Suit Construction: Explained
Simply put, interlining is a layer of cloth fixed between two layers of the jacket. This middle layer provides stability, particularly in delicate areas such as the chest, lapels, shoulders, collar, sleeves, and pockets. The interlining not only affects how the jacket looks on you but also how it maintains its shape over time.
At Cavour, we pride ourselves on using full canvas construction in our suits and jackets. It is the canvassing that distinguishes a good jacket from a bad one. With neat illustrations from our friend Jonathan Leigh, we aim to clarify the distinctions between these types of jackets.
FULLY FUSED JACKET
In the ’50s, ready-to-wear suits began being developed in a large scale. Manufacturers began molding a standardized cut - a cut that was supposed to fit the average man - and today the vast majority of the selection of suits are made RTW.
A fused, or glued, jacket is most often bought off the rack, in a cut and style decided by the manufacturer. What fusing really is, is a synthetic material to which an adhesive is applied to. You apply the adhesive under massive heat, to glue the lining onto the cloth.
Naturally, there are benefits and disadvantages with a fused jacket. A fused jacket makes a suit more accessible because it can be found in-store immediately, without having to come to the store for multiple fittings and without having to imagine what the jacket will look like once delivered. It is also more affordable than a half-canvassed jacket is. And due to the increased interest in menswear, the selection is broad.
Although, what you gain in accessibility, you lose in flexibility. Because the lining is glued, and later on pressed, the garment risks losing its flexibility. If unlucky, the lapels on a fused jacket might rise and never regain its original form. The stiffness - due to the glued lining - and the way it makes a jacket less adaptable is the main disadvantage with a glued jacket.
HALF CANVAS JACKET
While the suffix 'canvas' carry with it expectations of quality, the reality is not as black and white. In fact, most suits made with a half canvas construction are fused from the chest down. And in many cases, underneath the lapels as well.
With that being said, not all half canvassed suits are of aforementioned calibre. What a half canvas construction - ought to - mean is that some parts of the jacket have been piked by hand, but that the sleeves and lower parts haven’t. It results in a softer touch and feel than a fused one would.
The purpose of a half canvas construction is to make the jacket shape beautifully over a man's shoulders and chest. In order to do that, half-canvassed interlining can be used. Why a manufacturer may use a half-canvassed lining instead of a fused one, is because of the enhanced adaptability. It makes moving around - using the jacket - a lot more comfortable. Because the construction allows the suit to drape naturally over your upper-parts, without feeling stiff. A half-canvassed alternative is a decent medium-priced solution.
FULL CANVAS JACKET
Purely technical, canvas is made from either horsehair, wool, mohair or camel hair. It could also be a mix om them all, with varying thickness and weight. The canvas is stitched to the jacket, often by hand, thus making the canvas pieces 'floating' in the middle of the inner and outer cloth. This gives the jacket added flexibility. The canvas runs from the upper parts, all the way down to the end of the jacket. The main reason a full-canvas jacket isn’t as usual as a fused or half-canvas ditto is because of the time consuming stitch-work required to make it.
But like in many cases, what separates the best jackets from the rest, are the hand-made details - the level of craftsmanship - required to make it. Better suit-makers tend to put more effort into the production process. The very best, are hand-made from top to bottom, such as those found in our Cavour Sartoria line. The top makers put great effort into both the instantly visual parts, such as hand-sewn buttonholes, as well as the internal structure - with hand-sewn interlining.
Resulting in how the chest, lapels, shoulders, collar, sleeves, and pockets adapt to your body. A full-canvas structure affects how the different parts of your jacket shape over time, as you use it. Thus, ensuring a personal fit, a draping look, and a more limitless piece.
All our jackets and suits are made using a full canvas construction, to ensure the very best quality.