# What the heck is a Hopsack Blazer?



## Oldsport (Jan 3, 2012)

I see them advertised all the time and nearest I can figure out is that the construction is a little more relaxed with maybe not as finished of a material. What should I know? Good for Spring/Summer?

Thanks


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## arkirshner (May 10, 2005)

Hopsack is a weave not a style. Cloth made with a hopsack weave is a bit coarser, (and thus less formal), than a plain weave because to weave hopsack two or more warp yarns are woven together as one and two or more weft yarns are also woven together as one.

Like all cloth, the same weave comes in different weights. Hopsack suitable for warmer weather is more common than heavier weight versions.


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## Flanderian (Apr 30, 2008)

A 2X2 basket weave as specified by ARK -

https://www.all-about-fabrics.com/index.htm?https://www.all-about-fabrics.com/us/dictionary.htm

My own experience with hopsack is that the yarn used to weave the cloth can change its character. If it is more loosely spun worsted yarn the cloth will be softer, but can have a tendency to snag. Hopsack also sometimes shares some of the properties of a knit in that it will stretch a bit, and wrinkles tend hang out easily.


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## Andy (Aug 25, 2002)

Triathlete:

But seriously - you don't have your own copy of The Encyclopedia of Men's Clothes? !!!!

In the Blazer and Sport Jacket Chapters is:

*Hopsack or Basket Weave -- *A variation of plain weave in which two or more yarns in both the warp and weft are woven side by side to resemble a basket.


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

As to derivation, it's more like this, I think:


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## mrp (Mar 1, 2011)

Damn I was going to post a picture of a sack of hops from a brewery, Andy out did me.


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

Well, my picture is a sack of hops, though not from a brewery, unless you consider some random guy making beer on his deck a "brewery."

I suspect commercial breweries don't use sacks when they're actually making beer. Nowadays, the sacks they're shipped in are more likely to be mylar or some other kind of plastic. That would make a pretty crappy blazer.


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## Youthful Repp-robate (Sep 26, 2011)

Starch said:


> I suspect commercial breweries don't use sacks when they're actually making beer. Nowadays, the sacks they're shipped in are more likely to be mylar or some other kind of plastic. That would make a pretty crappy blazer.


Depends if it's fused or canvassed.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Starch said:


> .....
> I suspect commercial breweries don't use sacks when they're actually making beer. Nowadays, the sacks they're shipped in are more likely to be mylar or some other kind of plastic. That would make a pretty crappy blazer.


LOL. Perhaps not a blazer, but what about a Macintosh!


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Hopsack or doeskin -- IMO, those the blazer fabrics. Differentiates it from a navy suit jacket.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

Jovan said:


> Hopsack or doeskin -- IMO, those the blazer fabrics. Differentiates it from a navy suit jacket.


Serge is also a great blazer fabric (especially for double-breasted blazers), though it's also used in suits.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

Very true. IIRC, Sean Connery's blazer in _Dr. No_ is made of serge.


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## Matt S (Jun 15, 2006)

Jovan said:


> Very true. IIRC, Sean Connery's blazer in _Dr. No_ is made of serge.


That's my best guess. It looks like it could possibly be doeskin, but that's quite a warm cloth to be wearing in Jamaica. As for Bond in a hopsack blazer, take a look at the one in Moonraker. https://thesuitsofjamesbond.com/?p=97I have a very similar blazer to that one (without the wide lapels), though I put smoked mother of pearl buttons on mine. They look like silver.


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## catside (Oct 7, 2010)

arkirshner said:


> Hopsack is a weave not a style. Cloth made with a hopsack weave is a bit coarser, (and thus less formal), than a plain weave because to weave hopsack two or more warp yarns are woven together as one and two or more weft yarns are also woven together as one.
> 
> Like all cloth, the same weave comes in different weights. Hopsack suitable for warmer weather is more common than heavier weight versions.


e.g.


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## tocqueville (Nov 15, 2009)

Sorry for reviving this thread, but does hopsack have any particular virtues? Also, how does one know if it's a warm-weather hopsack, or can one just assume that?


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## Starch (Jun 28, 2010)

Virtues, to my mind:
- A bit more casual look. A plain, dark navy can come off as fairly formal, so lightening it up with a rougher texture gives it more of an informal, weekendy, knockaround look. Going from worsted to hopsacke is essentially the same thing as switching from a broadcloth shirt to oxford cloth, both in effect and in weaving technique.
- More clearly marks it as a sportcoat, rather than a suit coat. Of course, the brass buttons do that already.
- Cooler, usually.

I suppose one can make a heavy, warm hopsack cloth, but typically the whole purpose is to make a more informal substitute for a lightweight worsted. It's probably a safe assumption that a hopsack blazer is warm weather, though I'm sure someone will identify an exception. The assumption would, I think, be less reliable if it's something other than a blazer.


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## arkirshner (May 10, 2005)

+1, What Starch said.


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## TheBarbaron (Oct 8, 2010)

My completely non-empirically-significant experience also suggests that hopsack is durable as all hell. My primary navy blazer is a hopsack number from S&K that I purchased in high school, somewhere in the late '90s. The style is certainly a little older-looking (lower stance, wider lapels), but damned if it doesn't look as new as the day I bought it. No shine spots, no fraying or stains visible, and still fits better than many newer acquisitions.


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