My structured linen jacket, in case anyone has forgotten about it

AL utters profanities that reference one's mother's reproductive parts. But he didn't do so when I was discussing unstructured jackets with him. Instead, he said such jackets weren't nice, and that the only reason they exist is because the Europeans like to wash everything in the washing machine. I've since come to take his objections with a large pinch of salt.

That jacket seems to suffer from severe sagging. Even the buttonhole is gaping open. The UJ I have seen uses strips of fusing in strategic parts to prevent just that.

You should try getting him to send the jacket to a different finisher. I will ask him to use the FC sifu's finisher for my navy DB.

The linen you see above is an 11oz number. Italian. I bought it at Harrison's Jln TAR.

Beau, how about posting a pic of you in your favourite jacket?

I downloaded a book titled "Sex and Suits". You can safely ignore the title: It was chosen by the publisher to help it sell. Here are some extracts:

"Innovations in armor mark the first real modernity in Western fashion, showing ways to redesign all the separate parts of the male body and put them back together into a newly created shape, one that replaced the naked human frame with another one that made a close three-dimensional, line-for-line commentary on it in another medium. Male clothing lost the unfitted character it had had since antiquity and began to suggest interesting lines for the torso, and to consider the whole shape of legs and arms in its tailoring scheme. Plate armor moreover required an undergarment made by a linen-armorer, a close-fitting padded suit that outlined the whole man and protected him from his metal casing, of which it followed the shape. Male fashion quickly aped the shapes created by the linen-armorers, who can really count as the first tailors of Europe."

Before the suit, men's dress was very ornate.

"But how did the look of modern man in his modern tailoring emerge from all this wrinkled fabric laden with rows of buttons, and covering pear-shaped male bodies down to the knee? To reform, to “modernize” the whole shape of the ideal man (not just to change the fabrics and accessories that clothed him) required an imaginative force more immediate than the uncertain work of technological and social change. Clothes had certainly begun to look different in keeping with the earlier change in belief about the sexes; but it was under the influence of a new radical shift in visual style that the collective eye for the figure was abruptly retrained. Ever since, in contrast to the early versions we have so far described, all modern suits have been cut to suggest a male body that tapers from broad shoulders and muscular chest, has a flat stomach and small waist, lean flanks and long legs. Modern development of the elegant coat, waistcoat, shirt and pants since 1800 required not only new materials, but a new anatomical foundation. The one offering itself at the time, then present on the esthetic scene with fresh power, was the heroic male nude of Classical antiquity."

She kept pushing her thesis of the suit as an echo of classical Greek marble sculptures of the nude male.

"But by the turn of the century, elegance had shifted entirely away from wrought surfaces to fundamental form, and away from courtly refinement to natural simplicity. And so tailors elevated the unfitted rough country coat into a triumph of art, whereby crude natural man became noble natural man, with references to ancient sculpture built into the structure of his clothes. With the help of nearly imperceptible padding, curved seams, discreet darts and steam pressing, the rough coat of dull cloth was gradually refined into an exquisitely balanced garment that fitted smoothly without wrinkles and buttoned without strain, to clothe what appeared to be the torso of a Greek athlete."

---

Added on July 26, 2010, 6:11 pmBTW, I think AL's CMT price for a fully canvassed 2-piece is RM1.2k for most customers (unless you reek of big-timerism). This is not far away from Iris Tailor's charges for CMT.

This post has been edited by kotmj: Jul 26 2010, 06:12 PM

Where are your negotiating skills? Use it!

Am I hot?

I wonder if I should buy some Bemberg or just use AL's Mitsubishi Rayon for the DB.

AL complains about everything. I think I'll just use his lining. Save some money, etc.

---

Added on July 27, 2010, 12:08 amPerfect trousers on Luca



This post has been edited by kotmj: Jul 27 2010, 12:08 AM

The craftsmanship on that jacket is magnificent, I don't think anyone else foes it that way, not in HK, on the Row, or anywhere. I am seriously interested in the fit now.

No, I haven't seen linen with the reverse side printed.

I like my trousers with a button fly and hooks on tabs. It's a bit of a PITA when rushing to the toilet after a long meeting in a cold room, but a button fly has charm a zip doesn't.

I told you guys EVERYONE will want a navy DB next.

Who do you guys even suppose I am? I am always two steps ahead. AL has received instructions to cut their suits a certain way. They will be identifiable as the lalas they are from 2 miles away.

Bring one of your corporate slaves along and get him to videotape the whole process.

But would you not want to try just one DB?

Well, your suits are different now. They actually make you look good, instead of bad.

Just get a navy blazer. No trousers. Brown or metal buttons. I suspect you might like it more than you think you would. Wear it with anything: chinos, grey trousers, jeans, anything.

1.7 meters of fabric is all you need for a jacket.

---

Added on July 28, 2010, 12:07 amBTW you are right. It's Bali. This weekend.

This post has been edited by kotmj: Jul 28 2010, 12:07 AM

The jacket certainly is very distinctive visually. The roped sleeveheads are something you will never find here; while I don't find myself actively lusting after them, I do find them very nice. Because of their rarity in these parts of the world, I can imagine most people noticing them.

The shoulders appear to be extended, something I want AL to do on my next jacket. However, I get the feeling they can only be extended if they are soft and droop a bit at the seam. AL's shoulders are still too stiff and built-up to allow any drooping.

The drape behind the armscye is generous, so arm mobility is guaranteed. The sleeves themselves are quite full, further aiding mobility. Few tailors understand the need for this over here.

The chest looks soft. The lapels have this typical Neapolitan concave belly.

I would say the jacket needs a good professional pressing.

Altogether a distinctive jacket will would make any good tailor here very curious.

This post has been edited by kotmj: Jul 29 2010, 02:32 PM

Buy yourself 3 meters of tropical wool/kid mohair/fresco in navy and have a tailor make a 2-piece suit.

---

Added on July 29, 2010, 11:02 pmHave you read my article on the front page of the Men's Style & Fashion forum?

This post has been edited by kotmj: Jul 29 2010, 11:02 PM

It won't last. It needs to be pad-stitched by wizened old hands to have permanence.

Will be in UDM land for 3 weeks in September. No Vass land.

Bali tomorrow.

I don't think R. will be that pleased to see you coming in his shop with a botched job he has to rectify.

Well, the cloth has been bought, the hymo, silk threads, braces and buttons are all at home. Just waiting for the cloth to arrive. To my dismay, 2 days after buying the cloth the seller listed some really, really nice cloth -- among them a navy serge I would have bought instead if it was listed earlier.

Well, sitting in a bus the whole day just to pick up parcels sounds more than just a tad extreme, but I can imagine doing it to attend fitting sessions with a Singaporean tailor, or to buy superior fabrics at low prices in a job shop.

The said tailor would have to be very unique, not just good, and said job shop must have a vast inventory at firesale prices.

Now that you're done with this thread, would be a good idea to read the previous one:

http://forum.lowyat.net/index.php?showtopic=880938&hl

Something is wrong with the back. Either the back balance is too long, or it is too short. I think it might be the latter.



There is also a horizontal ripple in the upper back under the collar. It's a common problem and can be made to go away.

I think the length is perfect. A DB is supposed to be shorter than a SB anyway.

Is there canvassing in there already?

Yeah, looks like wider shoulders would be good. Even 1/8th of an inch would be good.