Transcription
A wool suit will be far superior in of better quality compared to a polyester blend. We've been over that. Wool's more breathable, or it can be more insulating. It's a natural fiber and really sustainable for the environment. It has a better hand and feel to it as well.
It's still the common go-to choice for professional attire for formal occasions, but what kind of wool fabric do you go for? Worsted, woolen, flannel, high twist, plain weave, hopsack, super 150s, Merino, tweed, cashmere. It kind of goes on and on. At what weight? It's a little bit overwhelming, but once you have a better understanding, it can be very interesting and even nice to have a variation in your wardrobe.
When I make suits and help out our customers here, I always try to nail down TPO. It stands for time, place, and occasion of which where you're going to wear your suit. This helps me make the best recommendations. During this video, I'm going to help you solve for T, or the season, by breaking down the options into three categories: spring and summer wools, falling winter wools, and four-season wools. Then, based on your place or occasion, you can make the best informed decision for your next suit.
Now, before we jump in, there are two important types of yarn you need to know about. There's worsted yarn and there's woolen yarn. They're going to come up a lot. Worsted yarn is densely spun long staple wool fibers and then woven into suiting fabrics, which are referred to as worsted wool. It's going to be very strong, it's durable, it has a tendency to have spring and return to its natural shape, has a wonderful drape, and makes up a really large majority of suiting options out there.
The other yarn is the woolen yarn, and this is different from worsted because they contain a lot of air. They're very light and fluffy and sometimes have a flexible texture. They're going to have small ends of fibers poking out, creating some of that texture. Now, due to the air and fluffy attributes, these wools make great insulators, which is why you normally only find woolens in winter fabrics.
Now that you know the different types of yarn, let's jump into different types of four-season wools that I'd recommend for you guys. A worsted wool twill weave in a weight of around 280 grams is a great option for year-round wear. Twill, it refers to the weaving method, and this is done by passing the weft, or the horizontal thread, over one or more warp threads, then passing it under two or more warp threads. So the easy way to distinguish a twill when you're looking at it is by taking a very close look, and if you can see a diagonal pattern in the wool, it's going to be a twill fabric.
My second recommendation for a four-season suit is a plain weave worsted wool at around 300 grams. Plain weave is when you pass a warp over a weft and alternate the rows of yarns. If you take a close look at this plain weave wool, it looks like a typical basket weave, or just over under, over, and so on.
There are a few differences between twill and plain weave. If you hold them up to light, you're going to notice that plain weave lets more light pass through, and the twill is more dense, meaning less light is going to pass through. That means plain weave is going to be a little bit more breathable. That's also why I recommend a slightly heavier weight of 300 grams in plain weave versus 280 grams in a twill for all-year wear. Twill tends to be softer and a little bit more flowy, and the plain weave I find a little bit stiffer, slightly more spring. If you prefer something softer or comfort, go with a twill, but if you want a clean, crisper drape and more wrinkle resistance, go with that plain weave wool. Both of these come in a variety of colors and patterns, and they make great suits, as well as jackets or even on trousers.
Now let's take a look at the different kinds of suitable wools, weaves, and weights for spring and summer. Fortunately, a lot of the lingo is the same here, with the introduction of high twist, which is my first recommendation. This is very similar to a worsted plain weave; however, the yarn is twisted even more when being spun, which creates a fabric with even more spring. It has a crisp hand and even more wrinkle-resistant characteristics. It also even has a more open weave when you hold it up to light, seeing that even more light is passing through, so it's going to be even more breathable, which means it's perfect for warm weather wear. This comes in varying weights, with 300 grams probably being the middle, but they can be as heavy as 400 grams in three or four ply, which is super durable and very wrinkle-resistant, a bit rigid, or 230 grams, which is very light, and in one of my Escorial suits, which is very soft.
One thing to note is high twist can be very rigid with almost no give or stretch, meaning if there isn't sufficient drape in the cut of your suit, or if the suit isn't a perfect fit, it could actually be a little uncomfortable or even tight when moving around. However, their high twist wool spun in ways that have a natural stretch, allowing you to enjoy the benefits of a crease-resistant, highly breathable, applicable, and soft wool suit.
Have you ever heard of super 150s or even higher? This super refers to the finest of the wool staple that is used to spin the yarn, which is then woven into fabrics. The majority of super fabrics are woven as worsted twill suiting, so the benefit of this is the hand is going to be very soft and very luxurious, but it's going to be a little bit more fragile, and it will wrinkle a little bit more. If you're just getting into suits, I'd probably avoid this option and leave it for down the road as something unique, something to look forward to, or something for even a special occasion.
Contradictory to what most other blogs will tell you about twill versus plain weave, and when theory comes to practice, in my experience, I find in such light weights, plain weave wool performs better than twills, meaning it's going to hold the crease better, it's going to drape nicer, and resist wrinkles a little bit better, not to mention it's more breathable.
When fall and winter approach, I really look forward to the options of wool suiting and jacketing. One of my favorites, tweed, is made with a textured woolen fabric. It's of a soft, open weave with a flexible texture and comes in a variety of weaves, such as herringbone, twill, and plain weaves, and it's going to weigh normally around 320 grams upwards, up to 500 grams or even more for coating. Tweed makes for a great jacket. If you want to make a suit, though, you have to make sure that the trousers are made with a denser tweed fabric, otherwise it's not going to have a very good drape, it won't hold the crease, and they might wear out quickly in the crotch area due to friction.
Another one of my winter favorites and recommendations to you guys is a flannel. There are two types of flannels: there are worsted flannels, which are brushed to create that fuzzy flannel finish, and woolen flannels, that are woven naturally and have that flannel finish we know due to the woolen yarns, kind of like what I'm wearing now. The former tends to be lighter, say around 280 grams to 300, which I actually find an awkward weight, at least for the climate I'm living in, super cold winters and very hot summers, so it doesn't really have a place in my wardrobe. However, woolen flannels are what I really love due to the heavier weights of 340 grams or even 400 grams or more in heavy English flannels. They have beautiful drape, they're going to keep you warm, and they feel soft and cozy.
If you're looking to go with something other than a traditional gray flannel, you're going to find that adding some color in a flannel is nice because due to the nap of the fabric, it absorbs light, making colors slightly muted and less saturated. If you wear a green, for example, it may come off as just a dark suit; it won't shock anybody. If you go with a burgundy or purple, hey, it might look closer to brown, so it's a great fabric to choose if you want to mix a little bit of color into your repertoire.
I mentioned before that twill weaves tend to be softer or less crisp than a plain weave in lighter fabrics. Remember, however, when you get to about 320 grams and up, twill has a superior drape in my opinion. Twill at 340 grams and above makes a super nice business suit. In a fine weave, covert or cavalry twill makes some of my favorite trousers for the winter months and can make a suit too.
I hope you guys enjoyed this video on wool suiting and have a better understanding. I could go even deeper, and I will, but we'll save that for down the road. If you guys like this video and found it useful, please subscribe, hit the like. Also, go ahead and leave a comment. I read all of them. I'll see you guys next time. Thanks for watching.