How to choose custom suit fabric
Mainland translation is "cashmere", which is an abused name. In Hai Yin wholesale market, these letters are often embroidered on the edges of many suspicious fabrics. For wool marked "100%" or "pure", I suggest you laugh it off and make way. Of course, if you really have an eye, a few fabrics that are really imported from London and marked as cashmere and wool blends are still worthy of attention. However, the price should be above RMB per meter in 600 yuan. However, in a tailor-made suit shop opened by Hong Kong people in Guangzhou or Shanghai, a pure wool suit costs five or six thousand yuan, and the price of its material in Hai Yin is generally not higher than that in 70 yuan. "
The picture shows the Scottish Harrison cashmere used by President Reagan.
Reagan's jacket was made by Deparis, a royal tailor who served many American presidents. Scottish double yarn cashmere is a treasure, and Kashmir cashmere is a legend. In cashmere, British WBill and HarrisonsofEdinburgh are absolutely trustworthy; Italian Louro Piana and Colombo are also well-deserved. Wool is the best material for making a suit. Adding cashmere to wool will not improve the quality except the cost (of course, it will feel better), so let's put aside our fascination with cashmere for the time being.
As your first custom formal suit, the brand-name 100% wool fabric is good enough. Wool+silk fabric is more suitable for casual wear, so don't go astray for the time being, and then consider it at the end. Linen belongs to summer, so it is not suitable for formal dress, because it is easy to wrinkle, but there are more activities in summer night. Pink, light blue, khaki, white and dark blue linen materials, whether made into suits or pants, are the great love of yuppies. As for chemical fiber fabrics, like jeans, they are all signs of low birth, so you should try to avoid them. In short, as a novice, we should try to avoid materials other than all-wool fabrics.
Worsted fabrics, murals, flannel, tweed.
These four words are worsted, Panama, flannel and tweed, which refer to the types of fabrics. Worsted wool yarn is made of combed merino wool and woven into cloth. This kind of cloth is most suitable for custom-made formal clothes. Panama is a special plain weave, which allows free air circulation and is suitable for summer wear. SmithWoollens and Minnis have good Panamanian fabrics. Flannel is a loose and heavy ancient fabric, which is often worn in winter. The flannel three-piece suit is the most charming dress. HarrisonsofEdinburgh and Fox are very strong in flannel products. Flannel was originally invented by the Welsh, and now the best flannel is still produced in the north and west of England.
Tweed is a unique cloth in Scotland, which is ancient and elegant. Different from the common worsted fabrics, tweed is made of British wool and other textiles with rich colors, which has been in a high position in western fashion for hundreds of years. Tweed and wool are not the same thing. Italy doesn't produce flowers, and neither does China. The reason is related to wool and knitting. There have been many special reports about tweed in The Wall Street Journal and The Times recently. The most classic dress of British gentlemen and nobles is "tweed top+flannel pants". It can be said that people who don't understand flannel and tweed don't understand fabrics and customization, that's another story. The picture below shows tweed hunting clothes made in Saville Street.
The word Tweed comes from the "Tude River" on the border between England and Scotland. Scotch tweed and scotch whisky are both called national treasures. Tweed was presented to world leaders as a British national gift at the G20 Summit in London in 2009. Due to the cold and harsh environment in Britain and the long-term evolution of sheep, a kind of tough wool which is rare in the world has appeared. This kind of wool is tough, curly and multi-colored, forming a unique color spot of tweed, which is very different from merino wool of the same quality and has a completely different taste. Scots use animals and plants to dye yarns, which is the earliest yarn-dyed in the history of textile. Most flower patterns are based on the colors of the Scottish Highlands, and there are also family-specific plaids. Scotland has 72 kinds of water with different hardness. After treatment, tweed will get endless changes and cannot be copied.
Westerners' love for tweed has reached an incredible level. From princes and nobles to ordinary people, almost everyone has tweed clothes. The Duke of Windsor himself is a tweed fanatic, and he has a large number of tweed suits in his closet. In recent two years, "tweed cycling" has emerged in London. Each participant rode a bicycle and wore a variety of tweed clothes, and set out from one part of the city to another, advocating green and showing his beauty. At present, this sport has become popular all over the world, and even the "Tweed Cycling Olympics" has appeared. The picture below shows a tweed trip, and everyone is wearing tweed. If you don't know the flowers in Scotland, you are behind the times.
Dark blue, midnight, dark gray, black
These four words are navy blue, midnight blue, dark gray and black, all of which are formal colors. If you plan to customize only one suit for all occasions, it must be one of these four colors, and the darker the better, not black, so black is the second choice. Black is too strong, which seems a bit inappropriate on some occasions. Here, I suggest that you don't rush to make stripes or checks on the first suit for the time being, so as to avoid the trouble caused by the carelessness of the tailor in alignment.
In Anderson &; On Sheppard's official blog, after comparing the flannel of Harrisons's and SmithWoollens, they instructed customers how to choose blue: "Guests often want something different, and I usually recommend fabric color instead of fabric style. This is very subtle, most distribution books will contain three or four kinds of blue. The deepest is the navy, which is very deep and classic. Followed by dark blue, bright color, still serious and formal; Look at the second blue. This is not royal blue. You can call it medium blue, but color is more powerful. If you wear it, you will experience more subtle colors than you think. I especially like the bright colors in flannel. The unique weaving of flannel gives them a kind of depth. The same method can also be used to choose gray. Light gray is still very classic. Speaking of grey cloth, you should pay more attention to the weave. "
Many companies offer rich blue. The picture above shows a blue fabric of London fabric company HLesser. Americans trust Lesser very much. Xiaoya 1970 launched 100 fabric for the first time in the world, and the fabric expenditure was the first. Xiaoya's iron fist is goldenbale series fabric. Hitchcock, a tailor on Saville Street, said that it is everyone's dream to cut smaller fabrics. The correct choice is to start with this blue color, and then gradually deepen until it is black. Too shallow will seem a bit unprofessional and solemn.
Want people to trust you? That's serious enough, which means it's dark enough. If you can't buy good cloth, black is a stupid way. If you are not short of money, choose British material. It is reassuring that the British have always handled gray and blue correctly.
Balasy, twill, herringbone, sack.
These four words are Balasy, twill, herringbone and mat, which are the most ideal formal textile structures in turn. My first successfully customized suit came from the herringbone pattern. In the later period, herringbone pattern is slightly better than twill and a little more varied than monochrome twill. Domestic twill wool, if the quality is not up to standard, may be worn for 5 days in a row, and pants will be polished at the hips. Herringbone thin strips, especially thin strips, are excellent dress fabric styles. Traditionally, Balasy is the most commonly used dress in high-end suits. Balasy's surface is very dense. From a little distance, the suit presents a delicate monochrome, which is most suitable for formal dresses such as evening dresses and dressing gowns.
Recently, I found that the tailor has SmithWoollens formal fabrics, including many Balasy organizations. SmithWoollens is HenryPoole's favorite fabric brand in London, offering a variety of wool. The mat pattern is plain, and the Panama fabric mentioned above is the same as the mat pattern. The pattern of summer sleeping mat is breathable and will be suitable for people who live in subtropical areas all the year round.
Above: SmithWoollens grey twill fabric
Probably it is more convenient to spin, and twill weave is the most common at present. Most worsted fabrics are twill weave. On twill fabrics, you can also choose some good kinds. Classic styles include rope patterns, chalk strips, large squares, thin strips, Prince of Wales squares, etc. For the second suit, the fabric pattern will be the most important consideration.
Number of branches, number of copies, number of grams, density
The quantity of cloth really puzzles me. At one time, I thought the quality of cloth depended on the count. At that time, my selection criterion was 150. Now I don't need a high count. Ultrafine wool is really expensive. But later, under the same clothes, there were 12 suits made in the same factory, with the same count, the same grams and different brands, but their later performances were quite different. After a long period of comparison and collecting professional opinions, I found that there is no necessary relationship between the quantity and quality of items. As several old birds above StyleForum said, I am no longer obsessed with the quantity of items.
The reason is the existence of "hungry wool". Australian herders found that in some years of drought and hunger, wool was very fine, which was caused by malnutrition of sheep. In addition, the current technology can also manually stretch wool through physical and chemical methods. This kind of wool is very fragile. If it is spun into a single yarn again, it will be a complete tragedy. New fabrics all look the same, and sometimes tailors are too lazy to choose them carefully for you, especially in their busy season. The number of letters is not as good as the brand. You'd better know some brand knowledge.
"Two-ply yarn" (double warp and double weft) is as important in fabric as "top leather" in leather shoes. The first layer of leather, Goodyear, is the standard of good leather shoes; Two-ply yarn fabric and general anesthesia lining are standard in first class. Why do you recommend Gauck fabrics? One of the reasons is that fabrics above 300g are basically two-ply yarns. It took an idiot like me a long time to understand dick's subtext. Find a piece of cloth around you, whether it is wool, cotton, linen or chemical fiber. Pull a yarn on the edge and rub it in the opposite direction to make it spread. You will see that two-ply yarn or multi-ply yarn will break down into two or more thin threads. When a plurality of thin threads are held together, the strength of the yarn will be obviously improved.
From a national perspective, most of the fabrics in Britain are two-ply yarns (SmithWoollens even has many four-ply yarns that tailors have never seen); Italy is mostly a single stock. Textile is not entirely a science, and some links still depend on experience. For safety reasons, "100 pairs of yarns", "1 10 pairs of yarns" and "120 pairs of yarns" are relatively safe when the count is considered. It must be double-stranded. Some practices in Italy and China are 2x 1 structure, and only the warp is double-stranded, which will affect the later performance of suits.
I have carefully compared the fabrics of the same brand with different counts. For some styles, high-count fabrics are very delicate (especially stripes). Of course, I will reward myself with a set of 150 yarn in due course. I want a 2cm wide rope pattern, which is very positive. But most of 180 is still too thin. The quantity consideration depends on the wearing environment. If you want to attend some important meetings, negotiation and signing, and board meetings, you need to consider 150 pairs of yarn (the grams are preferably above 280g). High-count fabrics, expensive accessories, well-made leather shoes, briefcases, and high-end watches are delicate, smooth, and exquisite, which will often win you more returns.
But if you are going to wear it to work often instead of looking for a lucky suit, forget about 150 pairs of yarn for a while. They are more delicate and wrinkled than you think. Tailors in Saville Street have never been very interested in high-count fabrics. After all, suits are for wearing, not for collecting, let alone worrying. Your suit should be your most powerful armor. 150 pairs of yarns of famous brand fabrics should be carefully selected and the final work after you and the tailor have a good run-in.
Above: the cloth in AlanFlusser's studio.
Left: Scabar; ; Right: Harrison in Edinburgh.
When it comes to fabrics, the number of grams has a great influence on the durability and suit performance. There is usually a small label on the fabric style, indicating the grams (grams or ounces, goroz). When choosing fabrics, pay attention to the grams of fabrics. You can feel the quality through friction, and you should also pay attention to the color of the fabric in different light. Individual tailors even put a whole piece of cloth on you to make you feel better. The higher the grams, the stronger and stiffer the fabric. When choosing fabrics, grams are more important than counts. You must remember this. Usually, when changing seasons, 300 grams is the minimum requirement, and summer clothes can be lower.
Men's wear is divided into two styles: gentle and elegant and powerful. Kiton in Italy and Huntsman in Britain are both representatives of power litigation. Power suit must adopt high-gram, high-density fabrics with bee waist pattern, so as to achieve the effect of cool and heroic spirit. People over the age of 30 should think more about power clothes. Several major British fabric brands, such as Lesser, SmithWoollens, Harrisons's, Dormeuil, WainShiell, etc., all have excellent high-gram fabrics. For example, on StyleForum, the 370g fabric of Harrisons's FineClassics series was repeatedly recommended by Manton, the author of Magic Suit. The herringbone suit made of this fabric can be worn for 65,438+00 days on business trip, with good wrinkle resistance, and the quality is indeed as reliable as that recommended by Ma Tong. No matter how strong the tailor blows, no matter what 300 pieces or 200 pieces, a good fabric should first consider durability. Durability not only refers to firmness and wear resistance, but also includes straightness, long service life and easy care. You know, durability is the basic feature of luxury goods. Instead of buying a few dollars of daily necessities, we spend thousands of dollars on our own clothes. People should enjoy the happiness brought by clothes, not care about it. At least I am a heavy wearer, whether it is a suit or shoes, I forget to cherish it after wearing it, which gives me a chance to compare.
I once made a navy suit out of 465 grams of cloth. The tailor has never used such thick cloth. Later, the tailor said that the thick fabric was very comfortable to cut and the effect of making a suit exceeded his expectations. That suit is what I am most satisfied with at present. Good fabrics will obviously make up for the lack of technology. As your first suit, you don't need to make 465 grams, you can only wear it in autumn and winter. But when conditions permit, heavier fabrics should be considered.
There is a difference between soft and hard fabrics in hand feel. Harder fabric means higher density and tighter structure; The finished product will be more crisp and shape-preserving, and the durability will be improved. Technically speaking, in order to obtain a hard fabric, it is necessary to reduce the rotating speed of the textile machine. One of the advantages is that it can release the yarn stress synchronously and improve the quality; The disadvantage is that it means losing money because the output per unit time is reduced. At present, the standard British fabric is 370 grams, and the Italian fabric is 260 grams. Similarly, the difference in raw material costs between the two is 42%; The wage cost difference between the two countries is15%; Slower British textile machines lead to higher costs; Calculated, the cost in Britain is 2. 1 times higher than that in Italy. On the contrary, "soft" means loose structure. Soft fabrics are often only used for tops, so pants can't be made. Flannel is softer. In any case, "softness" is not an advantage. The harder the fabric quality, the better.
The clothing market likes thin materials, which is more suitable for large-scale mechanized production. There is an unknown knowledge in the industry, that is, fabrics over 350 grams are difficult to spin. Even in Britain, the famous fashion website London Lounge once organized a group purchase, where netizens designed their own fabrics and then found a British company to spin. As a result, they were told that the British cloth factory was unwilling to produce 370 grams of cloth if the quantity was not large. Only a few large factories can produce "high count and tight weaving" all-wool fabrics, which is also a way to choose good fabrics.
Global fabric brand ranking
People's infatuation with brands contains profound rationality. No matter what the product is, it is easier to identify the brand. Foreign products are generally better than domestic ones. It is more reliable to rely on fabric brands than tailors. Dormeuil, HarrisonsofEdinburgh, WBill, these brands have a history of 150 years; Fox even set up a factory in 1772, which is as long as American history. In the long history, brands have accumulated too much experience. How much energy did Cartier and Tiffany spend on a piece of jewelry? How much body data does Saville Street store have to collect and how many strange requirements do it encounter? Considering the immaturity of the China market, in terms of brand recognition, we still focus on the common recognition of foreign netizens, especially famous comments.
Ranking is a favorite thing. We like to rank watches, wine and even writing tools with unfamiliar rankings. Taobao and eBay have developed complex ranking systems. Fabric brand ranking is also the most nerve-racking. Rank is like Huashan on the sword. Because every company has its own big killer, there is actually no king of fabrics. If there is, I want to say Harris tweed ("great cloth", "masterpiece of man and nature"). I'm crazy about flowers recently.
Songpan once recommended some brands, "The first time you customize a suit, you don't have to choose LoroPiana, Holland &；; Sherry or Dzheniya, you can see if there are Lesser, Smith, Minnis or Fox in the store. Lesser and Smith are also well-known cloth dealers in Britain, and their prices are slightly higher. Minnis and Fox are both weaving factories, producing first-class flannel, which is in the middle, but Fox is not easy to find, so there is no need to force it. Smith is a blacksmith.
It is worth mentioning that Harrison's is the most popular fabric brand in Britain and America at present, and Harrison's is the most famous Scottish cashmere, which has never been surpassed. Prince Charles, Prince Andrew, Prime Minister Blair, Prime Minister Gordon Brown, President Sarkozy, President Reagan, King of Spain, Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and King of Monaco are all our customers. In recent years, movies such as Avatar, Wall Street 1, Wall Street 2, Redemption of Terminator, Vengeance of V, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Star Trek and so on.
Not long ago, The Times took a huge photo of Saville Street in London. Twelve outstanding tailors stood side by side. The little red in the middle tailor's hand is HarrisonsofEdinburgh, which shows the status of the brand. In the London lounge of the Men's Fashion Forum, Alden, the super moderator, commented brilliantly: "Using Harrisons's and Smith's, and occasionally adding Scabal velvet as a smoking jacket, is enough to satisfy all your dreams of customized clothing." Alden designs, produces and buys fabrics, and is a great connoisseur of fabrics.
Of course, the more brands we know, the wider the choice, and sometimes the tailor may not be able to provide so many fabric brands. For beginners, I really want to find a picture to briefly explain the most reliable fabric brand in the world. Fortunately, this picture ended up in Anderson &; On Sheppard's website, I found that the world's number one custom-made store revealed their eight most commonly used fabric brands, perhaps inadvertently showing off:
Britain: WBill, SmithWoollens, Scabal, HarrisonsofEdinburgh, HLesser, Holland &; Domil Shirley
Italian: Piana, Louro
There are 7 British brands and only 1 Italian brand. Obviously, British fabrics are more popular in the haute couture industry. The interaction between British fabric production design and Saville Street business has a history of hundreds of years. Saville Street is very sensitive to any small moves that damage its reputation and quality. In the global haute couture market, it can be found that the more prestigious and well-known customization companies are, the more inclined they are to adopt British fabrics. At least Attolini, Kinton and Rubinacci made no secret of their preference for British fabrics. Who would refuse something of good quality? On this topic, in the London lounge, a tailor said that in the high-end clothing industry, cost is a secondary consideration.
In the internet age, it is easy to search for the collective evaluation of brands by foreign netizens. Combining the rankings of the three major fashion websites StyleForum, AskAndy and London Lounge, and cautiously adding Dzheniya (not so expensive, not so good and not so bad abroad), another old Italian brand, CarloBabera (known as the most expensive fabric in Italy, Kiton has many fabrics from his family, so don't confuse it with another brand, VBC), we can sum up the "Top Global Fabric 10".
Top 10
Britain, England
WBill (advantages: cashmere, coat fabric, tweed)
SmithWoollens (advantages: traditional fabrics, formal fabrics, murals)
Scabal (advantages: experimental fabric, 180 or more fabric)
HarrisonsofEdinburgh (advantages: cashmere, flannel, high count fabric)
HLesser (advantages: high-count fabric, gold)
Dutch & Sherry (advantages: high-count fabrics, murals)
Dommel (advantage: lively design)
Italy
LoroPiana (advantages: thin fabric)
Dzheniya (advantage: thin fabric)
CarloBabera (advantages: thin fabric)
There is reason to believe that this 10 world-famous brand is trustworthy. This list should be acceptable to StyleForum, AskAndy and London Lounge. Whether it's famous shops in London, new york, Milan, Rome, Tokyo or Hongkong, custom-made companies always emphasize how good their fabrics are, and brand selection can't escape this range. As for the worsted quality, this 10 brand may be similar, and each brand has its own characteristic fabrics to explore. Each family has its own style and advantages, and it cannot be neglected.
As far as fabric pedigree is concerned, Harrisons's, Lesser's and Smith's are the purest and most cherished feathers, for example, there is no chemical fiber blended fabric at all. As far as fabric quality is concerned, HLesser is the absolute first, and is the love of British and American tailors, and can be called the king of fabrics; Harrisons is the most cost-effective fabric in Britain, with stable products, many luxurious fabrics and novel and unique design. SmithWoollens has a traditional style and has an advantage in high-gram fabrics. Many original fabrics have been introduced, such as Whofleece made of merino wool.
Dormeuil is a French company, Scabal is headquartered in Brussels, and HollandSherry's parent company is in the United States; When choosing the fabrics of these three companies, we should pay attention to those who only choose "MADEINENGLAND" and avoid their chemical fiber blended fabrics. So, don't be infatuated with the brand, and don't despise the brand. Smart foreign netizens even arrange the advantage series of each brand one by one, and then only buy those products that are recognized as the best.
Personally, among all the suits, British fabrics have never let me down, and I also like the bright colors of Italian fabrics in summer styles. It is not easy to purchase big-name fabrics, and many custom shops can't do it like Anderson &; Sheppard only uses "the best of the best" in this way, but it should have one of the brands that these towns can live in. If a store doesn't have these brands, it means that their fabrics are not good. If they don't even have VBC and Reda, you can go. Brand official website may not provide useful information. If you encounter a brand that is too unusual, you can search its evaluation in StyleForum, AskAndy and London Lounge. If no one has used it, be careful.
Fabric is the skeleton of a suit. For a customized suit, among the three factors, fabric, pattern and workmanship, fabric is decisive. Just like the engine of a car, the fabric directly determines the later performance and service life of a suit. The raw materials must not be sloppy, unless you only plan to wear this suit for one year, or just for an important interview. Style is the second most important, which determines whether the suit looks good or not. Perfect workmanship is the best, but there is no need to be too demanding. "Good" means better, better than your original clothes, but better than the people around you. The picture above is from official website of Saville Institution.
There are no flowers outside England. Due to the small sales volume, tweed is rarely faked, but don't mistake the China and Italian woolen fabrics for tweed. Trusting a reliable brand is the way to save trouble. Locking reliable brands, the rest is nothing more than comparing whose cost performance and style design are more in line with their own needs. Generally speaking, Britain should have the upper hand in thick fabrics, and the first-class brands in Italy have a good performance in thin fabrics. In the area north of Wenzhou-Changsha-Chengdu, British fabrics can be considered more; In Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Hong Kong, you can choose thin Italian fabrics.
Due to the rapid progress of domestic textile technology, third-rate Italian brands have no advantage in cost performance compared with domestic manufacturers such as Sunshine, Ruyi, Nanshan and Sanmao. If the budget is really limited, instead of trusting unknown foreign brands, it is better to start with domestic fabrics with reliable quality.
Accessories include horn buckle, silk lining, striped sleeve lining and copper zipper.
Buttons are made of different materials, such as horn buttons, metal buttons and shell buttons. The safest official buttons are black and dark gray horn buttons. The following blue suit jacket uses a metal buckle close to the texture of the fabric, and the effect is immediately improved. There is a tradition of using K gold and 925 shillings silver as buttons abroad, but we don't have to consider metal buttons for our first suit. Smoke gray black butterfly buttons, with light-colored fabrics, will make you look young and fashionable, and can be used in summer suits. Leather buckles are mainly used on coats and tweed jackets. Wooden buttons and fruit buttons are rarely used in recent years, because the south is easy to get damp and moldy, and the north is easy to dry. Some resin buckles are too rough and even deformed after dry cleaning, so they need to be used with caution.
Silk is still the top-grade lining, and some people even use Hermes scarves as the lining of suits abroad. The physical properties of Bimba are relatively balanced, and it has been widely used in high-end suits in recent years. When choosing a lining, you should pay attention to the color rather than the material. The lining is the second skin of a suit, so it is not necessary to pursue firmness, because the tailor can easily change the lining. Choose the lining, personal advice might as well man show once, since the fabric of the suit goes with the flow, the lining can choose your favorite lucky color or pattern, and sometimes you may win a glimpse of the beauty.
Pant zippers also have a contrast effect. One of my MTM suits used an unbranded copper zipper, and it was not smooth after half a year. This is a lesson. A good copper zipper can be opened and closed comfortably. You should seriously communicate this with the tailor. People of insight don't even use zippers at all, just buttons on their pants. The more you know about clothing, the more you will choose the right way and the more you will promote the evolution of the industry.