[Sean Longden]

I suspect Simon's reasoning is that California makes up a significant part of his market.

[samtemporary]

Perhaps it "can" be worn year-round, Like in Southern California, Tex, Florida, etc., and for people traveling around the year that have warm climes in their itinerary. The only reason I have anything wool or flannel is for the off chance I'm traveling north in winter. Otherwise, it's light cloth/linen all the time.

So change the description to " it can be worn up to year-round".

[SJC]

Sure, i put something to that effect youll see what i mean Sam when they land. We had a bank holiday yesterday so all hands on deck packing today.

[Nik]

Hey, you ain't no bank. Get back to work!

[Guillermo]

I lost access to the account the same way Edward did so now I back again here. I've been off the forums for a while but with the linen suits launched came back.

I have to say that I love the colours and in my case Linen is the way to go to wear almost all year round except maybe in winter. The colours are muted enough to not scream "Summer" like the cream ones.

Although I love the Vanderbilt (Even without the full belt which I would have prefered but I understand) and I love to see the cinch back in the trousers.



I was going to purchase at least 2 straight away but I didn't because I am a bit concerned by the new measurements. The leg opening is smaller than before(20cm) and the waist is larger than before(41-42cm). The current measurements are the following:




They look quite tappered and a bit looser on the waist.



The waist although I like them more snug than the measurements listed it can be taken in but the leg opening is a big concern because the 20cm of last year's Vanderbilt were already slim enough I think.

I'm surprised to see no one mentioned it, maybe no one has the original Vanderbilt here?

[SJC]

It was done deliberately so when you raise the trouser by 4" at least the opening is then 8" or 16" circ. Last time the full leg finished at 8" and when raised was more like 18" and that is is 2" too wide for an edwardian hem. Thanks.

[Edward2.0]

Makes sense.

I'm smirking at myself here, as I caught myself thinking "16" round the ankle seems right at the end of almost too narrow for me".... then I had a flashback to angrily dismissing a pair of 501s in 1989 because their 16" ankle was, to fifteeen year old me, "basically flares". 

[Nik]

In the unlikely event that someone, anyone, has washed either the new linen trousers or jackets, please let me know the shrinkage in length (and if possible, width too).

To be clear, I am not recommending anyone to do so. But if anyone does wash the linen for whatever reason, I'm curious to know of the results because the linen suit jackets are too long for my frame and I'm toying with the idea of shrinking them intentionally. That is, after buying them.

[SJC]

I was just looking at this Nick with Paul pattern cutter, we don't recommend washing but we do think you can alter it pretty easily.  It is unlined so with a little bit of shaping around the cutaway, and basic hemming it could quite easily be done, there is no topstitching which is a bonus.  Of course a tailor could handle this easily.  We measured it and you could take off 5cm off the length which would equal about 29" in length from centre back, and still have about an inch below the hip pockets.

[Nik]

Sounds like you were looking at the Vanderbilt jacket. The King Cole has top stitching and the hip pockets are as close to the hem as can be per pattern, so there is no way of shortening the hem on that jacket model.

Agree about the Vanderbilt although that one has (1) a longer length by design, which is fine and (2) hip pockets with some distance to the hem also by design - it's a teens look - so I wouldn't shorten the Vanderbilt regardless.

But it's the King Cole that troubles me here as a medium heighted bloke (arguably, about 2" less than average by today's statistics).

[SJC]

Oh soz, i thought you were referring to the other, yeah.

[Guillermo]

I didn't have any trouble with the first Linen trousers but that was a blend, washed two pairs of trousers and waistcoat. Not sure about this new fabric though. I regularly wash my linen wide leg trousers from another maker with no shrinking except for the first time.

In my opinion having to dry clean linen or cotton is a nuissance and quite annoying. They're fabrics that are worn often in warmer weather, one sweats, they get rumpled, loose, etc having to dry clean every single time is neither good for the fabric nor practical. Speaking mostly for the trousers, jackets not really that necessary.

I haven't pulled the trigger yet on the new linen but I want to, just too much stuff released to be able to afford it all.

[Philipp]

My King Cole suit arrived on Friday, the trousers had to go for alterations, but I was able to wear the jacket twice. So I thought I'd share some observations. First of all, the box it came in was a very nice touch, and way better than the layers upon layers of plastic in previous shipments!

The linen fabric is seriously impressive, I have never seen anything like that. Absolutely no comparison to "mass market" qualities of linen. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be too warm for high summer, but it has potential to be my go-to suit for any April-October "in-between weather". The fit is also good, the jacket just about large enough for me at 42. With past SJC suit jackets I got a 44 which turned out a bit boxy and had to be altered. I am probably going through life as a 43... or should try to lose half a stone...

The only slight gripes I have about the suit are both about buttons. Like with the flannell King Cole jacket, the cuffs are a complete joke in my opinion. It's just three buttons sewn on the lower sleeve in a row with spaces in between, and this looks slapdash and thoughtless. Is there a reason why there can't be a "real" fake cuff that has the bottons close together or overlapping by 2-3 milimeters, perhaps even with a bit of fake buttonhole stitching? Would it be much more expensive to do that?

I raised my other eyebrow at the braces buttons in the trousers. They are, I'd say, a bit too far apart, and on my pair of trousers there was one missing, the front left "pair" just had one button. I suspect they had no clue at the factory about what braces buttons are for, and they thought the second, outer, closure button was a braces button. This is easily mended, but still a bit of a hassle at the price (which is a fair price,
 but would be even fairer if one got three pairs of braces buttons).

But on the whole a good investment, it's a great joy to see good quality linen!

[Guillermo]

The linen is really tough stuff. Only seen comparable weight on vintage Irish Linen stuff.

[samtemporary]

My King Cole suit arrived on Friday, the trousers had to go for alterations, but I was able to wear the jacket twice. So I thought I'd share some observations. First of all, the box it came in was a very nice touch, and way better than the layers upon layers of plastic in previous shipments!

The linen fabric is seriously impressive, I have never seen anything like that. Absolutely no comparison to "mass market" qualities of linen. I have a sneaking suspicion that it will be too warm for high summer, but it has potential to be my go-to suit for any April-October "in-between weather". The fit is also good, the jacket just about large enough for me at 42. With past SJC suit jackets I got a 44 which turned out a bit boxy and had to be altered. I am probably going through life as a 43... or should try to lose half a stone...

The only slight gripes I have about the suit are both about buttons. Like with the flannell King Cole jacket, the cuffs are a complete joke in my opinion. It's just three buttons sewn on the lower sleeve in a row with spaces in between, and this looks slapdash and thoughtless. Is there a reason why there can't be a "real" fake cuff that has the bottons close together or overlapping by 2-3 milimeters, perhaps even with a bit of fake buttonhole stitching? Would it be much more expensive to do that?

I raised my other eyebrow at the braces buttons in the trousers. They are, I'd say, a bit too far apart, and on my pair of trousers there was one missing, the front left "pair" just had one button. I suspect they had no clue at the factory about what braces buttons are for, and they thought the second, outer, closure button was a braces button. This is easily mended, but still a bit of a hassle at the price (which is a fair price,
 but would be even fairer if one got three pairs of braces buttons).

But on the whole a good investment, it's a great joy to see good quality linen!

Funny thing...on my blue King Cole the trouser brace buttons were missing the second left side button - it's like the factory thought the inside tab button doubled as the brace button. Because the brace button spacing was terribly off, my tailor had to move them around anyway, allowing him to include the missing button in the end alteration.

I also noticed the cuffs on the jacket. I've gotten used to having my tailor reinforce all buttons on SJC products, even shirts - it seems factories just like to stitch and go, without ensuring the buttons will survive the first wash and wear.