Most of us would find many of the clothes Apparel Arts thought of as summer wear years ago just too heavy for the heat these days, but those same things would be great for sunny days in the spring and fall. Take, for example, this dashing combination of a brown gabardine jacket and gray and white flannel trousers. Replace the white bucks with saddle shoes and the boater with a felt hat and step out on a shoulder season afternoon. It's two twists on items that are useful separately and just different enough so a wearer won't see himself coming and going.
I wonder how many readers would like to join me in a cloth commission for two of England's greatest mills to bring this look to life? The jacketing would be brown gabardine, and the trouser cloth a lightweight flannel that will appear pearl gray from a few feet away. The cost would be a total of $600 for coat and trouser lengths (2.5 meters of gabardine and two meters of flannel).
An order will require something in excess half a dozen participants. Email me if interested. I'll have swatch samples in ten days or thereabouts.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
A Dashing Look
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5 comments:
Hello, you need shirts in drawers. How do you keep them dry and fresh? Do you use cedar block? - thanks for the advice.
What a handsome outfit, Will! Thank you for offering the fabric. I only wish I could participate. I’m sure the results will be marvelous.
Do envisage a slightly smaller scale to the check? I gather that from your description. I can’t recall the accompanying text from the illustration, but the slacks depicted almost appear as if they may have been Saxony.
Every time I view the old AA/Esky illustrations, I’m struck by the prevalence and diversity of the browns, and how rich many of them were. The brown in the illustration looks to contain a fair amount of yellow. But many of that era also had red, orange or even violet in their tone. So different from the flat, dead browns I see in so many contemporary fabrics.
Judging from your photos, I suspect brown is naturally complimentary. Others of us, such as myself, would welcome the addition of more browns with higher coloring.
That is a nice combination. Would love to join in a group purchase, although I'd make something in a single breasted with the jacket.
What are the details for this kind of thing?
Why so much
My tailor never asks for more than 1.8 metres for a jacket and 1.2m metres for trousers.
Old School, I used the lengths I did as an example as many men don't know how much they need. Made to measure makers, as a rule, ask for more cloth than bespoke makers - my trousermaker wants two meters and probably uses less than 1,5,
Steve, nothing is required at this stage but an expression of interest. Once I have more information on the flannel (which I plan to have made into a suit with extra trousers), I'll post it. If there is enough interest to justify the project, I'll ask for partial deposits and place the order.
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