At 16,000 feet (5,000 meters) altitude there are 40 degree temperature differences over the course of 24 hours. To cope with this, the South American alpaca has evolved a lightweight covering that wears cool in the heat and warm in the cold. The mystery, at least to me, is why with those qualities it is no longer used for tailored clothing.
I have had a mild fascination with alpaca since I first read of it used as a tropical suiting in John le Carré's The Tailor of Panama. That had some credibility for me because I have seen an alpaca lined tweed from the late Duke of Windsor's wardrobe. But there is no alpaca in the cloth books, nor has anyone I have spoken to seen it in living memory. There are Peruvian knitwear makers however their use of the stuff for clothing is limited to cardigan sweaters and the like. Puzzling, and Mr. le Carré' has never replied to my letter asking him about it.
All this is preamble to the events of September 29 and 30, which are National Alpaca Farm Days in the United States, an opportunity to visit alpaca farms across the United States.
You know you want to. Save the date.
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I suspect that the ladies have absconded with the vast majority of the supply. My wife gets a catalog called The Peruvian Connection that is chock full of gorgeous alpaca knitwear . . . in women's clothing!
That book was based on the immortal Douglas Hayward, though in real life he was a lot more suave than Harry Pendel.
Coming from the knitwear industry I can give some comments that may or may not apply to the tailored clothing industry.
Alpaca fabric grows. Sheep wool fibers interlock amongst themselves providing a fabric that holds its shape fantastically well.
Alpaca is nice, warm, soft, etc. But other than that it combines the worst features of wool and cotton.
That doesn't, of course, explain why we don't see it in blends. The vast majority of our alpaca yarn sales are alpaca/merino wool in varying mixtures. Also available are alpaca/silk, and rarely alpaca/linen.
On our last trip to Peru I had to be torn away from bolts of alpaca/wool suiting. I don't know specifically about it's suitability, but the only ready to wear items that were with the bolts were jackets.
Hope some of that cross-applies to tailored clothing and is useful.
I am not Mr. Le Carré but, as a Spaniard, I can explain the reason of this confusion.
The word "alpaca" has various meanings in Spanish. Some of them are related to the animal, its hair and the cloth made with it. But others not.
One of these other meanings, related to suits and jackets,is, more or less, "heavy cloth made of cotton with a shiny treatment".
Its a cloth suitable (although considered tacky by many people) for warmer months, and this can be the reason Mr. Le Carré mentions it in a tropical context as Panamá.
http://www.wordreference.com/definicion/alpaca
I've seen Alpaca blend sports coats from Polo Ralph Lauren. I believe they were blended with silk.
I have two alpaca sweaters from the redoubtable Andover Shop. They are perfect for the Bay Area
climate which emulates the Andes but not to the
extreme. Its' more like Quito Ecuador, where I spent
several years, at about 3000 meters elevation.
Hi everybody,
Alpaca jackets are interestingly mentioned in Joyce's "Ulysses", too.
This is a link to the text of the novel: http://www.gutenberg.org/files/4300/4300-h/4300-h.htm
Just search in the page "alpaca" and you'll find two matches. In both cases, the jacket is worn by the same character. And remember that the plot is set on 16th June 1904: and, as it is said elsewhere in the novel, it was quite a hot day.
I have an apparel arts book from 36' that advertises alpaca coats under various names. They are described as a mix of wool, kid mohair, alpaca, and sometimes Peruvian guanaco and Llama too.
Will,
I have a few old bespoke flannels from London lined in what was called alpaca. It isn't alpaca wool at all, but some sort of coarse rayon. Will Field in DC seemed surprised to see it in a jacket only 30 years old since modern lining had largely taken over by then. I suspect this was the lining material of thetweeds you refer to.
js
Clothings made of alpaca wools and furs really do great especially for the cold season. I tried browsing sites of some clothing lines made of this kind of material. They are fashionable, too. Perfect for a winter wonderland experience!
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