Summer Suits Advice/Opinion

Feraud · Apr 27, 2012

herringbonekid said:
someone needs to reweave Palm Beach (30s style) ... probably the ultimate summer non-wrinkly fabric.

I totally agree with this!

Chasseur · Apr 27, 2012

Undertow said:
Chasseur, I feel like a pig but...

I just passed up a 44R Palm Beach suit at goodwill for $5. I promise I will go back and see if it's there. :eusa_doh:

(I wear a much bigger size and thought, "Who would want this?" Oh lord, sometimes I make myself face palm.)

If you can go back a take a look that'd be great!

However, is it made from Palm Beach cloth or is only the Palm Beach brand? Because in the 1960s-70s they made suits not out of the special Palm Beach cloth. I'd only be interested if its from the Palm Beach cloth (sorry to be pain about it).

Thanks in advance!

carldelo · Apr 28, 2012

In NY I find cotton and linen too hot. The linen suit I had was not the highest quality, however, so that may have been part of the problem. Tropical weight wool is better in my experience, but mostly I don't wear a jacket in the summer if I can help it.

I recently picked up a new sport jacket for summer wear - I thought it was a lightweight silk, but it turns out it's "100% viscose from bamboo". It seems like it will be good, but it's been cool in the city so I haven't tried it yet. I wish it was a full suit.

Chasseur · Apr 28, 2012

I would also add for a jacket its helpful it is only partially or unlined. A linen or fresco wook jacket will not be that cool if its fully lined with a tightly woven synthetique...

Mario · Apr 28, 2012

I just posted this photo on the WAYWT thread but thought it would fit in here as well.

My late-30's Palm Beach suit. The fabric is not your typical PB cloth but tropical weight wool. Very lightweight and airy and in true vintage summer suit fashion it has a tendency to wrinkle a bit. Sadly there is no tag to indicate the fiber content.

Chasseur · Apr 28, 2012

Very nice Mario! Your full outfit in the other thread is very nicely done as well.

Gin&Tonics · Apr 28, 2012

I'm a bit shocked to hear someone say that linen was too hot for them; my research has led me to believe that linen is the coolest wearing fabric on earth, and nothing can touch it in terms of being light, airy and cool on the body. Am I mistaken, or do I need to do more research?

The thing is, I absolutely cannot abide being hot and sweaty in summertime, but I can see the wisdom in hiding my ultra pale complexion from the sun's rays (not least because my father had severe skin cancer his whole life) and not assaulting passers by with my skinny white ankles and shins. Currently the only clothes I have that are tolerable for summer heat are shorts.

Mario · Apr 28, 2012

That tropical worsted wool suit I posted above wears amazingly cool. I can feel every breeze go right through it, so that's defnitely one way to go. Or take a closer look at fresco fabrics as mentioned by others.

Baron Kurtz · Apr 28, 2012

TBH, that looks very much like "ordinary" Palm Beach cloth, Mario. [huh] Any labels in it?

bk

Mario · Apr 29, 2012

Calling Palm Beach cloth 'ordinary' sounds somewhat funny to me...

Well, there are a few labels, yes, but no label that is clearly indicating the type of fabric, the fiber content or whatever.

I've handled a garment made from PB cloth only once before (a tiny jacket for kids of the white variety) so it's hard for me to compare but as far as I can remember this fabric looks and feels different. Even if I compare it to photos of garments made from PB cloth (the only source available to me at the moment) it still looks different - and I went through all the available close-up photos of PB fabrics I could find after I received the suit. Add to that the fact that none of the labels mention that it's been made from ("The Genuine") Palm Beach cloth. This, of course, is only a hint, not a surefire proof. The only evidence could be that one label says 'DRY CLEAN or WASH according to Goodall Formula'. I find it very hard to make a judgement without proper first-hand experience. [huh]

I'd be more than happy if you could convince me that this is indeed made from PB cloth (well, I like the suit anyway, PB cloth or not, even though PB would be easier to clean than wool...

).

Some other PB label and cloth:

herringbonekid · Apr 29, 2012

yes... that is Palm Beach fabric. you can tell because it says so on the labels.

there is often confusion about what Palm Beach is made of and no wonder; there were several slightly differing 'blends'. for instance 1920s Palm Beach suit fabrics were 50/50 mohair / cotton.
however a 20s-30s Palm Beach tie label i have states the content is 50% rayon, 32% mohair, 13% cotton, 5% nylon !

Baron Kurtz · Apr 29, 2012

Have you ever seen a label, or official Goodall literature, with the 50/50 mohair cotton specified?

herringbonekid · Apr 29, 2012

yes, my bible... an original 1923 Sears catalogue.

edit: no, it's not official Goodall literature, but why would the catalogue miss out rayon if it made up 50% of the content ?

Mario · Apr 29, 2012

Now that makes my day!

As to the labels: I've seen photos of old (30's/40's) garments (and I believe right here on the Lounge) that had the same Palm Beach/Goodall labels but were allegedly not made from PB cloth. What made me especially insecure was that, to the best of my knowledge (which, of course, is not that much) garments made from PB cloth (and all the old Palm Beach ads I have) always sported a tag that explicitly mentioned something like 'made from the genuine cloth' or something to that effect. I wish I had more stuff (like suits for example) made from 'genuine' PB cloth. Only for comparsion, of course.

And yes, I know about the confusion regarding the fiber content. Seems that a lot of people (including myself) thought that it included linen in the mix, which is obviously wrong.

Mario · Apr 29, 2012

Come to think of it: Last night I looked for a few Palm Beach ads I knew I had stored somewhere on my computer. I just uploaded them and you can find them in the Palm Beach Suit Thread.

Feraud · Apr 30, 2012

Here is a bow tie lable that specifies the content-

herringbonekid · Apr 30, 2012

thanks for that Feraud... evidence that the blend did in fact alter.

Hershy · May 1, 2012

Undertow said:
Chasseur, I feel like a pig but...

I just passed up a 44R Palm Beach suit at goodwill for $5. I promise I will go back and see if it's there. :eusa_doh:

(I wear a much bigger size and thought, "Who would want this?" Oh lord, sometimes I make myself face palm.)

Damn, that was a great find. I am very jealous BC i couldn't imagine finding that gold in my area. I hope you did buy it.

Hershy · May 7, 2012

Gin&Tonics said:
I'm a bit shocked to hear someone say that linen was too hot for them; my research has led me to believe that linen is the coolest wearing fabric on earth, and nothing can touch it in terms of being light, airy and cool on the body. Am I mistaken, or do I need to do more research?

The thing is, I absolutely cannot abide being hot and sweaty in summertime, but I can see the wisdom in hiding my ultra pale complexion from the sun's rays (not least because my father had severe skin cancer his whole life) and not assaulting passers by with my skinny white ankles and shins. Currently the only clothes I have that are tolerable for summer heat are shorts.

Somebody mentioned Fresco wool, and linked something very good. TO me, Fresco seems all well and good. But, i dont have enough experience to judge. I would stick with seersucker or a very good quality linen.

Flat Foot Floey · May 7, 2012

This article from 1931 mentions tropical wool, fresco, flannel and raw silk.

Here they do also mention cotton but no linen.

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