Preparing the canvas The shoulder is arguably the most discussed and the most controversial element of a tailored jacket; the whole garment hangs from the shoulder, and the shoulder receives much of the strain from movement. There are perhaps as many ways of constructing, or “expressing” a shoulder as there are tailors, but there area few general shapes, or silhouettes. Some of the names have become muddled throughout the years, but I am going toRead More
Going back a bit again to the Brioni coat. This blogger may need Ritalin. A curiosity here- the top collar is cross-stitched to the lapel by hand. What is a bit curious is that normally the top collar goes on AFTER the facing, but in this case it is clearly put on first. The facing must then be drawn on by hand. Which is curious in a factory setting. You may also notice that IRead More
Now that I’m done the jacket, I should really shorten those shirt sleeves…. Cloth 12 oz 100% wool by Reda (same Italian mill that did my drape jacket cloth). No chest piece, no sleeve head, no wadding, no shoulder pad, mother of pearl buttons. Whereas more structured shoulders have the sleeve seam allowances opened or turned toward the sleeve, in this case, like a shirt, the seam allowance is turned toward the body and pickRead More
My copy finally came this week! It’s very common for us in the garment trade to examine garments, analyze their construction and adapt what we find to our industrialized settings; in this excellent book, David Page Coffin has done the same but with the home sewer in mind. Those who have enjoyed the “Look under the hood” series will love this book, as the first chapter is devoted to the same exercise with 11 pairsRead More
The weather is turning so I am in the mood for new clothes but the flannel hasn’t come in yet. I’ve been eyeing a few jacketing lengths so I cut myself something on the other end of the spectrum; a true “spalla camicia” or shirt shoulder, the softest possible jacket in this light, soft dove colour with steel, oatmeal and rose check. The spalla camicia is one of the typical neapolitan shoulders and generally hasRead More
Continuing the look at these two dinner jackets, we start to look at the guts of the coats, the interior workings, starting with the hem felling. The hem has been blind stitched by hand (top left) using a very fine thread- thick wools are easy to do but a fine, tight silk is quite a challenge so I am impressed wit he skill of their hands. In a previous post we saw there was someRead More
So before we go back to the pagoda shoulder, a side-by-side comparison of two dinner jackets, one by Brioni and one by Samuelsohn. This will be done in several parts as I am too lazy to get it all done in one shot. Samuelsohn is on the low price end of the full-canvas makes and Brioni on the higher end (in this case, the Brioni is easily four times the price of the Samuelsohn, ifRead More
The pick stitch is that little tiny stitch done along the edges of garments to keep the edge flat and crisp and to keep it from rolling to the wrong side. This was traditionally done by hand but machines have been developed which resemble it, some more than others. There are two types of machine pick stitch- one that resembles the hand stitch very closely on both sides, and one that doesn’t. Of the formerRead More
Just bought some cloth for my next suit. A 13/14 oz charcoal flannel from Minnis. We’ll look at constructing the pagoda shoulder when it arrives.
Karen asks about how to construct a pagoda shoulder, but first, a bit of background. Initially known as a “natural” shoulder as it followed the natural curved formed by the hollow between the clavicle and the acromion, the term has been appropriated to denote the round, sloped shoulder seen on Ivy League suits of type sold by Brooks Brothers, Southwick, Paul Stuart, and the like. If we no longer see the pagoda shoulder very often,Read More
