Double Breasted Dogstooth with Cad & the Dandy

Let me introduce you to my first new project, a third suit from The Cad & the Dandy. I am aware that part of my function as a blogger is to review different tailors and brands, but as you all know I am limited to a student budget, so for now, returning to The C&D makes the most sense. Commissioning another suit with The Cad & the Dandy also gives us the opportunity to follow the creation of a fully bespoke suit right through from placing the order to collecting it, as opposed to joining the process half way through as happened last time with my chocolate cocktail suit. A final reason for returning to the Cad & the Dandy is that I have yet to provide a comprehensive review of their service in line with my intentions to develop the blog as a reviewing platform, and the creation of this suit will allow me to do so. Once this project is complete, I have plans to try some other similarly priced services. You may be expecting me to tell you that this suit is going to be lilac, but the lilac suit I was considering having made recently has gone on hold, in favour of a more practical and less expensive option: a double-breasted two piece. 

This suit presents a classic, British double breasted cut, the wrap is quite full, and there are two ornamental buttons positioned on the chest. Compare this with the 1920s illustration below. 

Before I order a garment, I like to spend a good month or so playing with different designs and letting them gestate a little. The first thing I wanted to consider for this new suit, was what it was going to be for. With the world of work (hopefully) fast approaching, I need something that's appropriate for business, but given that I've been wearing more and more tailored trousers casually and mixing separates together, something is also needed in a cloth tough enough for regular casual use too.

Thus, this project presents some experimentation with style. As usual, both jacket and trousers have been designed with a view to emulate the fashion of the Jazz Age (this suit represents a stronger 20s influence than 30s) whilst remaining sharp and closely fitted, in keeping with my personal taste for updating historically influenced tailoring. I spent a long time designing this suit, and more technical thought has gone into this suit than my previous orders. The coat is cut long as this reflects the 1920s tendency for long skirts on tailored jackets and although the button stance has yet to be finalised (this will be done at the basted fitting), I have chosen what is known in tailoring terms as a four-on-four closure with what will most likely be a half-wrap.

This means that I am having only four buttons to fasten the jacket, the top two being on the waist, and the other two beneath, with no ornamental buttons positioned higher up on the chest as is often seen on double breasted suits. You can see what I mean with the photographs below and above this paragraph. The ‘wrap’ refers to the amount of overlap of the jacket foreparts across the front which produces its double-breasted shape. A 'full-wrap' refers to a large portion of overlap, and a 'half-wrap' to a lesser amount. I’m pretty sure that the wrap on my suit is going to be quite small, given that generally I prefer the slightly more contemporary, slimmer half-wrap favoured today. I find that this also reflects the majority of Jazz Age double-breasted jackets as seen in historical sources (again, see the image below). 

Here we see a 1920s cut double-breasted sportscoat which shares the four-on-four button stance and narrow wrap that I have in mind for my suit - quite different to the British business suit pictured above.

Finer points of fit will be decided upon during the fitting process, and so the lapels are the other central item under discussion here. I love the broad peaked lapels seen in 30s tailoring, and on my previous single-breasted bespoke suits lapels have been cut 4.25” wide. This suit will see the size of the lapels grow by a quarter of an inch to a whopping 4.5”, to balance against its boxy double-breasted shape. This is also the first time that I’ve specified the height of the lapel and the position of the gorge, 2.5” from the shoulder. My first blue flannel suit had the same lapel gorge positioning, and I've come to prefer it over the 3.5" gorge on my chocolate suit. The higher gorge suited my shape and gave Jazz Age inspired peaked lapels a more modern feel. Other stylistic choices aim to keep the jacket simple, and prevent it from becoming too showy; the usual deep-cut single rear vent, un-fussy horizontal jetted hip pockets and a four button cuff finish the style details.

Another illustration, this time from the 1930s, where two pairs of trousers display a high waist which allows for the trouser to flow out over the hips and down the leg. This produces a curving line along the silhouette of the trousers which contrasts with their straight falling outward facing pleats, an interesting contrast isn't it? 

The trousers draw upon the same shape that has been cut before; high-waisted, with waist adjusters, brace buttons and vertical cut welted pockets. The point of experimentation here is in the pleat formation. This suit will use single outward facing pleats – which previously I’ve always thought is a rather un-dynamic looking addition - but having seen some bespoke high-waisted trousers cut with these pleats I liked them. The effect of having a very angular, straight line running through the trouser crease set against the curving shape along the outside of the trouser as it fans out from the waist over the hips, is both elegant and interesting. Let’s hope it works on this suit.

Then we come to the final consideration of cloth. I designed this suit to work with an affordable, tough, full-bodied cloth that’ll make it a hard wearing garment. I’ve been getting into the very dense handle and body of Dugdale Brothers’s heavy weight, classically British cloths and after ruling out some lovely 11oz super 100s grey options, I settled on a 14oz winter weight dark navy and white dogstooth from the English and Town Classic Bunch. The blue-black dogstooth was chosen over the classic black and white because its slightly more distinctive, whilst actually producing a softer, more understated colour that will hopefully help to stop the suit from being too loud for office dress. It comes out as a soft RAF blue from a distance.

The cloth in question. You can see how by replacing the black pattern with a dark navy, and keeping the colour of the white yarn soft, the effect of the cloth is altogether more subtle than a classic black and white.

So there you have it, the conception of my latest project. It was ordered around a month ago now, so the basted fitting will be upon us soon, when the physicality of the suit will start to take shape for the first time, there'll be more to read on the project then!

Bespoke two-piece suits start at £950.00 and take between 8-12 weeks to complete, including a basted and forward fittings. Additional fittings will be undertaken if necessary, but this will of course increase the length of the process.

www.cadandthedandy.co.uk