Bespoke Wool & Linen Jacket in Drago “Sunlit”
Wool & Linen Bespoke Jacket
HOW DOES WOOL & LINEN WORK?
Drago - Sunlit Jacketing
I have a soft spot for linen jackets. I adore the way linen breathes and its natural tendency to rumpling is something that has grown on me over the years. And I get hot….
Initially I shied away from linen summer jackets and all their casual connotations. I leant more into high-twist cloth and more rugged fabrics. But certainly, since covid there has been a shift to ever more casual styles and more easy-going fabrics and I feel this is a good thing. It allows for more expression and more playfulness, and clothes should be enjoyed.
Bespoke linen jackets can be a blessing and a curse. On one hand, linen is a tough and pliable fibre with excellent breathability. On the other hand, it does crease and rumple which isn’t everyone’s cup of tea. It all comes down to how you view it.
However, we are seeing now more linen and wools blends which are the perfect balance of structure, character and breathability.
By blending the fibres you blend the characteristics and mitigate the downside. By adding a percentage of wool into the mix you add wools natural crease resistance whilst retaining linens breathable nature. Its pretty much a match made in heaven
I can see why this linen and wool blend would work so marvellously well. And why the merchants are using it more and more. Pure linen can be a little stiff and rigid at the start, especially the Irish linens favoured by the English merchants.
We recommend people beat their jackets up a little and wear them, a process akin to breaking in new shoes. Once worn in, linen is wonderful and soft. But it does take a little patience and a bit of time.
Drago - Sunlit Jacketing
But by blending linen and wool its soft and ready to go from the first wear. No break in, less creasing, and a soft and supply handle from day one. Everything you would want from a bespoke linen jacket in the summer.
A few years back Solbiati did a lovely linen and wool blend in a petrol blue herringbone as part of their seasonal “Graffiti” collection. I sampled this and wore it throughout the summer to various events. It was a joy to wear and kept me cool at every junction.
Unfortunately, being a seasonal cloth, its sold out pretty quick and there were no other alternatives at that time, so I kept the suit under wraps and made a mental note of the composition. Maybe its now time to get it photographed as we have some wonderful alternatives.
The jacket in this blog post is from Drago and their Sunlit jacketing collection. It’s a split of wool, silk and linen jackets alongside wool and linen blends too. I’d use the wool and linen in a CityChore too.
The bunch is full of textured plains, larges checks and oversize herringbones. I enjoy slightly larger patterns on a jacket as this allow for smaller patterns to be used on the shirt. It’s a formula I wear a lot and I find it consistently produces wonderful outcomes.
It must be noted that Sunlit is only applicable for bespoke linen jackets. It can’t be used for suits.
However if you are looking for summer suiting in wool and line then Dugdale’s new “Summer Cascade” collection is worth noting. Its a collection of 50% linen and 50% wool blends in 290gram/10oz weight which is suitable for both jackets and suitings. We have just made one up for a client so I’ll be sure to photograph it and post it up.
I’ve styled it here with cream Brisbane Moss chinos and a Getzner blue butcher stripe bespoke shirt.
I like cream trousers as a summer neutral. They don’t clash and provide a wonderful backdrop for other colours to take centre stage.
The brown colour of the jacket is very warm, allowing it enough colour to separate it visually from the trouser. This effect is further enhanced by the oversized herringbone of the jacket.
Normally I wouldn’t pair a herringbone jacket with a striped shirt. But using a very bold striped shirt almost pushes the stripe of the jacket into the background more so visually balancing out the 2 stripes. And effect I recently discovered and a great reason to keep experimenting with outfits.
The trick to making up a bespoke linen jacket is to let the natural characteristic of the fibre lead the way. A linen, or linen blend jacket will always be more casual. Don’t force it to be anything else and lean into its casual nature.
Think less structure, less padding and less formality.
It’ll pay you back handsomely.
As always I recommend open dialogue and testing things out to find what works for you. And as ever, both myself and Ruben are here to help.
Any questions pop them in the comments
Scott 😉
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