Breathability

It is well and truly hotting-up at the moment, which suggests that its an apposite time to continue my recent spate of articles on various menswear websites about how to get summer tailoring right, why it is so difficult to do this and why it really is worth investing time and effort into suiting-up in the sun.

I really, really do understand the temptation to simply forget tailoring as soon as the season warms up a little, and to throw on cargo shorts and a shirt - tailored clothing can be hideously uncomfortable in the heat of the sun. However, a staunch supporter of tailored style such as myself will always swear that if you're uncomfortable in tailoring (for whatever reason) you're more than likely wearing it wrong. The difficulty with this sometimes, is that often men don't have the time or money to invest in supremely expensive tailoring and a lot of the time the high street's offering (especially in summer) simply compounds the issue of feeling uncomfortably hot in clothing which is made to a budget, rather than with the thought required to ensure that it will actually be wearable in the heat. With this in mind, in simple terms, I'd suggest that there are three things to look for in order to get summer tailoring right - good quality summer tailoring is out there and it is worth investing in. 

Jackets like this Chester Barrie blazer featuring an open-weave, lightweight fresco cloth, a half-lining and a soft, lightweight construction are the perfect means to beat the heat this season.

The first is garment structure - particularly with regard to jackets. Many high street labels make their summer tailoring using precisely the same materials and manufacturing process as they do their winter garments. The result is that all of the structure of winter tailoring is imported into summer clothing which needs to be softer and lighter to survive the heat. Good summer jackets are softly constructed, often with a slightly slimmer or softer shoulder pad and less density of canvassing and structure in the chest. This aids flexibility, lightness and ultimately comfort in the heat. I'm not arguing for completely unstructured jackets (although they do present an interesting alternative) but simply suggest that it is worth remaining acutely aware of the amount of rigidity and weight in the actual construction of any summer jackets you consider. Italian style soft-tailoring is often considered the best option for summer, but that doesn't necessarily mean that you should discount British makers; Aquascutum and Richard James have some fantastic blazers with light structures and natural shoulders in stock this season and Chester Barrie are producing garments which retain a strong shoulder and classically English silhouette, but which nonetheless feel light and airy thanks to the quality of the canvassing used in their jackets.

Cloth is the second consideration, and although it may appear to be an obvious thing to think about, there can be some pit-falls here. Weight is of course important, and summer cloths should be limited to no more than nine ounces in weight (preferably eight or even seven and a half for extreme temperatures) but equally important is the  composition of the cloth itself. Summer cloths, regardless of whether they are made from wool, cotton, mohair or linen all need to be woven with an open structure to allow the cloth to breath. If the cloth can't breath, then neither can your body. Not only will you become increasingly uncomfortable and sweaty, but your clothing will not allow you to cool down and any degree of perspiration incurred will not be wicked from your person. Basket-weave summer weight wools, frescos, plainweave linens and mohairs or appropriate loosely woven blends are the only choices for tailoring designed to counteract the summer heat. It is well worth spending that little bit extra on a couple of pieces cut in purpose-built, highly breathable cloths.

The final thing that is often overlooked is the lining of any jacket or trouser you might choose to wear in summer. The vast majority of modern garments (including many bespoke garments) will feature a synthetic lining of some form, woven from viscose, polyester or possibly something like polyamide. These are all polymers or poly-carbonates, which means essentially that they are a type of plastic. Plastics quite obviously don't breath and allow very little air or moisture to circulate through the garment. This, as you can imagine, is perhaps the single most problematical factor for poorly designed summer tailoring. Always choose a lining made from a natural fibre (cupro is good for summer) if ordering bespoke and I would recommend that you strictly impose the rule to only invest in half-lined jackets and unlined or minimally lined trousers for summer tailoring. The half or 'buggy' lining will leave large portions of your back and shoulder exposed to the natural cloth itself, allowing a significant portion of your torso to breath easy. The same applies to trousers, with no lining in them, your thighs won't heat-up half as much as they might otherwise. Follow these tips, and you'll be cool as a cucumber all summer long.