Unfunded Liabilities: a/k/a The Cloth Thread

[tim_horton]

How do you guys judge flannel? Is one flannel much better than the others or are there very small differences between higher end flannels? Is classical fox flannel any better than others?

What I heard from one of the tailoring cloth merchants was that basically UK textiles currently is so small that basically everyone uses the same producers.
For example. The yarn comes from the same sheep to most of the producers from the same suppliers (whatever the fabric might be) goes to the same weaver, the same finisher and it mostly becomes down to brand name on why one is x price and other y. But it is mostly the same cloth when talking about plain wool fabrics

Different brands will have different finishes, different mottling, etc. If you compare the well-known brands (Fox, Harrison's, Minnis, etc.) and pick the weight and color you want, I don't think you'll have any problem. I think the differences in performance will be minimal.

I prefer worsted flannel to woolen, and there aren't as many choices with worsted.

The Lumb's Golden Bale worsted mid-grey flannel looks REALLY nice. I preferred it to the Fox Bros. version on appearance.

 

[Guizp]

The price for this stuff is pretty steep, and I have no idea how it would last, but goodness gracious this stuff from Piacenza (“Cocoon”?) is absolutely glorious. The overcoating is only 410 grams, so not a proper winter weight, but the cloth for sportscoats were 320-350 grams. I may come back for the oatmeal one below. A quick sample:
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I also looked through some nice stuff for overcoats, and think I’m going to get something primarily in this dark blue baby camel hair from their Dunes book. Really nice feeling and looking stuff.
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Has anyone tried their Noble Flannel? I really liked these shades for trousers.
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I have tried the noble flannel bunch though it was from the older book, a chesnut stripe DB at 310-320gr/m ish.
Hand is what you expect from an italian cloth, so soft and buttery. Colors are amazing.

Also you cant get the best drape, its really far from the heavy english woolen flannel but its not that terrible. Still i dont know if i'd do only trousers.

Had it since early 2022 worn sparingly and its doing great, my tailor loves it.

Spoiler

 

[WhereNext]

I have tried the noble flannel bunch though it was from the older book, a chesnut stripe DB at 310-320gr/m ish.
Hand is what you expect from an italian cloth, so soft and buttery. Colors are amazing.

Also you cant get the best drape, its really far from the heavy english woolen flannel but its not that terrible. Still i dont know if i'd do only trousers.

Had it since early 2022 worn sparingly and its doing great, my tailor loves it.

Spoiler

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That’s helpful, thanks! Yes, there are some great colors in there, and the hand of the cloth is very nice. Your suit looks great; there were a bunch of other options in the book that I might try as suits. I may try a pair of trousers first: they’ll only get worn 10-15 times per year, so as long as they’re not so soft they immediately explode, I should get reasonable wear out of them.

 

[kid1002]

Does anyone have any experience with Fox City? How well does it hold shape in comparison to Fox Air? I realize City is slightly lighter than Air.

 

[hitsuji]

Does anyone have any experience with Fox City? How well does it hold shape in comparison to Fox Air? I realize City is slightly lighter than Air.

I have both a fox air and city suit.

In my experience - The air holds up better in terms on creases and more breathable. However City is a lot less scratchy.

City looks a little more refined due to the tighter weave so its just what you are looking for.

 

[circumspice]

Does anyone have any experience with Fox City? How well does it hold shape in comparison to Fox Air? I realize City is slightly lighter than Air.

I have a suit in FC47 and FC37 is in the works. 47 is the black and ecru pindot, and it sheds wrinkles fairly well but not at the Minnis mockleno level. I love the handle of 47, it feels more substantial than it's weight.

 

[Concordia]

Does anyone have any experience with Fox City? How well does it hold shape in comparison to Fox Air? I realize City is slightly lighter than Air.

I recently chose to consider summer suits, and my tailor said that they prefer to work with Air. City, while it looks very nice in the book, is harder to make up well and (in their view) was less easy to wear. Problems with a lot of this high twist stuff are that they sometimes take wrinkles more readily than the sort of creases that you want to have.

 

[JHWilliams]

I am intrigued. Tell me more about the issue with wrinkling in the high twist bunches.

 

[Concordia]

Sometime shedding wrinkles means not holding on to creases. Anyway, they strongly preferred the Air bunch.

 

[JHWilliams]

Sometime shedding wrinkles means not holding on to creases. Anyway, they strongly preferred the Air bunch.

That makes sense. Goes to show that not all high twist/fresco/plain weave cool wool bunches are created equal.

I recently commissioned a suit in Spring Ram (maybe against my better judgement). It is scratchy, but boy does it perform well!!!

 

[kolecho]

Does anyone have any experience with Fox City? How well does it hold shape in comparison to Fox Air? I realize City is slightly lighter than Air.

If you’re in doubt, get some pants made up from those two options. Pants don’t lie 😬.

 

[kid1002]

I have a suit in FC47 and FC37 is in the works. 47 is the black and ecru pindot, and it sheds wrinkles fairly well but not at the Minnis mockleno level. I love the handle of 47, it feels more substantial than it's weight.

Thanks mate. I have an incoming suit made in the FC41 (Black & Ecru Four Point Star). Totally not expecting Minnis mockleno-level quality, but I guess most have replied what I was half expecting to hear...

 

[Concordia]

I recently commissioned a suit in Spring Ram (maybe against my better judgement). It is scratchy, but boy does it perform well!!!

Yup.

 

[ZZ99]

I'm looking to commission my first grey flannel trousers. I found a couple on a Holland and Sherry book that I liked, but can't decide between this light one and this mid grey one. I like them because they're classified as worsted but still have a lot of texture.

Is the light one going to be too light and not very versatile?

 

[The Chai]

For odd trousers i find light grey more versatile but I'm pretty sure most people here will recommend med grey if it is your first pair

I'm looking to commission my first grey flannel trousers. I found a couple on a Holland and Sherry book that I liked, but can't decide between this light one and this mid grey one. I like them because they're classified as worsted but still have a lot of texture.

Is the light one going to be too light and not very versatile?