In 1765 Ferdinand VI of Spain gave some Escurial merino sheep to Prince Xavier the Elector of Saxony and these were then interbred with the Saxon sheep to produce the Saxony Merino or Electoral Merino. These sheep produced a very fine, dense, soft yarn which made German wool famous as the best in the world.
Just a quick post to let you know that the shop will be closed on Monday and Tuesday next week (30th and 31st August). Apologies if that affects your plans, but we will be back full of energy from Wednesday!
]]>This in itself isn’t too surprising or disturbing, but the long term effects may be. HFW’s premises at Kirkheaton have been levelled and HMS International is only buying the brands. More and more of Holland & Sherry’s cloths are made in Chile rather than in England. What we worry about is the future and reputation of British cloth. In contrast, the “Made in Italy” brand has protected and developed the industry in Italy – is it time to have more publicity for “Made in England” and to publicise how strict the criteria are to label something as such?
HMS International also owns a Chinese mill but we haven’t seen the output yet to compare with our Italian and British cloths. It will be very interesting to see the quality and more interesting to see how customers react. But we hope that this doesn’t mean that HMS International will start to introduce Chinese made cloth into the books of the HFW brands, because it may hasten the decline of the “Made in England” brand.
The ‘worsted’ means that the cloth is made from tightly twisted long staple cashmere fibres, which makes the cloth strong and resilient without losing its softness. What is most exciting is that this makes it suitable for both jackets and trousers – before this, cashmere was only really suited to jacketing because cashmere cloths were too delicate for trousers. As you may have guessed, this kind of cloth is not cheap both because it is cashmere and also because it goes through the worsted spinning process, but the increase in performance and longevity does justify this increase in price. We really try to keep the prices on these luxury cloths to the lowest reasonable price to encourage people to try them – so drop by the shop and have a look!
The great thing about casual wear is that there are many less restraints on colour, cloth and style because you are no longer bound by conservative workplace constraints. The picture below shows some of the casual wear currently on the rail for some of our customers whose eyes are on their autumn / winter wardrobes.
I am not quite sure what to make of this development; on one hand, I do like men to play with the rules of formal wear and to inject some character into their wardrobe, but on the other, black tie is a dress code that every man can understand and feel comfortable with instantly. So sometimes it seems to breed the same insecurity as the 'Smart-Casual' dress code – the rules have suddenly shifted and the extra choice puts many men off rather than encouraging them. The two pictures below illustrate this point – any man in a dinner suit can come close to looking like Cary Grant, but if you go off-piste you may end up making the same mistakes as Eric Bana...
My advice to customers depends on the customer and the event, but the one constant is that black tie, of whatever type, is meant to give the ladies’ outfits a chance to shine against a subtle background of black and midnight. The current trend seems to sometimes ignore that subtlety and encourage men to make a statement at just the time when they shouldn’t and it gets dangerously close to the clothes overpowering the man wearing them.
I think the only other option is to wear traditional black tie, adopt a haughty aristocratic stare and when someone asks whether you read the dress code, reply that the only Hollywood you know is a suburb of Birmingham and you can’t see how that would affect black tie...
A quick word on the cloth itself as well which is a twist from Brook Taverner sourced by the customer himself. This style of cloth is perceived as quite old fashioned and is getting less and less common because many mills no longer make it. The usual reason is that the number of different coloured yarns which have to be twisted to get the range of colour in the cloth makes the production process very time-consuming. It is a pity because it is the handle of the cloth and the range of colours in the cloth which makes it so attractive.
First, in this age of austerity, people are trying to improve what they have rather than purchasing something new. If you have a suit in the wardrobe which isn’t quite right, then for a small outlay you can get a nicely fitted suit for a fraction of the price of a new one.
Secondly, for some reason a lot of people have been inheriting good quality suits which don’t quite fit or were cut in a time when fashions were different. Again, if you have a hand-made suit, the investment of time and money to get it right for you now will be repaid in the years of wear you will get out of it. It may even be time to kickstart this by raiding your father’s, or grandfather’s, wardrobe...
And finally, when travelling lots of people let the tropical air go to their head and buy lightweight and linen suits from Hong Kong, India or Thailand, but when they get back home they realise that the suits aren’t quite fitting right. Again, we can help to re-model them so you get the best fit possible and forget the trauma of an ill-advised holiday bargain.
As the weather has got hotter, more and more customers have been bringing in their linen suits to be given the once-over and as the picture shows, we have a quite a selection on the rack!
]]>Solbiati is a family owned Italian business founded in 1874 which now specialises in high quality linens and cottons. The company is responsible for a number of innovations, including fibre-dyed and crepe linen. One of the most noticeable things when you look at their bunches is the use of colour and pattern. There is a distinctive feeling to the collection; the colours are nearly always earthy and natural yet characterful, individual and wearable.
In the bottom left corner of the picture above is a small selection of three cotton solaros in some slightly unusual colours. It is this type of creativity and innovation which draws us to Solbiati’s style. The crepe linen too is very exciting – it is made by twisting flax fibres together before weaving and this imparts spring and resilience to the cloth, similar to a worsted twist in fact. But flax is a woody fibre and must be softened first by being thoroughly soaked and then carefully twisted to ensure that the fibres don’t break. Therefore the linen feels a bit coarser (because it is 2-ply) but it doesn’t crease so much at all and retains that very summery look – it is a great example of improving a natural fibre’s performance with a little thought and effort. Of course, the extra preparation costs and time means that the crepe linen is more expensive that regular linen, but if it combats one of the main problems with regular linen then we think that this is a worthwhile trade-off!
Secondly, just like finding a good quality tailor, take some time and effort to find a dry-cleaner who will keep your new clothes in top condition. The modern dry-cleaning process is based on a highly industrialised mass market approach, whereas what you need is someone willing to take some time and care over your garments and not subject them to the rigours of a modern dry-cleaning system. You should only need to do this once, but it is worth going to some trouble to sound out your local dry-cleaner. Here are a few clues to help you gauge the quality of your dry-cleaner:
Do they sponge and press garments by hand? This is the least invasive and best quality cleaning process that there is. It is an old-fashioned name for the process and if your dry-cleaner gives you a blank look, then try to make sure that weak solvents are used and that they are applied selectively to the stained areas of the garment by hand. In all cases try to avoid any more industrialised processes which will be too hard on your clothes.
If you find a dry-cleaner who is happy to provide this service, then we would recommend dry-cleaning your suit about once every 20 wears. We will be posting a more in depth update in the near future on this topic covering shirts as well – so keep your eyes peeled!
The biggest development is that we have started to offer a muslin fitting for every new customer. Retailers do not usually go to this level of service anymore and rely on the feel or colour of the cotton to sell shirts. Our emphasis is on fit, first and foremost, because that is our primary concern. It doesn’t matter if the customer chooses a sea-island cotton or a Super 200s, if the shirt doesn’t fit perfectly, we have failed.
The muslin is essentially a toile fitting which we use to perfect each customer’s pattern before we even touch the shirt cotton, and sometimes before the customer even chooses the cotton.
Although it is called a muslin fitting, we actually use a batiste. We tried a muslin and two types of calico before we settled on a batiste thanks to the helpful people at The Cotton Patch. The batiste works extremely well because it is pure cotton and replicates the drape of our cotton shirtings extremely well. As you can see from the picture below, there is a simple band collar, but no cuffs or finishing on the hems – it is the pure form of the shirt.
As alluded to last week, proportion is everything when it comes to a double-breasted jacket. First, the proportions of the body: a high armhole with a nicely curved waist ensures that the jacket looks slimming and a natural shoulder line keeps the shoulders in proportion with the waist and avoids the jacket looking too boxy. All too often a double-breasted jacket is cut with wide shoulders and a pinched in waist giving a real hourglass figure, we try to have some shape in the waist but with skirt flare minimised to keep the silhouette natural and flattering.
Secondly, button position really affects the initial impression of a DB – this includes the distance from the hem to the bottom pair of buttons, the distance between buttons (both horizontally and vertically) and the first button position. This is where a tailor’s eye and skill comes into it and if you trust your tailor, this is where it will pay off.
A nice little detail is the buttonhole on each lapel; the symmetry complements the style of the DB. Given the current fashion of single-breasted jackets with peaked lapels, we were amused to find several pictures from the 1930s and 1940s showing the last time this was in fashion. The best of the bunch is this picture of screen legend George Raft (most notable for his role in the original (and best)Scarface)!
A brief glimpse of Cary Grant in Arsenic and Old Lace or Fred Astaire should redress the balance and convince you that maybe it is not so much ‘who’ wears a double-breasted as ‘how’ you feel you should wear it which puts people off the DB. It is true that the double-breasted jacket is more formal than the single-breasted but it need not make you feel like you are buttoned up like a stuffy aristocrat. Some people still surround the double-breasted with formality and rules, such as, “Only do up the top right button, the bottom right is for show only” or, “Never, ever leave the inside button undone” or even, “Never wear a double breasted jacket without its matching trousers”.
These rules all reinforce the formality of the DB jacket, but this needn’t be the case. The picture below of the Duke of Windsor along with the picture of Roger Moore above, show that these rules are only for those who do not have the confidence to wear their clothes.
But secondly, it seems like the inside button has been left undone completely because you can see that the under-lapping front panel is collapsing at the bottom. Yet still the Duke of Windsor seems perfectly well-dressed, which is down to the proportions, cut and fit of his suit, a great example of the tailor’s craft.
The fabrics are from Dormeuil and Scabal, who seem to keep their ranges updated with some interesting and modern colours, patterns and blends.
Of course, if you haven’t ordered yet, there is still plenty of time – we can turn around a pair of trousers in a matter of six or seven weeks, which would leave a couple of months of summer wear at least!