The guide to cloth: Weaves and designs
January 23rd 2017The next in our series on Cloth is a guide to weaves and to designs. As with the A-Z this is meant as a reference tool, which we will link to as we publish more detailed pieces about trousers, jackets or overcoats. When we describe the benefits of ga...
The guide to cloth: Weaves and designs
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I don't know I'm afraid, I don't have any experience with it...
The A-Z of cloth
November 11th 2016As the next post in our series The Guide to Cloth, we have put together a glossary of cloth-related terms, covering everything from different animal fibres and their properties, to the various stages of spinning and finishing. This took a lot of wor...
The A-Z of cloth
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Hey, nice to hear from you. I don't really ever wear or recommend very stretchy fabrics. You'd really only get that with something that had artificial stretch in it I think...
The guide to worsted suitings
October 31st 2016Choosing a suit cloth is, in some ways, harder than any other area of clothing. Because they all look so similar. If we leave aside the more aesthetic – and subjective areas – of colour and pattern, we are left with dozens of sim...
The guide to worsted suitings
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That was a fast response - thank you! I have the impression that it is rather difficult to find a cloth in the range you named (that is not flannel) in RTW suits, but now I got a number and will look out for something. T...
The guide to jacketings
October 17th 2016What makes a cloth suitable for a jacket, but not for a suit? This is a question I know many readers struggle with, particularly as offices become more casual. Without the safety of a dark suit and dark shoes, what should a man wear? Why doesn’...
Sartoria Pirozzi at E Marinella, and the ‘t...
October 3rd 2016The amount of good soft-tailoring in London seems to increase by the month. And not just because people decide to start travelling: sometimes I just miss them. Nunzio Pirozzi has been travelling to the E Marinella store on Maddox Street for several ...
The basics of selecting cloth
September 28th 2016Selecting cloth may be the hardest part of the bespoke (or made-to-measure) process. You pick the style of a suit every time you buy one off the rack, but you’re unlikely to have ever looked at a tiny square of cloth and tried to imagine what i...
The basics of selecting cloth
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This should be ideal for what I’m after— quite a lot of the style and construction of this will be filched from 1880s riding habit styles, so quite structured and solid....
Introducing: The Guide to Cloth
September 26th 2016This week we are launching another big project for Permanent Style: The Guide to Cloth. This has been a long time in the works, but we wanted to do it right. There is a lot of piecemeal information out there about cloths, yarns and weaves, but (for m...
Introducing: The Guide to Cloth
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I will have to check the suit. Will get back to you....
The corduroy suit
September 9th 2016I have a friend who wears what he calls ‘knockabout’ suits. How exactly he knocks about in them I don’t know, but the meaning is clear: these are casual suits, that don’t belong in a formal environment like an office. Most no...
The corduroy suit
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Great, thanks, Simon....
A lapis-blue linen jacket for summer
August 20th 2016Summer clothing, particularly from Italian brands, often includes a lot of light, bright colours. These can be difficult to wear, particularly in northern European countries where the sun might not be that consistent. I'd suggest that of those brig...
A lapis-blue linen jacket for summer
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Probably not, no...
Coarse vs fine cottons in tailoring
July 25th 2016We covered the appeal of cotton as a tailoring material generally last week, but didn't talk about the different types of cottons. There are corduroys and moleskins of course, gabardines and seersucker. But a difference I find particularly interesti...
Coarse vs fine cottons in tailoring
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I still think the finer cottons here are good, but they're definitely a different aesthetic - they're not shiny, but they are finer, not as tough...
The appeal of the cotton suit – bespoke fro...
July 20th 2016I've always found cotton very appealing for summer suits, but historically haven't had much luck with them. I had a navy one made by Choppin & Lodge, but the make was really too English and structured for the material (my fault, not theirs)....
The appeal of the cotton suit – bespoke fro...
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Of course not Steven, never a problem. I've found it a little difficult to find materials like that myselt actually. The obvious one would be linen, and there I think you'd find something similar, but in other materials,...
Interview: Gregor Thissen, Scabal
July 8th 2016A couple of months ago I sat down with Gregor Thissen, Executive Chairman of cloth merchant Scabal, in Brussels after a tour of the factory. You can read more about Scabal and that factory on my first post here. Permanent Style: I’ve always ...
Interview: Gregor Thissen, Scabal
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From a Tailors perspective the issue of purchasing material on line is fraught with complications and customers need to be made aware that CMT is not a pathway to a cheaper suit. It is almost impossible to underwrite the...
The Holland & Sherry cloths I have known
June 3rd 2016At the Young Tailors Symposium in a couple of weeks, we will have one floor of the Stefano Bemer atelier dedicated to my favourite Holland & Sherry cloths. Holland & Sherry have generously supported the event, and I thought the best...
The Holland & Sherry cloths I have known
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Hi Henry, The cloth looks nice and I think would make a good summer option for a sharp suit. I haven't tried it myself and would usually prefer the Drapers range largely for that reason, but that's the only reason probab...
Scabal: Why make your own swatch books?
May 4th 2016Last week I was in Brussels visiting the headquarters of cloth merchant Scabal. They moved buildings two years ago and now have an attractive, open-plan space on top of their warehouse. That warehouse stores a lot of cloth. Most of the ...
Scabal: Why make your own swatch books?
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Not usually, no. Partly because the books have some cost, and partly because they don't usually have capacity to take on private customers...
A green cotton suit?
January 12th 2015In my review of Spanish tailor Reillo’s cotton suit last week, there proved to be only room to analyse the fit and make. Yet a reader rightly pointed out that green cotton-gabardine is hardly an everyday cloth option. I’ll expla...
A green cotton suit?
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It would have both those advantages, yes. And I'd imagine it would be suited to the kind of person that liked the look and line of hopsack, but didn't live somewhere particularly hot...
The Button Queen
July 28th 2014Last week I discovered The Button Queen, on Marylebone Lane in London. It’s hard to believe I’ve never been in before; I don’t think I will ever select buttons for tailoring from anywhere else. The Button Queen has been around sin...
The Button Queen
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i believe they have moved now.they are based in west wales but have an online purchase https://www.thebuttonqueen.co.uk/...
W Bill and Smith’s sold: Mark Dunsford inte...
March 3rd 2014Last week the sale was finalised of the W Bill and Smith’s cloth brands to LBD Harrison‘s. The company, run by Mark Dunsford, has been built on acquisitions, starting with Pedersen & Becker over 20 years ago and more recen...
W Bill and Smith’s sold: Mark Dunsford inte...
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Not really a football fan I'm afraid. Cycling, cricket and rugby, in that order...
Italy’s mills and merchants explained
July 29th 2013This is a follow-up to my popular post on English mills and cloth merchants: how to tell them apart, how they are related and how to select between them (basically, don’t; there is little difference). Italian mills are a lot simple...
Italy’s mills and merchants explained
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You mean a UK cloth supplier? Or a UK brand (finished goods)?...
Vitale Barberis Canonico
July 23rd 2013This past week I’ve been in Biella, visiting the lovely people at Vitale Barberis Canonico and researching a piece on Italian mills and bunches – a follow-up to the popular post on English mills. Barberis is going through something of a t...
Vitale Barberis Canonico
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Raw materials as in merino, cashmere, silk and linen mixes, and of course Super 120s etc which tell you how fine the wool is. Then there's the weave and the set. All objective facts. Does that make sense?...
Dugdale Towers
April 29th 2013The Dugdale Brothers building in the centre of Huddersfield (scale model, above) is exactly what you’d hope the headquarters of an old cloth merchant would be like. Four and a half floors of old furniture, worn wooden floorboards and the occasi...
WT Johnsons – finishers, Huddersfield
April 24th 2013When suiting cloth comes off the looms and is washed, it feels surprisingly rough, like thin cotton khakis. It is the finishing of the cloth that gives it the touch and the handle we expect. It reveals the potential of the cloth, first, and can the...
WT Johnsons – finishers, Huddersfield
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On green tweed, I had a suit made at A Suit That Fits ages ago, but I wouldn't really recommend that. There was also a pale green jacket from Cifonelli and a green jacket my wife was having made at Kathryn Sargent. I'll ...
Reader question: Cashmere suits
April 22nd 2013Dear Simon, Hello and congratulations on your blog’s recent milestone! I have a question regarding cashmere suits. I am thinking of buying a suit that is 100% cashmere. Now I have come across many suits that are wool/cashmere blends, but...
Reader question: Cashmere suits
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That cashmere is a tiny proportion Chris, it will make no difference to the feel of the suit. Better to go for a nice merino. And it's not a good sign that they include polyester as well... no good suit cloth will...
Pennine Weavers, Yorkshire
April 17th 2013As I mentioned in my previous post on Yorkshire mills and merchants, Pennine is one of the best independent mills left in the area. It is also the largest worsted weaver in the UK, with 32 Dornier looms, and weaves 30,000-35,000 metres a week (most f...
Pennine Weavers, Yorkshire
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excellent well presented thank you...
Huddersfield’s mills and merchants explained
April 15th 2013I was up in Yorkshire last week, based in Huddersfield and seeing a few of the mills and merchants, including Pennine, Johnsons and Dugdale. What struck me hardest when I got back was the lack of understanding among bespoke customers, ...
Huddersfield’s mills and merchants explained
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Hi Nicholas, A lot of mills and merchants put that on the selvedge unfortunately, so that won't help you identify the maker. However, the 'Feather' might tell you more. You'd need to speak to someone who's been in the En...
Como silk museum and Le Noued Papillon
October 1st 2012Normal.dotm 0 0 1 347 1982 Euromoney PLC 16 3 2434 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false I love learning how things are made. That was what first got me into tailoring, and it has remained a passion over the years. I was grateful to Nicholas...
Como silk museum and Le Noued Papillon
Normal.dotm 0 0 1 347 1982 Euromoney PLC 16 3 2434 12.0 0 false 18 pt 18 pt 0 0 false false false I love learning how things are made. That was what first got me into tailoring, and it has remained a passion over the yea...
