The Gabardine Suit
Jean-Paul Ismael Samson
Bespoke Tailoring expert that helps you elevate your style.
For the ultimate in light-colored suit fare, nothing beats the colonial gabardine. Since its introduction in the thirties, the classic gab has consistently ranked right up there on the list of idealized dress suits. Costly to weave, expensive to tailor, sometimes problematic to press. The top-quality gabardine is delicate, luxurious and has limited wearability.
Roger Moore as James Bond in For Your Eyes Only (1981), wearing a tan Gabardine suit. Setting of this scene is Corfu, Gabardine can be a great suiting for that climate.
While not as sumptuous as its wool confrere, the cotton gabardine two-piece offers a soothing alternative to the typically dine suit that will wrinkle. And its satiny freshness and cool suppleness offer the humidified epidermis a princely measure of comfort.
Navy blue Gabardine 1-button suit contemporary with shawl collar and slanted pockets. Bespoke tailored by De Oost.
What is Gabardine?
Gabardine (or Gaberdine) is a smooth cloth in fine to medium worsted yarns that is so tightly woven it is soil-resistant and almost water-resistant. It comes in different weights and is woven as a warp-faced steep or regular twill. With a steep twill, it has a weave of 63 degrees. Gabardine has single diagonal lines on the face, raised twill. Gabardine always has many more warp than weft yarns.
Detail of navy blue Gabardine jacket. Bespoke tailored by De Oost.
The twill rib is pronounced due to a weave with more warp threads than weft. It is usually in solid colours. This cloth is a popular suiting for all uses, including formal dress. Gabardine is also used for tailoring coats, raincoats, uniforms and men's shirts.
Detail of a racing green Gabardine jacket. Bespoke tailored by De Oost.
When it comes to worsted wool gabardine, the advantages are that it wears very well. It feels comfortable and it holds shape well. Wrinkles will go away when you hang it. The disadvantages however are that it is a 'dry clean only' suiting. It shows press marks very easy. Cleaners can over press too. You should request careful pressing.
The History of Gabardine
The word Gabardine or Gaberdine has been used to refer to a "dress, covering" since the 1590s. It was originally a long, loose cloak or gown worn in the Middle Ages, but later it would signify a rain cloak or protective smock-frock. It has been used to mean "closely woven cloth" since 1904.
Gabardine was invented in 1879 by Thomas Burberry, founder of the Burberry fashion house in Basingstoke, and patented in 1888. The original fabric was waterproofed, before weaving and was worsted wool or worsted wool and cotton, tightly woven and water-repellant but more comfortable than rubberized fabrics.
Burberry Outfit designed for 'angling'.
Burberry clothing of gabardine was worn by polar explorers, including Roald Amundsen, the first man to reach the South Pole, in 1911, and Ernest Shackleton, who led a 1914 expedition to cross Antarctica. A jacket made of this material was worn by George Mallory on his ill-fated attempt on Mount Everest in 1924.
The Effect of a Gabardine Suit
Roger Moore as James Bond visiting India in Octopussy in a tan wool Gabardine suit.
Like the gabardine suit in For Your Eyes Only (seen on the picture in the beginning of this post), the suit worn by Roger Moore seen on the above picture, also has a low two-button front, natural shoulders with a roped sleeve head, a clean chest and a fitted waist. Bond’s white poplin shirt has a spread collar. The tie has brown and tan stripes in the British direction. A light-weight gabardine wool suit is a great suit for spring when it is fairly warm but too early to take out the summer suits.
Gabardine: A Great Suiting Fabric For Trousers
At De Oost we have tailored several suits with Gabardine suiting fabric. Gabardine is also popular for making a separate pair of trousers. Because the fabric is tightly woven, it is firm, durable and rather lustrous, which makes it a good tough fabric for a sturdy pair of trousers.
Taupe solid Gabardine trousers. Bespoke tailored by De Oost.