[chris2008]

Huddersfield Fine Worsteds is one of the few places I can find a heavier wool gabardine these days.

Thank you, Matt, for posting about Huddersfield Fine Worsteds. They have a lot of nice fabrics.

I was looking at their super gabardine collection:

The Super Gabardine Collection

This gabardine twill is 100% wool, and the weight is 11/12 ounce, 340/360 grams.

Would it be okay to pair this wool gabardine with a 12 ounce herringbone jacket? Or is it not rough looking enough to pair well with a herringbone weave?

And, in your opinion, what are the best odd jacket fabrics to pair with this particular wool gabardine?

 

[Matt S]

Thank you, Matt, for posting about Huddersfield Fine Worsteds. They have a lot of nice fabrics.

I was looking at their super gabardine collection:

The Super Gabardine Collection

This gabardine twill is 100% wool, and the weight is 11/12 ounce, 340/360 grams.

Would it be okay to pair this wool gabardine with a 12 ounce herringbone jacket? Or is it not rough looking enough to pair well with a herringbone weave?

And, in your opinion, what are the best odd jacket fabrics to pair with this particular wool gabardine?

This can work well with a 12-oz herringbone jacket. I wouldn't pair it with a very rough tweed, but I have a cashmere herringbone jacket that this would be perfect with. Gabardine is often good with blue blazers made of fabrics like hopsack, serge or doeskin.

 

[Flanderian]

Thank you, Matt, for posting about Huddersfield Fine Worsteds. They have a lot of nice fabrics.

I was looking at their super gabardine collection:

The Super Gabardine Collection

This gabardine twill is 100% wool, and the weight is 11/12 ounce, 340/360 grams.

Would it be okay to pair this wool gabardine with a 12 ounce herringbone jacket? Or is it not rough looking enough to pair well with a herringbone weave?

And, in your opinion, what are the best odd jacket fabrics to pair with this particular wool gabardine?

This can work well with a 12-oz herringbone jacket. I wouldn't pair it with a very rough tweed, but I have a cashmere herringbone jacket that this would be perfect with. Gabardine is often good with blue blazers made of fabrics like hopsack, serge or doeskin.

Old fashioned gabardine was less refined, the twill ribs more pronounced, and I found it looked great even with rustic tweeds. Without actually seeing and handling a swatch, I wouldn't be able to say, but 11 1/2 ounces is reasonably stout gabardine. The lighter, filmy stuff, definitely not!

Edit: If you're seriously considering purchasing this cloth, see if you can purchase some swatches to be sent to you, and I'd suggest in several similar shades. That way you can place it next to things you are thinking of wearing it with, and see what you think looks best.

 

[Matt S]

I have handled that gabardine, and it feels light and smooth but with more body thsn the typical 8 oz gabardine.

I have always known gabardine to be a rather refined type of cloth. What you describe as being less refined sounds much more like whipcord to me.

 

[Flanderian]

I have handled that gabardine, and it feels light and smooth but with more body thsn the typical 8 oz gabardine.

I have always known gabardine to be a rather refined type of cloth. What you describe as being less refined sounds much more like whipcord to me.

I'm remembering a gabardine suit I purchased from (The original!) Jos. A Bank of Baltimore in '78. The cloth was substantial and I would sometimes pair the trousers with my tweed jackets. I've had other, and still have one remaining pair of gabardine trousers, and gabardine has indeed changed, becoming lighter, smoother and dressier. I also have had whipcord, and that's not what I referring to.

But, yes, gabardine of any sort is very different texturally from tweed, but paired carefully, I find the contrast harmonious, rather than dissonant.

 

[Matt S]

I'm remembering a gabardine suit I purchased from (The original!) Jos. A Bank of Baltimore in '78. The cloth was substantial and I would sometimes pair the trousers with my tweed jackets. I've had other, and still have one remaining pair of gabardine trousers, and gabardine has indeed changed, becoming lighter, smoother and dressier. I also have had whipcord, and that's not what I referring to.

But, yes, gabardine of any sort is very different texturally from tweed, but paired carefully, I find the contrast harmonious, rather than dissonant.

I'm very curious to see some of this other kind of gabardine. I have had wool gabardine trousers from the 1980s which were very smooth but in a medium weight rather than today's more common lightweight gabardine. I used to have a pair of whipcord trousers, which were heavier with a steep twill. They were like a heavier, rougher gabardine. They looked like these trousers: Cavalry Twill Trousers

Those are not actually cavalry twill, which is a different weave with a double rib.

 

[Flanderian]

I'm very curious to see some of this other kind of gabardine. I have had wool gabardine trousers from the 1980s which were very smooth but in a medium weight rather than today's more common lightweight gabardine. I used to have a pair of whipcord trousers, which were heavier with a steep twill. They were like a heavier, rougher gabardine. They looked like these trousers: Cavalry Twill Trousers

Those are not actually cavalry twill, which is a different weave with a double rib.

I had at least one pair of whipcord trousers from Paul Stuart in the early '70's, very nice, but rough and rugged cloth. Chipp sold them too. Cavalry twill at the time was a similar heavier weight cloth, a little softer with the double twill, but rugged.

I didn't intend to imply that the gabardine of my youth was very similar to whipcord, it was still smooth, drapey cloth, just not quite as refined and dressing looking as what I've seen recently from cloth merchants, which is ultra fine, and tends to lighter weights. I suspect the wool fiber used was more run of the mill than the very slender fiber now used for much high quality yarn.

 

[chris2008]

I was looking at Huddersfield's Comfort Zone Collection:

The Comfort Zone Collection

This collection consists of these four trouser fabrics:

twill: cotton/lycra, 10/12 ounce, 310/340 grams
moleskin: cotton/elastane, 13/14 ounce, 400 grams
corduroy: cotton/elastane 14/15 ounce, 430 grams
corduroy: cotton/lycra 630/650 grams

Here is a photo of the twill:

What odd jacket fabric would pair best with this smooth twill? And, what are your thoughts regarding a cotton/lycra blended trouser fabric?

 

[Matt S]

I had at least one pair of whipcord trousers from Paul Stuart in the early '70's, very nice, but rough and rugged cloth. Chipp sold them too. Cavalry twill at the time was a similar heavier weight cloth, a little softer with the double twill, but rugged.

I didn't intend to imply that the gabardine of my youth was very similar to whipcord, it was still smooth, drapey cloth, just not quite as refined and dressing looking as what I've seen recently from cloth merchants, which is ultra fine, and tends to lighter weights. I suspect the wool fiber used was more run of the mill than the very slender fiber now used for much high quality yarn.

Thanks for the clarification. My whipcord were also from Paul Stuart. They were in charcoal with D-rnig side adjusters. I loved them, but then I lost too much weight for them. I have an old pair of grey gabardine trousers from Brooks Brothers that may be what you describe. It's a medium-weight cloth around 11-12 oz and not nearly as smooth or soft as my Polo gabardines, which are about the same weight. I still wouldn't think to pair them with tweeds because of the weight. They go well with my blue blazers.

 

[chris2008]

Here's another photo of Dean Martin:

The trousers he is wearing look heavy. What type of fabric do you think they are made from?