[chris2008]

Hello to everyone,

How close should the weight of the jacket fabric match the weight of the trouser fabric?

For example, let's say you have a jacket made from 12 ounce lambswool and cashmere with a herringbone weave. And let's say you wanted to pair the jacket with cavalry twill trousers. Ideally, should the weight of the cavalry twill be 12 ounce? Or would a heavier cavalry twill, say 14 ounce weight, also work well with the jacket? And, should the cavalry twill be wool, or would a 100% cotton cavalry twill fabric also be okay to pair with the lambswool and cashmere jacket fabric?

Thanks,

Chris

 

[Matt S]

Jacket and trousers should be approximately equal in weight and amount of texture, but numbers aren't always reliable in this regard. The jacket you mention is going to be a bit fluffy, so it will look like a heavier jacket. You could probably pair it successfully with traditional 17-18 oz cavalry twill or whipcord trousers. Cotton cavalry twill probably won't look as good because the textures don't go as well together. Cotton cavalry twill is also much more casual. But if you want to pair cotton trousers with that jacket, something with a lot of texture and substance like corduroy or moleskin would be perfect.

 

[drpeter]

There has been detailed discussion of fabric weights (how to measure them, and the difficulty of obtaining accurate estimates of them, given that we don't have easy access to square yards of the cloths involved) in these fora. I don't want to revisit any of that. For some time now, I have simply trusted my eye and my hand in deciding what fabrics in trousers and jackets go well together. If a particular combination looks and feels right to me, I wear that combination. So far so good, LOL -- no one has looked aghast at my jacket and trouser combos, or made exclamations of surprise or said "Quelle horreur!!" Personally (and I'll readily concede this may not be to everyone's taste), I have no qualms about combining jackets and trousers that are a few ounces apart in fabric weight (say a lighter Harris tweed with somewhat heavier poplin slacks, or medium-weight khaki trousers with a lighter hopsack navy blazer). So my basic rule is this: If a combination looks and feels good to you, by all means wear it!

 

[Peak and Pine]

^
Yes to that.
Unless you are choosing fabrics based on weather conditions, and it's recommended that you do, it's all to please the eyeballs. Mine mostly; I don't wanna see you go wearing tweeds with jersey pants or the like because then I would not be so ready to reach deep for a ten to help you get back to Minnesota or wherever t'hell you'd be hitchhiking to wearing mismatched fabrics.

 

[drpeter]

LOL, Peaks, I don't have any idea what jersey pants are, but I get the drift...

 

[Matt S]

LOL, Peaks, I don't have any idea what jersey pants are, but I get the drift...

He's too sophisticated to say the word "sweat".

 

[drpeter]

I suppose Jersey must be the place one goes to sweat.

 

[chris2008]

You could probably pair it successfully with traditional 17-18 oz cavalry twill or whipcord trousers.

Abraham Moon & Sons has this wool cavalry twill fabric:

Cavalry Twill Archives - Abraham Moon & Sons

www.moons.co.uk

The weight is 21.5 ounce. Would this fabric be too heavy to pair with a 12 ounce lambswool and cashmere jacket with a herringbone weave?

 

[Matt S]

Abraham Moon & Sons has this wool cavalry twill fabric:

Cavalry Twill Archives - Abraham Moon & Sons

www.moons.co.uk

The weight is 21.5 ounce. Would this fabric be too heavy to pair with a 12 ounce lambswool and cashmere jacket with a herringbone weave?

I think that's too heavy for trousers. I'd make a topcoat out of it. I have 18 oz cavalry twill from Abraham Moon that would be better. Those are very heavy, and I can't imagine going any heavier.

 

[Flanderian]

Jacket and trousers should be approximately equal in weight and amount of texture, but numbers aren't always reliable in this regard. The jacket you mention is going to be a bit fluffy, so it will look like a heavier jacket. You could probably pair it successfully with traditional 17-18 oz cavalry twill or whipcord trousers. Cotton cavalry twill probably won't look as good because the textures don't go as well together. Cotton cavalry twill is also much more casual. But if you want to pair cotton trousers with that jacket, something with a lot of texture and substance like corduroy or moleskin would be perfect.

+1!

I'd add only the qualifier, approximately. Have found that if the trousers are bit lighter it still seems an harmonious pairing.

 

[Matt S]

+1!

I'd add only the qualifier, approximately. Have found that if the trousers are bit lighter it still seems an harmonious pairing.

A bit lighter can work, but tropical wool or lightweight gabardine and tweeds don't pair well at all.

 

[chris2008]

Twelve ounce wool cavalry twill should pair fine with the jacket?

And, should a plain twill weave, in any weight, be avoided because there would not be enough texture to go with the herringbone weave?

 

[Flanderian]

A bit lighter can work, but tropical wool or lightweight gabardine and tweeds don't pair well at all.

 

[Matt S]

Twelve ounce wool cavalry twill should pair fine with the jacket?

And, should a plain twill weave, in any weight, be avoided because there would not be enough texture to go with the herringbone weave?

I don't know what you mean by "plain twill weave". There are all sorts of twill weaves and cloths made of those weaves. It needs to have some sort of heft and texture and not look like ordinary suit trousers.

 

[chris2008]

Here is a photograph of a 14 ounce wool twill fabric:

Would this fabric be okay to use for odd trousers if paired with an odd jacket that didn't have too much texture?

 

[fishertw]

Here is a photograph of a 14 ounce wool twill fabric:

Would this fabric be okay to use for odd trousers if paired with an odd jacket that didn't have too much texture?

I would happily wear that fabric texture with any odd jacket with more texture. It seems to be heavy enough to hold up to tweeds or other rougher fabrics to my eye.

 

[Matt S]

Here is a photograph of a 14 ounce wool twill fabric:

Would this fabric be okay to use for odd trousers if paired with an odd jacket that didn't have too much texture?

That looks appropriate for tweed jackets!

 

[drpeter]

Here is a photograph of a 14 ounce wool twill fabric:

Would this fabric be okay to use for odd trousers if paired with an odd jacket that didn't have too much texture?

Looks like cavalry twill to me. And yes, it would be perfect with the kind of odd jacket you describe. I would wear it with blazers, and even with a much rougher Harris Tweed, which has a sufficiently different texture.