A link-cuffed and signet ring wearing T. S. Eliot, the naturalized English poet and playwright known for The Wasteland, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock and other modernist things is shown in the photo (probably taken before the second world war) wearing a heavy worsted suit which I will guess weighs in at 18 ounces (540 grams). That would make a topcoat today but was once a standard English suiting.
Worsteds of that weight predated central heating and passed from the scene as homes and offices grew warmer. Indeed, the 16 ounce (480 gram) suit is about as heavy as a man can comfortably wear for hours indoors in a place like New York where the steam heat is always turned up, and 13 ounces (400 grams) is more common. But the best cloth of those weights makes for clothing that is comfortable and lasts decades.
The move to Super wool qualities has done much to cause these weights to go on life support. Not too long ago, good quality wool from an entire fleece averaged about a Super 80s, where the Super number refers to the width of the wool fibers (higher numbers represent finer fibers). Then came demand from mills in emerging countries weaving cloth in great volume for lower end ready to wear, whose indicator of quality became the Super number. These Supers are in turn woven into suits that are lighter in weight and less expensive because they use less wool. The result is that most of what was once suiting quality wool has had the finer fibers sorted and as I understand it what remains is less than satisfactory for tailored clothing. So it is relatively easy to make more fragile lightweight cloth and much more difficult to weave heavier stuff with a nice hand. My one suit from Smith Woolens now sold out 15 ounce (450 gram) Whole Fleece has a lovely feel without being in any way Super, but only five or so years after it was offered Smith can no longer replicate it.
This is obscure stuff of course, that matters only to those few who understand that heavier cloth drapes better, wrinkles less and is warmer in the cold while remaining comfortable indoors. Cloth for summer is easier than ever to obtain, but the best worsteds for winter may rarely be seen again.
Mr. Eliot would have found that a bleak prospect.
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6 comments:
I was just in Chicago for a business meeting wearing a pair of 16 Ounce trousers. They held up perfectly on the plane trip from NYC, draped better, kept me warm on the way to and from the meeting - but they stood out. And not in a good way. On a sales call, I always want to look a little bit better-dressed than the client, and wearing these trousers stood out.
Of course, the lack of belt loops, monk strap shoes, trilby and pocket square probably didn't help.
Not only warmer buildings, methinks. There has been a demographic shift in the U.S. to the Sun Belt away from the colder parts of the nation. Where "summer" lasts longer or perhaps never leaves, demand for lighter weight cloth ought to increase. As one living 120 miles south of you, I admit to an appreciation of fly weight fabric, wonderful drape or no.
Yep, depends where you live. Here in Australia there probably was never a time when such heavy cloths were used.
You must not know Sator, who runs the site Tailor and Cutter, lives there and when last I checked preferred 18 ounce and heavier cloth.
Sator runs Cutter & Tailor (tailor & cutter is the defunct magazine) but speaking of such matters...
Young and beginning tailors learn best on heavier cloth, because of the drape and easier handling. As it gets scarcer it gets more expensive. It's just a nuisance.
I can imagine that people will soon think it bizarre that someone would want a suit made out of 'topcoat material'.
Will, do you think we will ever be able to find out who Sator is? I have walked the city and never seen a man in a heavy woollen suit like that except for my cousin, a lawyer, and he only does it because he rides a scouter to work in the winter time.
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