With COVID seemingly moving into something we are all going to live with, we are seeing countries relaxing their entry requirements for international travel, this may now mean a lot of people can resume their previous international business travel over the next year.
In this blog we will look to give you knowledge on what to think about when considering your next travel suit. We will focus mainly on cloth selection but also on the suit construction, so let’s start with cloth selection.
The first and most popular choice will be 100% wool, high twist cloths. These have pretty much everything you need in a travel cloth especially for work trips where you need to look sharp straight off the train or plane. The strands of yarn are woven and twisted tighter than usual, giving a slight see through look to the finished cloth, this means the cloth is breathable, and gives it a natural stretch meaning it can resist creasing better than traditional wools. The slight trade off being a coarser finish compared to other wools especially Supers, though this is improving.
Bunches to look out for would be Fresco from Hardy Minnis, this is really great for work options as it has a vast selection of grey and navys so you can be quite specific on your colour choice. Another would be Tonik Wool from Dormeuil. As usual Dormeuil offers an amazing variety of cloth designs so if you are looking for more interesting options, this is a great bunch to look through and on a side note has positive sustainability practises. Crispaire from Holland & Sherry is also worth a look for something a little more unreserved with some lovely coloured pinstripes and bold single colour options.
If you want to achieve a more refined look and feel from your travel suit, a merino wool would be the best choice. It has a lot of similar properties, though not quite as successfully achieved, to the high twist but is a lot softer and you can find options woven up to Super 170s if you really want to push the boat out. It has natural characteristics which aid temperature regulation, crease resistance and odours.
We would recommend any Gostwyck options from Holland & Sherry, the Gostwyck trilogy has three different weight options in a myriad of different colours and weaves, a remarkable cloth and unique to Holland & Sherry. Next Silver Ghost by Scabal, not only a great bunch name, but a delightful cloth with a fantastic choice of patterns, weaves and more simple plain options. At a slightly more palatable price would be Chelsea from Huddersfield Fine Worsteds, a solid 9oz Super 120s with another great choice of colours and patterns.
The last option could be to fully embrace the potential creasing and go for a lightweight, supple Italian linen, though you would have to gauge whether you think it would be suitable for the work occasion. We think that linen can work because people expect it to crease, therefore don’t really pay attention to it as it enhances the look of the suit.
Solbiati is the only place to go for a varied set of lovely Italian linen bunches, plenty of plains, stripes and checks to choose from.
Now onto the construction of the suit, breathability is key here. You should consider removing the shoulder padding but keeping the sleeve-head, avoiding a fully natural shoulder, this will help with breathability without fully losing the formality. We would suggest a full canvas body construction to give you maximum breathability, this will also help with the suit recovery after wear and keep a more formal structure to the body of the suit where it is needed most. Half lining the jacket is also sensible as it makes the most of the open weaves of the cloth, and creates airflow through the jacket.
With the trousers you could consider unlined though keeping the front half lined is still a better option as the rest of the trouser will be breathable. On a final note, if you decide on linen I would go completely unconstructed and unlined, in for a penny in for pound!