About tweed suits...

Benproof said:

they've fixed every single problem I've listed above with the waistcoats having collars and four pockets; the trousers having cinch belts.

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I don't quite see why you are referring to the lack of a collar (lapels really; the neck just has a band) on the waistcoat as a problem? A collar is not a standard waistcoat feature. In fact country tweed suits most often have the regular no-collar waistcoat. It's pretty bulky having two layers of tweed lapels.

Mathematicus said:

Not sure if they have an actual shop somewhere, but I've heard positive reviews of Booksters. I'm a lover of heavier fabrics too and some of the samples in their website are quite appealing. Years ago they offered only made to order items, but now they seem able to alter patterns much more, since they offer a full made to measure service.

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Bookster started out as a purely vintage clothes business, before venturing into the M2M market as 'true vintage' got rarer and the prices shot up. They did have a lot of nice stuff done - though they never manufactured in house. I can't recall where they didhave their bits made, but they outsourced everything (to UK-based suppliers, or so I'm sure i heard - I don't know if that necessarily meant they were made in the UK, if that matters). They're gone now, though. The business went belly-up a couple of years ago; I heardc of a few folks who'd put money down for suits not being sure whether they'd get it back. The website's up and running now, though, so I don't know what happened there. I think it's under new management, but I'm not honestly sure.

That said, everything I saw from Bookster was very nice indeed. Not marketed as a 'vintage' cut per se, but any of it could have passed for the sort of very traditional British tailoring that hasn't changed significantly in sixty plus years. If they're using the same suppliers or equivalent quality now, they'll be producing nice stuff.

I am a big fan of Cordings. Having visited on my yearly trip to London and now ordering on-line. I have tweed jackets and suits from them that are interesting, well-made, and fit me marvelously. Also, if you check in weekly, they often have sales, and if you live in the US, the Pound is weak against the dollar right now.

They have a variety of weighs in their jackets and suits. There are many nice details; the linings, the working collar buttons, the felt under the collar, and the interesting weaves in the tweeds themselves. I have yet to lose a button or see a loose thread. I am very pleased indeed.

Weaker. A £300 coat, for example, will cost $430 dollars.

Last I looked the pound had dropped through the floor. USD1.30 to the pound - lowest I've ever seen it. It's caused by the uncertainity regarding the UK's future with the referendum on EU membership coming up. Let's avoid any discussion of that, but suffice it to say that it seems likely that while the UK's future on that front, along with any economic impact one way or the other, remains an unknown, I would think we'll see the pound's value stay low against the dollar. Good time to order anything from the UK!

The Cordings stuff is very nice. Once I get a few things sorted, I'm also planning on looking into Bob Parrat - http://www.bobparratt.co.uk/ . They keep the prices really down by turning out a limited number of items and designs (a single jacket / trouser / waistcoat / et cetera pattern) in a limited range of fabrics. I hear fantastic stuff about them, though - I'm gonig to give it a go.

The real joy of these traditional English manufacturers is that while they won't pass for 1930s or such, the overall look hasn't really changed much since probably the early 50s... and it's nice to be able to buy some bits that have that overall classicl ook, that can be paired with vintage accessories, and that - unlike a favourite 30s suit - can be worn on a very regular basis without worying about wearing them out in no time...

HJ - juet gorgeous!

Yes that's the kind of high collar waist coat in the first image I love! It focuses detail on the face and head, rather than at the space in between the buttons

I notice you wear a v neck which has a similar function as a high collar waistcoat in detailing the neck.

Dirk - I don't find ties necessary for high collar waistcoats. They have a dress down less formal look without a tie whereas low uncollared waistcoats without a tie look like something is missing.

The Cordings looks really good!

Dirk Wainscotting said:

It's pretty bulky having two layers of tweed lapels.

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No danger of putting on a little extra bulk . The collars are staggered, the blazer collar framing thr inner waistcoat collar, just like the cutlery with double forks, knives and spoons at a properly set table to get through the layers/courses. Maybe a hoody stuffed over the waistcoat and under the jacket would be a struggle. Which is how the fashion magazines would have us believe, is the correct way for modern man to wear a 3 piece suit

Benproof said:

...Dirk - I don't find ties necessary for high collar waistcoats. They have a dress down less formal look without a tie whereas low uncollared waistcoats without a tie look like something is missing...

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Do you possibly mean "lapel" rather than "collar"?
It's not clear to me whether you are suggesting wearing a suit without a tie. DON'T go down that path - it may be a popular "look" but is incongruous, sloppy and unfinished. A two-piece tweed suit will take a roll-collared pullover - otherwise, ALWAYS a tie, please!

Like this?


It's too stuffy looking for my taste. Lol I was just about to go down the no tie path. Well I quite like dangling it around me like a lasso loosely rather than tied tie tight.

Yes you're right - they are lapels...

Hal said:

Do you possibly mean "lapel" rather than "collar"?
It's not clear to me whether you are suggesting wearing a suit without a tie. DON'T go down that path - it may be a popular "look" but is incongruous, sloppy and unfinished. A two-piece tweed suit will take a roll-collared pullover - otherwise, ALWAYS a tie, please!

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Hal said:

Do you possibly mean "lapel" rather than "collar"?
It's not clear to me whether you are suggesting wearing a suit without a tie. DON'T go down that path - it may be a popular "look" but is incongruous, sloppy and unfinished. A two-piece tweed suit will take a roll-collared pullover - otherwise, ALWAYS a tie, please!

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Benproof said:

It's too stuffy looking for my taste. Lol I was just about to go down the no tie path. Well I quite like dangling it around me like a lasso loosely rather than tied tie tight.

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"Like this"? Did you intend an illustration which hasn't appeared?
Wearing a tie "stuffy"? The tie adds individuality and colour -why forego that?
A group of men in suits and open-necked shirts looks FAR more uniform than a group in which every individual is wearing a different tie. The anti-tie prejudice of the last few years is quite incomprehensible to me. If a tie is uncomfortable, it's usually because the shirt collar is too tight.

Hal said:

"If a tie is uncomfortable, it's usually because the shirt collar is too tight.

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Indeed. It's nearly always the case. It has to be remembered that this is the suits section of Fedora lounge, a vintage style forum, rather than the Pitti Uomo review on Styleforum.

Hal said:

"Like this"? Did you intend an illustration which hasn't appeared?
Wearing a tie "stuffy"? The tie adds individuality and colour -why forego that?
A group of men in suits and open-necked shirts looks FAR more uniform than a group in which every individual is wearing a different tie. The anti-tie prejudice of the last few years is quite incomprehensible to me. If a tie is uncomfortable, it's usually because the shirt collar is too tight.

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Hmm my useless browser efforts to link images.

Wearing a tie or not doesn't add individuality for me. That's just me and my non-individualist philosophy

Wearing a tie just makes me look like.... I'm really wearing a tie.

I'm happy with my shirts. Just not the tie look. I've never liked it despite owning over a hundred ties, not all by Borelli though. I didn't realise there was an anti-tie tendency recently since my dislike of ties predated the past few years. Maybe tie-dyslexics are on the rise. I can see where you are coming from and if you like the formal appearance of a 3 piece suit a tie can seem obligatory. Waistcoats..now these are highly functional. I have a complete filing cabinet across all four pockets, then the extra blazer ones too lol.

The problem with them's there's ties, I find is that they have no functional purpose. They do not hold your trousers up. If ties do, then that's one serious problem with the trousers. Ties, like flouncy handkerchiefs sticking out of a chest pocket blazer are more decorative than functional, unless a silk handkerchief used to dampen mounds of nasal mucus is some old fashioned retro unhygienic idea. Of course, ties do have a social function, however that is as a symbol for something other than a meaningful garment use and that social function of a tie can be powerful. That, I don't care for here. I don't like wristwatches either since they were always in wrist collisions. Pocketwatches however are in a different class of function and the motion of glancing for the time in one's waistcoat, cocking open the covering from eye level to waist, is a heightened moment of ergonomic gesturing which reveals clearly that the wearer is taking his time to check the time in a handsomely choreographed manoeuvre dipping two fingers or a thumb into the dedicated watch pocket of a trouser or waistcoat to glance adoringly at the understated large dial from an appropriate distance in front of him, then to reverse the movements in the same elegant reversal preceded by a click closure. INstead of this busy panic stricken wrist flicking "am I out of time?" Mentality associated with viewing wristwatches.

Well not everyone cares for Bauhaus principles. You're right about being in a group of men not wearing ties in suits all looking uniform. I'd rather not be in that group and just with one woman. That's individuality

Benproof said:

The problem with them's there's ties, I find is that they have no functional purpose. They do not hold your trousers up. If ties do, then that's one serious problem with the trousers.

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No functional purpose? Heresy! A tie is the perfect foil for a happy love life. You mean that you have never been tied to the headboard with a neck tie? Or are you, like one of our American cousins, who replied to the same question with: "I'm more into the fuzzy pink handcuffs myself."

Benproof said:

...Just not the tie look. I've never liked it...my dislike of ties predated the past few years...if you like the formal appearance of a 3 piece suit a tie can seem obligatory.

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I dislike the open-necked-shirt-with-jacket look whether the jacket is a sports jacket, a blazer, or when wearing a suit. As I've written, I think a roll-necked pullover goes with a tweed suit (and of course with a tweed jacket) but, apart from this, I won't wear a jacket without a tie.

Waistcoats..now these are highly functional.

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Yes, indeed!

ties...they have no functional purpose...Ties, like flouncy handkerchiefs sticking out of a chest pocket blazer are more decorative than functional...ties do have a social function...

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The tie has an aesthetic function - it adds interest and colour - which to me is more important than any social function. In the colder seasons, a closed shirt collar has a practical advantage, and a closed collar without a tie but with a jacket looks even worse than an open-necked shirt so, in my opinion, the closed collar necessitates the tie. I'm not a fan of the pocket square.

Well not everyone cares for Bauhaus principles.

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I rather like a plain and simple look, close to that of the later 1950s, when a process of simplification of clothing had taken place since 1945, but before the excesses of the early 1960s.

GHT said:

No functional purpose? Heresy! A tie is the perfect foil for a happy love life. You mean that you have never been tied to the headboard with a neck tie? Or are you, like one of our American cousins, who replied to the same question with: "I'm more into the fuzzy pink handcuffs myself."

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Oooh...that sounds so kinky! I've changed my mind. I will try wearing a tie now. If i'm in tomorrow's obituary for screwing up a four in hand due to lack of practice, remember to tell everyone not to use a fisherman's knot...

Hal said:

I dislike the open-necked-shirt-with-jacket look whether the jacket is a sports jacket, a blazer, or when wearing a suit. As I've written, I think a roll-necked pullover goes with a tweed suit (and of course with a tweed jacket) but, apart from this, I won't wear a jacket without a tie.
Yes, indeed!
The tie has an aesthetic function - it adds interest and colour - which to me is more important than any social function. In the colder seasons, a closed shirt collar has a practical advantage, and a closed collar without a tie but with a jacket looks even worse than an open-necked shirt so, in my opinion, the closed collar necessitates the tie. I'm not a fan of the pocket square.

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Anything around my neck gives me the creeps...but that's just me. The thought of snagging it on an escalator or moving cab or being randomly seized by Frank Bruno and decked. Hmmm. I like vintage grand dad shirts. These I usually wear closed up. They do look odd with a tie on! Open collar, not bad though! But these are shirts I never see worn with ties.

High lapel waistcoats close up and add layering detail although the handknitted Italian ties add a texture which is stunning. I don't have to do best man speeches now my friends are all married so I can hang up the ties. Trouble now is finding an occasion when I feel compelled to wear one. If I enjoyed wearing ties, who knows....? Feather in my fedora might be next. Oooh...slippery slope...!

And I still feel it's a little overkill to don on a three piece suit and tie just to get the wheelie bin out. I need to have a more interesting. Maybe I will get back into ties. More so than stamp collecting

See, the very lack of functionality is what I love about a tie: it's a purely aesthetic flourish. Ditto rings, cufflinks, et cetera...

Benproof said:

And I still feel it's a little overkill to don on a three piece suit and tie just to get the wheelie bin out. I need to have a more interesting. Maybe I will get back into ties. More so than stamp collecting

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Cryptic if not incomprehensible! You seem to be talking riddles most of the time.

Ggaggh. What happens when you have to wash your hands?

I have a puritanical diffidence to men jewellery bangles, bracelets, cuff links, wristwatches, tie clips, rings, earrings. This is probably a reflection of my working class roots. I mean.. I don't have a parental trustfund and I'm not independently wealthy as a drug dealer. I work...and that's class

Besides Gold is always better as bullion unless it's in Hatton Gardens : /