Hashim, from the AskOkey Team, in Summer Linen
With the summer upon us, we have a choice of cotton, wool and linen, plus some silk and mohair into the blend. In this post, the focus will be wool and linen for summer suits, jackets and other essentials. We can talk about silk, mohair and other fabrics in another post. As usual, AskOkey has plenty to say about them.
Merino Sheep: Where Wool Begins
A quick summary: wool breathes, holds its shape generally, and comes in different weights. Linen makes a cool fabric, it breaths well and is perfect for summer casuals.
Why wool?
For the summer, a weight of 9 to 10 oz works very well, but below 10 oz it does not stand up to repeated wearing. You can find it in virtually every colour, pattern and weave. Standard for jackets, suits and dress clothes, wool is likely to turn up anywhere you go for your summer wardrobe. Watch out though, for wool blended with polyester. Blends like that will not breath well, the fabric will not last and its colour will change over time (yes, it will. Polyester keeps its colour, but wool changes its colour over time, with exposure to the elements).
Why linen?
Unlike wool, linen is a plant (see this post), and has been woven for millenia. As a sustainable product (it does not destroy the soil, unlike cotton), it has gained in popularity over the past few years partly because of environmental concerns, but also because it comes in different weights and can be used for just about anything. However, famous for crumpling and creasing, linen does tend to look a bit shabby after a couple of wears, so it works better for casual clothes.
One real advantage of linen, for shirts, flat front trousers and unlined jackets, is that you can wash it in water – don’t try that with wool, which has to be dry cleaned.
Linen, harvested from Flax
How can you judge fabric quality?
While wool and linen are both perfectly adaptable for summer wear, you need to pay close attention to quality. With linen, check that you are actually buying pure linen, and look at the weave. If the threads are woven evenly, you will not see too many slubs or large, knotty lines. High-quality linen has a fairly tight, even weave. In addition, the fabric should be smooth (an indicator of high-quality weaving). Something else to check for is patches where the colour is brighter or darker (a sign of uneven dyeing), which will affect the colour with repeated wearing and washing.
Although linen weight is not a signifier of quality, heavy linen does wear better and crumples or wrinkles less than lighter weaves. Okey has suits made of 500 gsm linen, which hardly crumple at all, though they are a fair weight to carry around all day.
Wool quality can be described in a number of ways. The place to start is the diameter of the fibers that can be spun out of yarn (more fibers means thinner fibers, which most people associate with quality). Summer wool, naturally lighter than tweed or wool for winter clothes, can be made of very fine fibers (high S rating, e.g., S150). In terms of quality, check that the weave is even (hold it up to the light), with no lumps or slubs, that the colour is even. Good wool, even in light weights, should be slightly “springy”. Hold a pinch between your fingers to test this. The sides of the fold should spring back when you release them.
A good choice for summer wool
Very fine fibers, woven tightly, will not be much use in the heat. AskOkey recommends a particular weave for the summer – high twist, sold under labels such as “Fresco”, “Finmeresco” or “High Twist”. Each of these fabrics is made from tightly spun threads, woven loosely, making them breathable and wrinkle-resistant, perfect for hot and humid weather. In fact, high twist wool marked as 13 or 14 oz will wear surprisingly cool under the sun. The only drawback is that high twist, because of its smooth finish, works better for suits and more formal clothes.
Conclusion
A good rule of thumb would be this: high twist wool for suits, medium to heavy linen for jackets and odd trousers. Linen also makes good shirts, but that is for another post.