Please, advise on materials for hot weather

[Kilgour]

Hello everyone,

Since I recently got a posting in Colombo, Sri Lanka, I am looking to have suits built for the very special kind of weather under the equator: hot and saturated with humidity. WHich makes it extra hot.
Ideally, the fabric should be light in weight and colour.



First, to evaluate the work of the tailor, I'm having a pair of trousers built, in classic traditional style: high waist, double pleated, ample leg. I want to see if he can pull it off with a test item.

I'd like white, but I have questions:
- what material? 100% wool? Merino / cashmere? Loro Piana is available here. A blend?
- what grammage? 270? To get proper drape while keeping it light enough for hot weather.
- how to avoid see-through with white? Increase grammage? Or use special lining? Which material for the lining?

Here's a perfect example of high-waist, pleated white pants for hot weather, with proper drape and no see-thru:

[Hendrick]

Hello Kilgour,

My personal preferences...
Beware of linings, the extra layer will concentrate not only warmth but moist as well, so I would, again personally, go for half lined and only partially canvassed construction. Stay away from optical white but go for natural (milky) white instead, As for materials, linnen is great, but only if it has a "drapers finish", (or "äero" finish in italian) it creases far less! I like cotton/linnen blends because these tend to drape with more fall (less horizontal creasing) as the warp is usually cotton and the weft linnen. The tropical wool suiting in the 1930''s was called "batavia", still existing today and familiar to a decent tailor, it is airy and light and non transparent. There are some "diamond"/piqué suiting constructions around, I believe also by Loro Piana that are breathable and crease resistant (and easy to canvas by your tailor because of the floating yarns!), but trousers in these will stretch at the knees...  Enjoy the island!

Cheers, Hendrick

[Schneiderfrei]

Hi Kilgour, There are tropical weight woolen fabrics:

https://churchstores.com.au/product/wool-tropical-blend-black/

Personally, I love linen. Cotton may also be found heavy enough to make trousers: A heavy Panama Weave would be interesting.

G

[posaune]

How about silk? (blended with Linen, linen for stability) and the lining an acetat (viscose)? Grammage you mentioned is okay with me. What about the insects?

lg
posaune

[Schneiderfrei]

Silk and Silk Linen, now (jetzt) you're talking 

G

[peterle]

I have made trousers from a lightweight fabric with linnen warp and woolen weft. Nice grainy structure and very airy. It was ideal for Sri Lanka's climate in December.

[Schneiderfrei]

Peterle, did you have a chance to return to Sri Lanka?

[peterle]

No, not with another project yet. But who knowes.

[Kilgour]

Thank you for your answer Hendrick!
What are your thoughts on cashmere?

--
Is it normal that I have to verify that I'm not a robot every single post I type? And answer what the capital of Russia is, who Franco was, etc? This takes longer than to actually write the post.

[Hendrick]

Hi Kilgour, I think cashmere is great because it is breatheable and has good warmth regulation due to the fine yarn counts. But note that especially in dark colours, combined with sun, it will accumulate warmth. There used to be a popular weave, called "prunelle" in French which is an airy twill weave, that was used a lot for lightweight suiting in 30's to 50's of the last century.Many of the gorgeous creamy suits you see in movies where made in this for men as well as women. It existed in pure cashmere and silk/cashmere blends. Many of the wools in todays suitings have very fine yarncounts, in flat weaves they tend to get a little "air tight". So in my opinion they are, at least for warm weather, better suited for basket weaves or pick/picks to allow ventilation...

Cheers, Hendrick

[Steelmillal]

Ditto linen/wool blends for cooler times, pure linen for 'swampa$$ days'. Nix cashmere for hot climates. Cotton is just bad for eco systems.


Stick to light colours and open weaves. Have you found a local tailor there, yet? They'd be one to ask, too. Good luck and have fun!!!

[Kilgour]

I found several tailors. I visited four.

One was not aptly priced, he gave me the same price I paid on Savile Row, but without the same quality of material, without the verified reputation, and SL overall fees are not London fees so I know this is ridiculously overpriced. Might as well fly to Singapore, Dubai, or HK to a reputable tailor, for less money.

One tailor did not know how to do two pleats, high-waist, since all his clients ask for the same straight front, low waist. Gave it a wide berth.

One seemed to know what he was talking about, materials and cut, and engaged in an actual conversation. I ordered test trousers. This one is catering to expats and business people.

Another said "no problem" too many times, with a head shake that could mean either yes or maybe, and unfortunately could not speak English enough to go into details, but he reacted positively to pictures. He's catering to locals, for traditional and business suits, but his price is so low I thought I should give it a try and ordered a pair of test trousers. One can hope to get lucky.

Hendrick, I envy your precise knowledge of such things as "prunelle" or "batavia", or what warp and weft should be made of for which weather. I hope to get to know these things better, but mostly I hope to find tailors who know these things too. They are not so easy to find.

Singapore/Kuala Lumpur/Kerala are relatively close. I may also have to travel to Hong Kong or Dubai in a few months. If some of you know of very reputable tailors in these cities or region, I'd be interested.

[Gerry]

Singapore/Kuala Lumpur/Kerala are relatively close ... If some of you know of very reputable tailors in these cities or region, I'd be interested.

Just googling around, this guy seems on the level:

https://www.jeremytok.com

His videos on youtube show that everything is kosher: pad-stitched lapels, pick-stitched by hand, hair canvas etc. All good. Plus his English is perfect and he uses top-quality cloth (Holland and Sherry).

Whomever you plump for, check that they actually use canvas in their suits and not fusing. That sorts the wheat from the chaff. Also ask if they do half or fully canvased coats/jackets. Half canvased isn't as structured, which you may prefer, but it can also involve an element of fusing (the cheap and nasty way of making suits).

[Kilgour]

Outstanding. Thank you!

[Gerry]

His breakdown of canvas vs fused is very good, and accurate for much of SE Asia unfortunately.

https://www.jeremytok.com/single-post/2019/02/02/additional-thoughts-on-how-to-find-decent-and-affordable-tailoring-in-south-east-asia

There are some very good, traditional tailors in that part of the world, but they're hard to find and mostly you're going to get a lot of corner cutting, even among the bespoke fraternity.