Spier and Mackay Neapolitan Cut Jacket, Round 3

A few weeks ago, Rick at Spier & Mackay asked if I wanted to try the latest revision of their Neapolitan cut. Last summer, when they first introduced the cut, it caught my eye, and he sent me one to try on then. My thoughts on it at the time were that the cut held promise, but that the construction felt cheap and the fit was poor, namely on account of the low armholes. Later in the summer, after some revisions to the cut, he sent me one to try once again. This second iteration was an improvement in construction—the canvas they used was lighter, they used less of it, the padding they used in the shoulder was gone, they lowered the gorge (which is the seam where the lapel meets the collar, and which dictates how high the notch sits on the lapel). It was a big improvement, but the armholes were still low, and the front-back balance was a problem (on me anyhow).

We now come to the present day, and the third revision of the Neapolitan cut. The changes to this model include a raised armhole, with a slightly lighter canvas even than v2, a slightly widened sleeve head, and with the front balance issues fixed. The result is a jacket that I am absolutely thrilled to see on the market. The slightly wider-than-normal, swooping lapels (arc lapels, as Antonio Ciongoli calls them) that follow the lapel line down into the rounded, slightly swept-away quarters are something literally no maker in the ready-to-wear market makes, save for Eidos (and that is changing come Simon Spurr’s first collection this fall).

The design is different from Eidos, of course, but that’s okay. I’m not sure I’d want a straight clone anyhow (those never have the same feel anyway, and fall into a weird clothing uncanny valley). The biggest difference you’d notice is of course the gorge height and the size of the notch. Spier & Mackay makes a big, unapologetic notch on all their jackets, not just their wider-lapeled Neapolitan cut. It’s the first thing I see, and I think it works well on the more dramatic, swooping curve of the Neapolitan jacket than it does on their standard, mid-width lapel model.

The quality is less than Eidos, too, of course. This is a half-canvas product (which means the chest piece from the button up through the shoulders is sewn in, while from the button down to the hem, a fused canvas is used to save on labor time and cost) compared to Eidos’ full-canvas. It’s made in China, compared to being made in Italy for Eidos. It is entirely made by machine, where as I believe Eidos did feature some handwork, such as where the sleeves attach to the body.

But this product is dramatically lower at retail, and each season, Rick has been choosing fabrics from great mills that make great cloth. The jacket you see here is an E. Thomas wool-silk-linen (W/S/L) mix in a gun club pattern (here it is in slim fit—all their Neapolitans so far come in both fits, but the design remains the same). It’s a great, lightweight cloth that retains its shape but also breathes fairly well. The jacket is lined only in the sleeves and a curtain at the top in the back to make it easier to pull on, which is another detail you don’t find at this price point a lot.

This season there are a few sport coats, as well as a small collection of suits in staple colors like charcoal (slim, contemporary), mid-gray (slim, contemporary) and navy (slim, contemporary). Out of the sport coats, there is a wool-linen brown slub texture, a W/S/L rust windpane (slim, contemporary), a W/S/L brown and grey check (slim, contemporary), a W/S/L aqua and brown check (slim, contemporary), tobacco fresco (slim, contemporary), and air force blue fresco (slim, contemporary). Those last in particular cry out to be suits, but only the tobacco fresco will see a trouser stocked (though it will have a single pleat, with higher rise and side tabs to please the #menswear crowd, if that’s your thing [it’s not mine]).

Spier & Mackay’s biggest competitor is SuitSupply, and Rick is gunning for them hard by offering a product of comparable quality for the same or lower price, and in this case, something in a style nobody else has anything close to. So far he is experimenting with only a few offerings in this cut, but that’s A-OK for me. Not only has he been choosing some pretty great cloths, but through made-to-order (which he says they’re getting up and running as an online offering soon), you will have access to a huge range of fabrics to make what you want. Made to measure, where you can make changes to the standard pattern to make it fit you better, is only available in person in Toronto. In my case, the off-the-rack jacket fits me well enough, I’m comfortable with ordering a stock size should I do MTO in the future.

If you’ve been watching this jacket evolve over the last year, it’s time to make the leap if you’ve been thinking you want to. I definitely see myself picking up some seasonal suits in the future (I now own three summer-weight suits, despite not wearing suits, like, ever, and would like to get some flannel suits to round out the collection).

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