More Cloth Than Money

Perhaps the second best thing about a clothing hobby is the time spent with the cloth that will become one's clothes. A man starts with a vague idea about what his wardrobe needs, and then goes looking for cloth to turn it into reality. Along the way there are detours, disappointments and surprises.

I was looking for warm weather clothing this season and found more pleasant surprises than disappointments for a change. There was the unexpected gray windowpane from H. Lesser's 9/10 bunch in Beverly Hills, as well as gray and cream lengths of John G. Hardy's discontinued Rangoon fresco in Singapore. And, though silk odd jacketings are becoming rare, I was able to reserve a piece of John Hardy's rapidly vanishing Ascot wool and silk blend (in the top photo).

Simon Cundey of Henry Poole spent the early part of his career working for a mill, and is one of the more articulate men on Savile Row when it comes to cloth. He helped me settle on a Smith Woolens mohair and wool for a shawl collared double breasted dinner jacket, and also introduced me to Huddersfield's Groves and Lindley, an obscure mill that makes the very nice 9 1/2 - 10 ounce silk, mohair, linen and Super 120s wool blend in the second photo. That last one will have to wait for a while though. Once again I have more cloth than money.