Struggles With Mid-Weight Cloth

It was just two weeks ago that Henry Poole was in town, bringing with them the opportunity to paw through the cloth books. Well, Hong Kong's W. W. Chan arrived this week, the last but for one of the autumnal visits by the tailors that I follow, and that provided the opporunity to consider mid-weight jacketings for this coming spring. I had been thinking about the herringbone in the photo for a shoulder season suit, but on further review gave up on the idea as the pattern is simply too discreet, a problem I have with just about everything in Harrison's Glorious Twelfth book.

I did spend more time with John Hardy's wool and silk offerings and there might be another summer jacketing in there if any cloth remains in four months but that is no help for spring and fall. That same company's Sandringham book of cashmere with 15% silk had a couple of interesting patterns but 8 1/2 ounce (250 gram) cashmere may be the worst of two worlds: too warm for the heat and too light to drape and resist wrinkles.

That said, Hardy's Luxury Cashmere Jacketings is worth a look for shoulder season. At ten ounces (300 grams) it has more heft than Sandringham, and the beefy glen checks like the one in the photo are a good choice for travel between city and country.

In the end I walked away with nothing more than a pair of mid-gray trousers from Minnis' 15 ounce (450 gram) fresco that should be able to withstand six hours in an airplane seat without showing any wrinkles.