It's been decades since an 11 ounce cloth was considered summer weight, but here is a thoroughly modern industrialist, Luca di Montezemolo of Ferrari, wearing a suit of 11 ounce Solaro herringbone from Smith and Co. (the cloth gives itself away by the hint of red that comes from its colored underside). Re-purposed for the milder temperatures of spring and fall, Solaro is ideal for a place like San Francisco where we have cool sunny days scattered randomly throughout most of the year.
Like gabardine, another summer cloth of years gone by that wears warm and so finds itself relegated to the shoulder seasons, the classic Solaro color is tan. Unlike gabardine, that tan is usually executed in a hard wearing herringbone weave that has me dreaming of a three button suit with patch pockets and swelled edges. Mr. Peter Harvey's fall assignment, for certain.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Solaro Time
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8 comments:
Is it me, or does this suit look like it was made for somebody else?
Will,
My question about your post from 19 August is about gabardine. I was raised to know that poplin, tropical wool and linen are strictly summer fabrics. LIkewise, tweeds and flannels are winter fabrics. All are less formal than the worsted and gabardine which can be worn properly year-round. Your post seems to indicate that gabardine is only a spring/fall fabric and that I should not be sporting my favorite gabardine trousers except during these times. Please tell me I haven't been dressing improperly all these years!
Ethan, gabardine began its life as a warm weather fabric and that's why it's made in lighter colors for the most part. But it does wear warm and there's no reason not to wear the darker colors in cool weather.
Thanks for the feedback. Sounds like it's still not right for the heart of a Northeastern winter though.
I agree with björn. It looks a little too large.
But Smith makes wonderful cloth. I have a blue suit in Smith Finmersco, made in a deconstructed fashion...half lined. Finemrsco is Smith Woolen's answer to fresco...less rough on the hand than the traditional JJ Minnis version and has a fine mail-chain like texture. Nice hand, and at 13oz, it drapes beautifully. And because of the texture of the material, allows the breeze through...and can be quite cool.
Pete
http://true-bespoke.blogspot.com
Those are some crazy lapels.
Let me be the first to say that Luca Cordero di Montezemolo is an impeccable dresser. Whose wardrobe is a bastion for all of us jaunty chaps. I am sure the material is lovely, with its diaphanous appearance revealing its base. But I cannot pull my attention away from a thought resounding in my mind.
“But Jonnie Cochran’s suits were examples of the most common and vulgar deviation from the classic mode: their three button stance forms a keystone that buttons only at the bottom row...you will find ease in acquiring the mode of Cochran, but great unsightliness in wearing it.”
-Nicholas Antongiavanni (Michael Anton) The Suit: A Machiavellian Approach to Men’s Style (p. 14)
So, despite his being Italian, CEO of the Fiat Group, President of Ferrari...I just cannot excuse the choice of design..”and thus it ruined him.”
Let us say only that Mr A. is a good friend of strong opinions, some of which he's been known to change to the direct opposite, equally strongly held opinion.
Personally I see nothing against a DB buttoned to the bottom row. It was good enough for the Duke of Windsor.
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