Green Di Pray Bespoke Jacket
Italian Wool, Silk and Linen
Summer TailorinG
When I see a new cloth, or a new merchant I like to make a garment up and experience it before I recommend it to people. With tailoring it’s not always a wild deviation from the norm but often a subtle change which can give new and exciting results. And sometimes it’s a cloth I know and love, but in a shade or style that feels somewhat different. This jacket fell into the latter. It’s a wool, silk and linen blend that the Italians are so good at producing but in a shade of green that felt just right.
Taking this long route allows me to fully live in the garment and know exactly how it makes up and how it feels. Once this has been done you will often find the garment on the rails at our Birmingham Suite so you can see exactly how it performed and what it will look like long term. I’ll also look to keep adding them to our completed commissions section.
Di Pray Green Jacket by Colmore Tailors
This cloth is from the Italian merchant Di Pray who specialise in jacketings (I wrote a post last winter about a “tweed style” jacket we made up in Di Pray which you can read here.) The jacket was made up around a year ago as our friends in Portugal purchased a length and included it in the summer seasonal collection. Its a wonderful shade of green with just the right amount of depth. Made from a blend of wool, silk and linen it treads the line wonderfully between lightness and performance. Soft, plush and wearable straight away and with minimal creasing for a linen blended fabric.
It was made up in a light style with no shoulders pads, minimal structure and finished with dark brown metallic horn buttons. Buttons for me are a finishing touch that when done right complete the jacket without stealing and limelight from elsewhere.
So far it hasn’t been dry cleaned and i’ve probably steamed it once or twice. Maintenance has been relatively easy. Having 3 kids I gravitate towards cloth that is easier to maintain as I don’t have much spare time so lower maintenance fabrics are always preferred
Di Pray Green Fabric by Colmore Tailors
Di Pray Green Fabric by Colmore Tailors
It paired well with casualwear and was particularly pleasing with navy chino’s and light grey fresco trousers. I also found striped shirts were a nice partner as shown here with our blue striped seersucker button-down. The texture did mean that wearing with other textured cloths could sometimes feel a little too much, but other times it didn’t, as was the case with light grey fresco trousers.
Green is a colour I enjoy introducing to people’s lives. It has the wonderful ability to remain masculine and strong and somehow straddle both summer and winter seasons. As most people don’t wear that much green, especially on their bottom half, it also doesn’t clash and complements the menswear staples of navy and grey. Making it and easy colour to incorporate into your wardrobe.
A pleasing combination I seemed to stumble on was a light pink shirt….either a dusky plain or a subtle stripe. The colour gave the shirt some depth without fighting for attention with the green of the jacket. when paired together they bought calm and balance. It’ll be a polarising combination but one I’d implore you to try for yourself.
It’s been hard to find a negative for the fabric but if pushed I would say it creased ever so slightly along the arms after a few wears. But for a linen blend that’s hardly surprising and it tended to drop out when hung up. Any time I have a cloth with that type of character I do favour minimal structure in the chest so that the sleeves and chest both look in unison. If you were to add too much chest structure you would find the chest area looks clean whilst the sleeves crumpled….a look I have always found a bit unpleasing.
All in all, a wonderful piece of cloth that is a pleasure to wear. Highly recommended. Make it up in a lightweight, Neapolitan-style jacket, to get the most out of the it
Unfortunately, the cloth was only available in small amounts and has since sold out. That is a downside of taking the time to test fabric out first. But it is a type of cloth that the Italians are famous for weaving so we have sourced alternatives from Huddersfield Fine Worsted and Cacciopoli. Both merchants have almost direct colour matches along with a lot of other shades of textured plains.
As always, any questions please do ask.
**Please let me know if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. I can’t say writing is my forte but I’m trying ;-)
Di Pray Green Jacket by Colmore Tailors
Scott
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