In many parts of the northern hemisphere, the end of September and beginning of October are the most perplexing time of the year for choosing a day's clothing. And that perplexity is clear in the illustration.
Summer is over, and the men in the foreground are wearing cloth caps, tweed and, heaven help them, what look like flannel trousers. Nonetheless, the temperature is warm, so warm in fact that one man has removed his jacket and is wiping sweat from his brow, while the woman in the checked skirt has bare arms and legs.
So what to wear? Summer-in-fall weather is as challenging today as it was when the illustration was drawn. And much as reasonable men prefer distinct wardrobes for spring and fall, summer-in-fall calls for something in between: mid-weight cloth in fall colors. That might be a dark brown suit in nine ounce/270 gram cashmere and cotton, or an 11 ounce/330 gram navy wool gabardine, both mid-weight fabrics that are tightly woven to wear a bit warmer than their weight might otherwise suggest.
Less formal occasions, including a turn around the deck, let us take further advantage of modern cloth technology. That can mean tweed jackets that weigh but 10.5 ounces/310 grams, and blazers in mid-weight hopsack for air circulation. Either jacketing could be worn with light-weight worsted flannel trousers (Dormeuil offers some). There is also fresco of course, but after wearing fresco all summer long it is time for a change for summer-in-fall.
Tuesday, October 6, 2009
Summer-in-Fall
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5 comments:
You mentioned in an earlier post the move from summer to Autumn/Fall is a time for darker shoes.
This is the key, in early Autumn a change in tones rather than a whole scale change in weight of cloth will help avoid an uncomfortable position of overcooking between stops.
As the season progresses so too can your cloth, ankles to silk to wool socks, open weave linen to, close weave linen to cotton shirting etc.
In the UK the cold weather doesn't really take hold until the new year, but the skies and general feel has shifted entirely.
. . . the woman in the checked skirt has bare arms and legs.
Hate to tell you this, Will, but I don't think that's a woman. For starter's "she" has got male-pattern baldness. For another, I think those are shorts. Ugly shorts, but shorts nonetheless. Not a skirt.
Good tips on cloth weight and weave, as usual. I suppose we can hope there is a cool breeze at the rail, unlike the warmer bowels of the ship from where the brow mopping fellow might just have come.
I found a great place for Kid Mohair (Sept).Can you give an opinion on this.Please
I hate to differ with C.S., but the enlarged version of the drawing shows a womanly slender waist.
And do my eyes deceive me, or is the brow-mopper wearing a short-sleeved shirt whilst holding a white jacket with peak lapels? It looks as though he's paired his white dinner jacket with a very casual outfit, one that would not normally be worn with a jacket.
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