Category: Cloth

The first fitting is where the craft of bespoke tailoring most reveals itself.  Imagine lifting up the point of one shoulder. That shortens that side of the jacket, so it will have to be lengthened. It changes the angl...

I recently followed a thread of interest from shirtmaker Emma Willis, to the slow-woven fabric of her dressing gowns, to the company that produces them, de Le Cuona. It was a fairly speculative journey. I had no idea wh...

Living in a city, it’s easy to become reliant on Google Maps. After all, it will tell you not only where things are, but how to get there, which train is fastest, and the branches of Pret a Manger along on the way.  ...

OK, so when I wrote last week about how Donegal yarn is spun, I left out the best bit.  It was deliberate, as I thought this process deserved a post on its own. When Maureen at Donegal Yarns started our tour of the fac...

*Donegal Coat update: The first batch is ready and will be shipping out this week. A smaller second batch will go on sale next week. Use the form on the shop page to be added to the waiting list for that if you're inter...

Two years ago, when we visited the Joshua Ellis mill near Batley, Yorkshire, I spent a happy couple of hours browsing their archive.  As you might expect, the vast majority were classics: plain or textured cashmeres, h...

My favourite Harris Tweed has not been available for a few years now.  Originally offered by Holland & Sherry, I was such a fan that I used it for one of my favourite tweed jackets (from Elia Caliendo, below ), a f...

Whitcomb & Shaftesbury have achieved great popularity in recent years because of their pricing.  They offer one service where the majority of the suit is made in their Indian workshop, and as a result can offer a Sa...

My Cifonelli velvet jacket The cloth that you select for a tuxedo (or black tie) probably won’t get as much thought as the design, the shirt or indeed your bow tie. The options are fairly limited, and all those other t...

Back in 2017, Jamie Ferguson and I visited fabric mills in Japan - like Hosoo, in Kyoto (pictured below) , which produces the most extraordinary silks. It was really interesting to see the weaving side of Japanese herit...

This bespoke jacket was made by Shibumi, the Italian/Japanese company better known for ties and accessories.  Over the past couple of years, founder Benedikt Fries has been working with a small Florentine tailor to off...

UPDATE: Please note that the tech sheet for tailors, mentioned below, also includes information on the small shrinkage that sometimes occurs with Escorial. If your tailor is unsure on how this will affect the amount you...

  One point that was particularly popular in a recent video chat – ‘ How can I dress up without a suit?’ – was the idea of an unstructured or shirt jacket, to wear at home.  Something that you can t...

The headline news in this season’s round-up is the launch of Anglo-Italian cloth .  That’s right, the shop that does MTM tailoring is also selling cloth that customers can take elsewhere to have made.  The move wa...

Anyone that has been on or around Savile Row in the past year would have likely come across the force of nature that is Nancy Johnston (above), founder of Tengri, and her yak fibre.  Nancy is a social worker, traveller...

  I’m a relatively new convert to winter shirts.  Although I’ve had brushed cottons in the past (such as my grey made by Simone Abbarchi, above) it’s only this season that I’ve started wearing heavier flann...

This series started as a way to highlight cloths from the hyper-seasonal collections - usually Italian - that came and went within a few months.  The impulse was that readers often saw something I had had made, and ask...

Man, I love the pop-up shop. It's being going so long now that I know exactly what it will be like, and I look forward to the atmosphere, the chats, and the conversations with readers. It's exciting putting your product...

Today, the question I get more than any other is: what cloth should I use for a sports jacket?  Selecting cloth for a jacket is not easy, at least once you’ve gone beyond the navy blazer. Compared to a navy or grey s...

This is a summary and analysis of the high-twist wools available from different mills and merchants.  As with the linen one we did last year, the aim is to set out most of the range so that bespoke customers know if th...

Why did the Japanese spend all day screaming at Douglas? How does Gianluca think Italian artisans are being dishonest? This conversation between myself, Gianluca Migliarotti of Pommella trousers, and Douglas Cordeaux of...

I was very excited when I received this jacket a month ago. Primarily because of the shoulder. Enzo Ciardi is fast becoming one of my favourite tailors. I like him, I like his roomy Neapolitan style, and everything he's...

[This is the latest in a series of posts on Cloth that has now built into something very substantial: browse the others on the dedicated page here]   The use of synthetic fibres in cloth for tailoring is generally f...

This is the latest instalment in our series highlighting my favourite new seasonal cloths - providing a heads-up to readers on those that will mostly only be around for six months. It’s interesting to see how the rang...

  Performance fabrics are very in. Every retailer seems to be offering travel shirts that resist wrinkling, staining or soaking. Fans of classic clothing are usually sceptical about such fabrics. This is largely bec...