Last year I wrote about the fine shirting coming from Besnard, writing a review of a denim shirt they’d given me. In short, it was a nice shirt with cool details. You can read the review here. They’ve been building their brand slowly adding new products over time like trousers and outerwear.
Now they’ve launched a new line of Italian tailoring, beginning with just two pieces this season. Both ooze style. The first is a dupioni silk jacket in navy with beautiful texture that dupioni is known for. The other is an off-white linen jacket suitable for the drug cartel leaders in all of us.
The jackets are full-canvas, though are priced very reasonably nonetheless (the silk jacket comes in just under $1,000USD with the Euro to US dollar conversion presently). Hallmark Neapolitan details like the barchetta breast pocket and 3-roll-2 buttoning stance are present, while Besnard has opted for straight jetted pockets rather than the more commonplace open patch pockets.
It looks like a very limited size run, so if you’re interested in either, I’d say order one now.
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I’ve never seen a 100% silk jacket worn by a man. What’s your take? If it’s 100% silk, it probably has a sheen to it that makes it very formal. Asked on the color and the silk, this almost looks like a substitute fir a tuxedo jacket.
(Same comment with typos corrected.) I’ve never seen a 100% silk jacket worn by a man. What’s your take? If it’s 100% silk, it probably has a sheen to it that makes it very formal. based on the color and the silk, this almost looks like a substitute for a tuxedo jacket.
Actually, yes you have! Both jackets at the top of the following page, the navy and chocolate brown one, are 100% silk: https://www.menswearmusings.com/shop-my-closet/
I’m not an expert on silk, but the way it’s processed greatly changes how it looks in the light. Think about ancient madder, for instance: 100% silk, but it has a matte, chalky, dry texture. Nothing like the silky sheets or pajamas we think of usually when we think of silk.
The jacket Besnard is selling is Dupioni silk, which is the type of silk I’ve most associated with tailoring, particularly in the mid-century (James Bond wears a dupioni silk suit in many Bond films through the decades: https://www.bondsuits.com/tag/dupioni-silk/ ) . Check out Voxsartoria’s archive of images featuring dupioni silk (includes men like Ronald Reagan, Tennessee Williams, Elvis, Louis Armstrong, Gregory Peck, heck even Michael Corleone in the Godfather): https://voxsartoria.com/search/dupioni
Here are a bunch of links to Instagram fits I’ve posted of both of my 100% silk jackets to see how they look under different lighting conditions (it has no more sheen than a normal hopsack wool in my experience):
Brown
https://www.instagram.com/p/CNktzZwLa9L/
https://www.instagram.com/p/COQFPPpr5Ms/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CQG7xLvr_34/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CCEzKymJmkq/
Navy
https://www.instagram.com/p/CN7hoq3rc8X/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPTB4PULmLd/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPY0MQBLpHa/
https://www.instagram.com/p/CPrVoi8rZNE/
https://www.instagram.com/p/B_nWW-PJcTk/
Thanks for sharing all the links. I was aware of the Bond outfits in silk but always assumed that those were dated; I’ve seen plenty of silk blended jackets (I own one myself) but I wasn’t aware of modern mens sports jackets being made out of silk. I’d still be concerned about overheating, but I guess an open weave would take care of that.
I’d still be concerned about the sheen. You’re right about ancient madder, and I love the muted colors, as they’re much easier to wear these days than bright silk ties. I have one from suit supply which is great because it combines the muted colored material with a modern design that isn’t as fuddy duddy as some ancient madder ties. https://propercloth.com/products/slate-blue-foulard-madder-silk-tie-608.html But I’ve never seen a silk jacket that pulls that off. Even jackets made of blended materials (e.g. from mills like E. Thomas) tend to have quite a bit of a sheen.