Follow two of our finest vintage cloths – from rolls to finished suits - Part 1.

In this upcoming small photo series, we will follow two of our very finest vintage fabrics as they make the journey from having spent roughly 100 years as rolls of cloth to becoming bespoke suits.

Alex Hills (Instagram: @douglas_and_hills) works as a cutter at one of London’s most esteemed tailoring houses – Dege & Skinner, founded in 1865. Alex has selected two fabrics from our range of vintage suitings, and these will now be made into suits for his personal wardrobe.

Photo credit: Nick Clements

In this post, we’ll have a closer look at the fabrics themselves.

The first fabric was most likely produced during the 1920s, although it could well be somewhat older. It has a subtle underlying herringbone pattern and a distinct red stripe recurring every three centimetres. The cloth contains both brown and grey tones, but the overall impression leans decidedly more towards brown than grey.

The second fabric was also most likely produced in the 1920s, or possibly the 1930s. This cloth has a slightly more pronounced herringbone pattern. It includes elements of both black and grey, but the overall impression is dark grey.

Both fabrics are heavy and have excellent body – as is often the case with older suiting cloth. They are very much of their time and, in our view, strike that perfect balance in pattern so often seen in cloth from this period – the pattern is pronounced enough to be clearly visible from a distance, yet never overpowering or difficult to combine.

We are very excited to see what Alex will create from these fabrics. Updates will follow here on the website quite soon!