Showing posts with label half lined. Show all posts
Showing posts with label half lined. Show all posts

Indochino Review: An Indochino Summer Outfit

Friday, May 17, 2013

Indochino Linen Suit Review
A while ago I ordered a few items from the Indochino Spring Collection 2013 for another Indochino suit review. In my opinion, the better Summer Collection, as it featured beautiful Linen & Wool Suits (still available, see the lineup, from $429) perfect for the summer month.

Update: The blazer from the review is now available on sale (limited quantities).

The Spring Collection had also introduced a great new option that somehow didn't get enough coverage: half-lining for blazers. Furthermore, shirts can now be further customised with a couple of new options. Overall, quite a few new things to test and review. 

I was undecided between two general options for a while:
Option 1) light pants, dark blazer
Option 2) dark pants, light blazer

I went for Option 2) this time and purchased the following items:
  • $329 The Ultimate Sand Linen & Wool Blazer | Buy Here 
  • $99 La Boca Navy Chinos | Buy Here
  • $99 The Supima Blue Oxford Shirt | Buy Here
  • $39 The Ultimate Navy Linen Tie | Buy Here
  • $39 The Ultimate Red Silk Lapel Pin | Buy Here 
Indochino Linen Suit Review
Indochino Contrast Cuff - Available on all Indochino Shirts ($79 - $169)
By now, Indochino offers a lot of customisation options, both for shirts and suits and it's sometimes hard not to lose track. Personally, I have a set of options I choose every time. One new option allows you to choose a different fabric for inside the cuffs and the collar of the shirt. The collar option is (much like the contrast collar felt on the suits) nice to have, but you can't do much with it. The cuff option is more interesting, especially if you use it together with working cuffs on your summer suit. 

Indochino offers some different fabric choices, from simple solid colours to different ginghams. I went for the blue gingham on my shirt. The fit on the shirt is perfect, as usual. One small detail: on my last shirt, the last button was sewn horizontally - this time it's an ordinary button again. As Indochino says on their shirt landing page, "it's the last button that counts", but it's a minor complaint. 

Indochino Linen Suit Review

Half Lined Jacket

Indochino Linen Suit Review
An Indochino half-lined jacket - the perfect solution for the summer
Check all Indochino Blazers right here - from $299







Indochino Linen Suit ReviewUnlike a fully lined jacket, half-lined jackets have most of the back area unlined - there is just the suit fabric left, in this case, a linen/wool mix. This makes the jacket much more breathable and suitable for use in hotter climates. It's also more work for the tailors, so thank you Indochino for offering this option for free.

At the moment, you can only select it for blazers, but Indochino is planning on introducing the option for suit jackets as well if their experience with the new option is positive. I can say it works well.

I'm pretty happy with the fit on the jacket overall. I decreased the length by 0.5" as I see the blazer as a more informal piece.

To observe the effects on the much-discussed button stance, I also went with a one button suit.  Compared to my last Indochino 2-button suit with standard button stance, the button on my new blazer is around 2" lower.

This would be my preferred option for a 2-button suit and looking at the proportions, I don't see why this wouldn't work with a second button below. Actually, for a one button suit the stance should be even a bit lower in my opinion. Let's see if Indochino will come up with a solution sooner or later.

Options chosen:
  • Two vents - looks just my flattering, at least in my case
  • Peak Lapels - gives the Blazer a little kick
  • Lining - it's a rather informal blazer, so I chose a more colourful one
  • Patch Pockets
  • Working Buttonholes
  • Contrast Buttonholes
  • Half-Lining
Indochino Linen Suit Review
The Indochino Flower Pin: for the special occasions. Buy here for $29
Also: use the fabric inside the chest pocket as a pocket square!

The Tie

Indochino Linen Suit Review
The Indochino Blue Linen Tie - A Summer Essential ($39)
Discover more Indochino Ties - from $39

The La Boca Navy Chinos

I had bought some navy blue slim fit chinos from GAP a while ago and thought they fit well. My Indochino suit pants have a considerably higher rise are not as slim fitting, but for the Boca Chinos, I wanted something more fitted. I measured the GAP pants and compared the result to my Indochino measurement profile. I adjusted a few measurements - mainly the rise - accordingly and was hoping for the best.

The pants came out very tight, and I busted the button on the first try. Admittedly, I caused this myself by tinkering with the measurements, but it also shows how difficult it is to change your measurement from formal to informal wear. Also, I somehow need to get back to my dress pants measurements for later purchases. I'll feature them in a review then, once the fit is excellent.

Perhaps Indochino could introduce a second set of measurements for casual pants.

Other than the fit issues, the Chinos are cool. The fabric is beautiful and soft, and the colour is a very nice dark navy blue. Nothing to complain about other than the fit issue and I caused that myself. Overall, I'm very happy with the purchase. I needed a versatile, light half-lined blazer and together with the blue linen tie and the shirt it works well.

Indochino Linen Suit Review


Indochino Sand Linen Blazer & Navy Blue Boca Chinos Reviewed by Lorenz Loidl. Rated: 9/ 10 (Excellent) A great half-lined blazer, perfect for the summer months. 

Indochino's Ultimate Spring Collection 2013 - An Overview

Wednesday, March 27, 2013

Are you ready for spring? Indochino is and just released their second big collection of 2013 (first being the Ultimate Tech Collection at the beginning of January) called the Ultimate Spring Collection. While the last collection focused on special fabrics (nanotech) and gadgets (storm flap) at a premium price, the new collection is focused on wool/linen and wool/cotton blends for spring with a number of premium fabric suits mixed in. 




A closer look at the new suits.

There are 4 new linen/wool suits, instead of the usual khaki and navy Indochino went for something a bit different and released a Tonal Slate and Sand Linen suit, a grey one (not a fan of grey linen myself) and a Burgundy one - Indochino refers to the latter as "surprisingly wearable".

Linen/Wool suits from $429


In addition, there are also 3 wool/cotton blends, better suitable for transitional weather and available in a number of colours as well. These are not as lightweight as the linen suits, but a great suit for those countries with actually springs and temperatures around 15°C-20°C. 


Cotton/Wool suits from $429



The blazer selection basically mirrors the new suits, there are also 10 new shirts (quite a few of them premium shirts priced at $169) and a host of new accessories incl. linen ties and for the first time ever, lapel pins. A couple of new bow ties and inspired by The Tie Bar, small solid coloured tie bars in black and pink.

That's not all, I believe the really good news are in the details. 

Half-lined Blazers now available.

Blazers can be ordered half-lined. This is definitely a great option for summer and something that was badly missed in the last years. Half-lined jackets are more breathable than fully lined jackets and have a somewhat more casual appearance. They also require more work from the tailor, great that Indochino is not charging extra for this feature. 

The half-lining options is currently only available on blazers to but will be extended to suits as well if the feedback is positive and Indochino feels it works out well. Furthermore, as you can see it the screenshot below, the buttonhole colour and the collar felt colour can now individually be chosen. 

Indochino Half Lined Blazer

The Button Stance Question.

Indochino responds to the loudly voiced critizism on their high button stance and the unability to customise this by showing a number of suits today with one button only. Indochino's customer service had been suggesting one button suits as an alternative Clearly, the button stance for this version is much lower. It's however not always an alternative to a two button suit, as one button suits are much more casual. 

Double-breasted pics.

Indochino Spring Collection 2013


Another bonus point to Indochino for showing a suit in the double-breasted version. I've heard people say the only place to see how it looks is from my review a while ago, now Indochino has some pictures of their own for the new collection. Could somehow look better on the photos, though. 

I'll be following up on this post with a collection of the items I like specifically, I'm definitely getting at least a half-lined blazer for the heat and will of course review it. 

Initial reactions on Indochino's Facebook wall cover the whole spectrum from very negative to enthusiastic and I'm curious to hear what you think about the Ultimate Spring Collection and the new customisation options. You can also join the ongoing discussion on the Forum.