Vintage Suitings: Discussions of, and sourcing modern equivalents, etc.

[Benny Holiday]

The entire collection as detailed online can be seen here:

http://www.dormeuil.com/en/cloth-collection/detailed-collection/best-sellers/royal-12/

It was heartening to see a more 'mainstream' cloth supplier feature such vintage-styled stripes in their stock.

 

[Guttersnipe]

The entire collection as detailed online can be seen here:

http://www.dormeuil.com/en/cloth-collection/detailed-collection/best-sellers/royal-12/

It was heartening to see a more 'mainstream' cloth supplier feature such vintage-styled stripes in their stock.

Good find; those are great!

 

[Benny Holiday]

Funny thing guys but I had to drop into my tailor at lunchtime to have the sleeves on a great Ralph Lauren 30s-looking beltback
taken up (that's another story) and while I was there I had a look through his cloth sample books to see if he had one for Royal 12. He did so I was able to check them out in person and they really do look great.

 

[herringbonekid]

Molloy and Sons (county Donegal, Ireland) are doing some very nice tweeds, around the 19oz weight:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/molloyandsons/

 

[Two Types]

This was on the page you linked to: one of their old sample books. It bet that it contains some treasures.

 

[Broccoli]

Would anyone know of a HEAVY wool to use in an overcoat? I am planning on getting a navy blue paletot but it has to be HEAVY. Winthers get cold here.

 

[Son_of_Atropos]

This thread is amazing. Thank you to all the contributors.

 

[Two Types]

Would anyone know of a HEAVY wool to use in an overcoat? I am planning on getting a navy blue paletot but it has to be HEAVY. Winthers get cold here.

Search for 'Melton' cloth. In about 20-22 oz. It's fantastic overcoat weight fabric.

 

[Chasseur]

About the Dormeuil Royal 12 cloth collection. These are, as the name suggests, pure wool fabric at the 12oz mark with some very vintage flavourings. Here are some examples, the collection also features overchecks, birdseye and Prince of Wales checks and more stripes than I've shown; I've just thrown together a couple of stripes because most of my vintage 30s or 40s suits are constructed of the most outstanding pin- and chalk-stripe fabrics:

A few years ago I had a bespoke suit made up in Dormeuil Royal 12 charcoal pinstrip. It is really nice fabric. I've since sold the suit to AntonAAA our fellow Lounger, but I can recommend their fabric!

 

[Guttersnipe]

Funny thing guys but I had to drop into my tailor at lunchtime to have the sleeves on a great Ralph Lauren 30s-looking beltback
taken up (that's another story) and while I was there I had a look through his cloth sample books to see if he had one for Royal 12. He did so I was able to check them out in person and they really do look great.

A few years ago I had a bespoke suit made up in Dormeuil Royal 12 charcoal pinstrip. It is really nice fabric. I've since sold the suit to AntonAAA our fellow Lounger, but I can recommend their fabric!

Dormeuil has a number of books I like because they are a tad heavier than most modern offerings. For example, their Plains & Gabardines books has 11oz gabardines, which are difficult to find in weights greater than 9oz these days.

Some other good ones I saw recently are the English Classics and Royal Classics books by Dugdale Brothers & Co. They are somewhat limited in selection, but feature a lot of traditional staple solids and stripes. The English Classics were all in the neighborhood of 13 to 14 ounces. Also, the prices for these clothes were also quite reasonable, although, I can't speak the their quality.

 

[Benny Holiday]

This is great gents! I'm starting to feel that the situation for those of us wishing to source vintage-styled fabric is not so dire as I would have thought a couple of years ago.

 

[herringbonekid]

the Fox Brothers / Michael Alden-London Lounge range is pictured on the Merchant Fox site:

http://www.themerchantfox.co.uk/35/mr-foxs-journal

i haven't handled any yet, but i believe Barmey has a swatch book.

 

[Two Types]

A couple of nice ones in there (the multiple stripes) but some of the others look rather standard. I was expecting something bolder.
I had a look at that link. They showed 13oz white flannel for cricket trousers. I would have preferred to see something a little heavier.

 

[Tomasso]

A couple of nice ones in there (the multiple stripes) but some of the others look rather standard. I was expecting something bolder.

Ditto!

 

[Qirrel]

They look very nice, but a bit standard, I agree.

 

[herringbonekid]

tough crowd. i'm reserving judgement until i feel a swatch, but they look very good to me from the photos i've seen.
i would be wary of wishing for something too bold... i think the red and cream on dark brown ( third from bottom) may even be too bold when made up, and might stray into comedy-chalkstripe-gangster territory. looking at some vintage suiting i have next to me none of the stripes look as bold as that.

also, a good light grey with cream chalkstripe flannel - which would have been easily available back then - isn't easy to find today. that one second from the top looks like it's nailed it.

 

[Fastuni]

The grays with white/blueish and the brown striped fabrics are quite nice, but I prefer stripes which are set apart by 2-3 cm.
The stripes here are either too closely set (or too wide)... that's IMO the problem with the brown+red/cream you mentioned. Some more distance between the stripes would greatly enhance it.

 

[Two Types]

i would be wary of wishing for something too bold... i think the red and cream on dark brown ( third from bottom) may even be too bold when made up, and might stray into comedy-chalkstripe-gangster territory.

It's not that I would be wishing for overly bold patterns, I am personally rather wary of overly bold fabrics. It's just that I expected these to be bolder. My favourite (although it's difficult to tell from the pics) would be the blue with the subtle stripes, second from bottom. Or the grey herringbone.

What weight are they?

 

[Two Types]

Just checked the website, they appear to be 18oz - which is a very nice weight.

HBK: I think you might like this one:

This image doesn't show it well but it is thin brown stripes on a grey herringbone

 

[Two Types]

It also appears they are introducing another range from July:
Fox's British Khakee 100% cotton collection

That might be interesting for heavy cottons.