone know what the fabric content is of these 30s 'teddy' coats, and if there's a quality modern equivalent ?

I don't know for sure... it's likely a wool/ alpaka blend. I haven't handled this type of cloth, but it looks like an even more voluminous version (more "porous", especially) of those Lampaka/ Alpacuna/ whatnot labeled heavy overcoats that were made of a blend of wool and alpaka, as evidenced by mail catalogues. I could dig up some scans if you want me to.

You could also check the Canadian mail order catalogues that TwoTypes found recently. I recall something similar in there, in the 1920s/30s catalogues.

Use the "search all catalogues" internal search engine on this page:
http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/cmc/index-e.html