summer Fabrics pt. 2
Jackets - Wool / Silk / Linen
Despite all the years I’ve lived in Japan I’ve never really acclimatised properly to the summers here. I mean, it gets so humid you can’t even dry your clothes outside.
Thus, proper fabric is pivotal and finding that right cloth for summer hasn’t always been easy.
If you are also struggling in a hot climate I would really recommend any of these jackets or something similar in terms of fabric or weight.
The jackets in this part are all Ring Jacket models, which I think is somewhat expected by now. In part 3 there will be some contributions from other brands. But even so, the fabrics used are from well known mills and merchants so they’re likely to be readily available where you get your tailored wear. If you are interested in the models you can check out my article about the two Ring Jacket models that are presented here.
Secondly, these are observations and as such anecdotal. It’s not easy giving a technical assessment but I will try to give some short points in each.
So in this first part I’m focusing on cloths comprised of wool, silk and linen and how the properties contributes in the following jackets. Seeing as there are an abundance of ways I could arrange them I went with wearability, from least to most, as the factor.
⑤ Carlo Barbera
(weight unknown, approx. 260g)
Twill
Wool 72%, Silk 17%, Linen 11%
Jacket Model No-269
This is a great jacket in a Prince of wales check with an overlay. It’s the easiest jacket I have to pair. Disregarding wearability in mid summer, this is the jacket I get the most wear out of. There’s not much separating this cloth and the next one on the list, also from Carlo Barbera, in terms of wearability. It has quite a high percentage of wool at 72%, which isn’t inherently bad, but it seemingly does affect the overall properties of the cloth. The threads in this fabric are thinner and the weave ultimately a little tighter.
④ Carlo Barbera “Sunset”
(260/270g)
Plain weave
Wool 64%, Silk 22%, Linen 14%
Jacket Model No-269
I’ve labeled this jacket “The Sunset” jacket and upon being questioned about the name I honestly couldn’t remember why I coined it. I think I read somewhere that Carlo Barbera themselves labeled it as such, or that Ring Jacket commissioned/used this particular cloth inspired by the idea of a sunset colour theme. In any case, this is a remarkably beautiful colour scheme in a double lined wide check (or windowpane if we can call it that).
It’s the most tightly woven cloth in this list, with threads in a lighter natural, an orange and a dark brown thread. In the weave there are also smaller separate threads mixed in.
It pains me to put this next to last on the list seeing as it’s the jacket I like the most, but in the end the tightness of the weave and the slightly higher weight makes it just a tad less wearable then the higher ups.
In the end what separated this cloth from the previous was thread density, and not much as such, as well as the lower wool percentage. Although being a similarly tight weave those threads gives the cloth just a little more breathability.
③ E. Thomas
(weight unknown, approx. 240)
Plain weave / Rib weave
Wool 38%, Silk 34%, Linen 28%
Jacket Model No-254
A beautiful bordeaux check, with a thin light stripe accompanied with a bolder dark red stripe.
This is cloth has the lowest amount of wool which is actually quite noticeable when worn. Although looking like a seemingly tight weave it’s quite open and breathable. Adding that it’s a little lower in weight it’s proven to be a steady companion even on hot days. That being said, we’re talking about very small differences in openness here, between this jacket and the two aforementioned, but still noticeable.
I ended up with a tie for 1st place and went by which I wear the most for the official ranking.
② Ermenegildo Zegna
(weight unknown, approx. 210g)
Wool 60%, Silk 20%, Linen 20%
Cross Ply
Jacket Model No-254
A navy fabric with a lighter blue striped windowpane. This is a beautiful jacket which I lean towards especially if I’m not wearing a tie. Actually, that holds true for most of these jackets. Most of my summer jackets are a little more vibrant in colour and pattern because I mostly wear them without a tie. But I’ve noticed that this gets a lot of wear if I’m just going to the store or for small errands. It’s amazingly light and comfortable to wear. It has the best properties in terms of fibre percentage, openness of weave and weight.
If I was to give one recommendation, I think this type of cloth from Zegna would be the first.
① Drago Lanificio in Biella
(250g)
Wool 68%, Silk 18%, Linen 14%.
Plain weave
Jacket Model No-269
It’s an odd choice to be putting first, but this jacket is incredible. It doesn’t come off as being very summery because of the dark brown with an almost black looking brown windowpane.
But the weave, a kind of hopsack looking plain weave with two threads; a thicker and a thinner, makes this cloth incredibly breathable. The thinner thread being light brown/orange, those tones within the weave picks up beautifully in the sun.
Although, like I said, this shade of brown doesn’t initially come off as being very summer-like, beyond the open weave, this jacket wears surprisingly light.
The open wave makes for great ventilation and the fabric is also incredibly soft.
There’s two things I would mention though, one which is that it’s not the easiest jacket to pair because of the dark colours. I tend to wear darker colours all year round so in that sense this fits in, but I seldom wear black trousers or jeans so I’m left with gray or darker greens. Worn with the former, this becomes a very uninspired look for summer, as such green is the best option. So, as great of a summer jacket as it is, I might try to repurpose this for fall and layer/wear it with wool. I welcome suggestions for pairing the jacket in the comments ;)
The second being that because it’s a dark colour, as you can imagine one becomes a moving heat magnet. That being said, surprisingly it’s still the jacket I think is the most breathable and comfortable to wear during hot days.
Conclusion
I noted in the first article about summer fabrics that the weave trumps weight, but seeing as most of these cloths and the next presentation’s ones as well, are plain weaves, weight did become a determining factor. The two other factors, quite obvious ones as such were thread density and how open the weave is. The more intricate the thread composition is in the weft and the warp, as in both the ply and how many threads, the more breathable the cloth is.
A good example of this is the dark brown cloth from Drago which despite averaging about the same fibre percentage, gains a lot in terms of breathability because of the wider threads and the double threads in the weft and the warp.
As for the percentage of wool, silk and linen, I’ve come to the conclusion that around 60%/20%/20% is the best mix of fibers in a cloth. Seeing as most of these jackets are within that range it would obviously suggest that this is also what the companies producing these cloths have concluded as well.
It’s not easy to make oneself aware of the difference in small increase or decrease in percentage if it’s within this range, but I do notice that jumps such as 10% more wool like in the first Carlo Barbera on the list, makes a difference given a similar weave.
That being said, all of the jackets in this article, and as such the cloths they are made of, are incredible additions to any summer wardrobe. Although some of the jackets in the next part are quite a step up from these in terms of wearability, limiting the scope to these Wool / Silk / Linen cloths, these are all amazing. I’ll add that grading them came down to minuscule differences.
