Fox Air 2.0

Seeing as half the suit got an upgrade I figured revisiting the Fox Air article might be a good idea and if anything it’s interesting to see what my thoughts were back when I wrote the original article compared to now.

Fox Air was a fabric that came to my attention a little later on in my research on high-twists and summer fabrics a few years ago. Upon seeing the bunch book online I was amazed by the complexity of colour and the variety in patterns and later on during my order sessions, this impression was reaffirmed.

Honestly, after seeing Fox Air there was no going back.

Fox 7.jpg — Cloth Properties

Fox Brothers
　→ Fox Air FA16 Dark Walnut
100% Worsted Wool
285/315g
Plain Weave
Fox Brothers is of course known for producing quality cloths, but moreover, they have some incredible colours, patterns and beautiful textures across their vast selection of qualities, and this Fox Air is no exception.
What I like about Fox Air is that it keeps it’s shape and drape extraordinarily well. It’s generally one of the main benefits of wearing high-twists, but even so I think Fox Air shines in this regards.

Similar to Crispaire, it’s a plain weave with 2-ply worsted wool as well as being similar in weight.

This is especially convenient seeing as I tend to wear these casual suits in more relaxed circumstances and the knowledge of how well it snaps back into shape helps keep me at ease when wearing it. Moreover when commuting, you move around a lot so any fabric that helps keeping the shape is a savior.

As mentioned, Fox Air and Crispaire are quite similar in weight and both are 2-ply, but even so, I can’t help but notice how much lighter and breathable Fox Air feels. That said, either of the two fabrics, Fox Air and Crispaire, are perfectly suitable as summer fabrics and I would have no problem recommending either fabric.

What I should mention though is that Fox Air is quite a bit more coarse than Crispaire. This is acutally one of the main benefits of choosing the latter for jacketing, but there are two reasons I prefer the former for trousers (and sometimes jacketing).

During the worst (i.e. hottest) time of summer, the extra breathability Fox Air provides adds a lot in terms of coping, this mostly being relevant while wearing the jacket but of course similarly extends to trousers.
But, although maybe mostly a personal opinion, also, I think the comparatively more coarse touch of the cloth makes for better moisture-wicking properties.
Lastly, the Fox Air cloth bounces back to shape like a charm. It really is superior in this regard. You hang it out to air and the next day you’re ready to go.

Cloth Look

Like I mentioned, Fox Brothers makes beautiful solid colour cloths, as well as patterns and incredible textures and this Fox Air is quite unique compared to other solid colored high-twists I’ve seen or have experience with.

It has quite a nice colour composition based on the the dark walnut shade, with some darker and lighter shades built up with the warp and weft.
As mentioned by Fox Brothers themselves, it also encompasses a char-blue tone to give more richness and depth to the cloth look.

I would go as far as to say that this is the most stunning brown cloth I have come by. It’s interesting and complex but at the same time subtle enough.

For the intended purpose of a casual solid coloured suit, in my opinion Fox Air is the perfect choice, although you should definitely not leave it out of the equation for business appropriate suits.

The colour nuances of this cloth makes it incredibly versatile to pair but also makes this suit an excellent option to wear without a tie not to mention as separates.

Jacket

As far as jacket details go, this is based on the No-269 model which most of my prior jackets were (now No-286 is my choice of armour).

Given the texture and colour I felt like this fabric leant itself best to patch pockets and that has been my go-to in general as I like the more relaxed aesthetic as well as my personal view that patch pockets lends themselves better to be worn as separates.

Furthermore, sticking with the double stitching along the lapels and pockets which has been a feature on my suit jackets this far as well for the same reason, but also as it leads to a certain continuity throughout my wardrobe.

The shoulder construction on the jacket is the same as all jacket before and after. The main reason for the visual differences between this and for instance the Crispaire jacket is how the high-twist wool of each respective fabric affects the “bounce” and as such the shoulders on this jacket has a little more volume to them at the insertion point of the shoulders. I might have this altered in the future. For instance with the Bielmonte suit, we changed the shoulders two or three times to get a desirable result, to Ring Jackets credit I might add, due to nature of the fabric proving difficult. In the case of both the Fox Air suits, I don’t have a big issue with how the shoulders look, but there is still some slight room for improvement. Just to be clear, this is not a tailoring or design fault, but comes down to preference.

Trousers

Now to the upgrade, or update I should call it rather seeing as the quality of tailoring of both Ring Jacket and Igarashi is great.

Below is a side-by-side (top and bottom on phones) comparison of the Ring Jacket trousers and the Igarashi trousers. It should be mentioned that the former has had alterations done since this picture so the rise is higher now.

Seeing the results after I decided to try Igarashi Bespoke for the first last winter I was convinced to continue my endeavour into bespoke trousers and aside from odd trousers, I couldn’t shake off the prospect of adding a second pair of trousers to a couple of suits that already needs new trousers.

My two Fox Air suits were the first for a couple of reasons, as much as one needs reasons to acquire bespoke trousers.

The first being that these are the trousers I wear the most as separates.
I really like Fox Air for trousers and in terms of colour both the brown and the green are suitable all year round.

The other reason was that as much as I love the colours, as hard as it might be to believe the suits can tend to look a slightly understated. Thus, adding a little more detail to the trousers provides more interest when worn with for instance a crewneck knit, which is a staple combo in my outfit repertoire.

Igarashi Bespoke

You can read about my first experience with Igarashi here, but as far as the style and detail goes they are the similar to the flannel trousers.

Gurkha style with a two-buttoned, tall waistband, side adjusters and double outwards pleats. What I landed on in terms of details was a mix of both the green and brown flannels I ordered before. Thus, I kept the coin pocket, which I find incredibly useful, and the straight side-adjusters, as opposed to the pistol shaped ones which I prefer for odd trousers.

Lastly I just have to again give some well deserved praise to the pleats. This is an area Igarashi shines above anyone else.