# Wool-Silk blends



## S. Able (Mar 26, 2007)

I was wondering how much silk is too much silk in good, durable wool/silk blend suiting. Thank you in advance for any insight.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

Hoping not to come off sounding too caustic but, I have never found a suit or sport coat, constructed of a wool/silk blend fabric, that has proven sufficiently durable to earn my satisfaction. In my experience, they all demonstrated an aggravating propensity to pill! My choice is to stick with all wool weaves.


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## StephenRG (Apr 7, 2005)

eagle2250 said:


> Hoping not to come off sounding too caustic but, I have never found a suit or sport coat, constructed of a wool/silk blend fabric, that has proven sufficiently durable to earn my satisfaction. In my experience, they all demonstrated an aggravating propensity to pill! My choice is to stick with all wool weaves.


The one jacket I have of wool/silk blend didn't pill but it did wear rapidly. However, I have a silk Zegna suit I bought 15 years ago and though I don't wear it that frequently, nonetheless often enough that I can say that silk by itself can be long-lasting.


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## Penang Lawyer (May 27, 2008)

Both the 100% silk sports jacket and the wool and silk sports jacket have worn well. Both of these were OTR.


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## binge (Mar 22, 2008)

I've worn the hell out of both my 50%wool/50%silk and 100% silk sports coats w/o any concern over durability. I can't speak much about pants though as I don't have any 100% silk pants.


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## eagle2250 (Mar 24, 2006)

^^
For what it's worth, the study sample providing the foundation for my discontent with wool-silk blends are two HSM and one Burberry jacket(s). I am certainly glad to hear that others have had better experiences with the blend!


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## ToryBoy (Oct 13, 2008)

My 90% wool/5% silk/5% cashmere suit is wearing as well as my 100% wool suits

I have a sportscoat that is blend of wool, silk and linen blend with the majority being the former, again this is wearing similar to my 100% wool sportscoats but wearing better than my 100% camel sportscoat.



I think there are two issues to consider, i. the quality of the cloth and ii. the percentage of wool, I think a 90% wool 10% silk jacket will wear better than 50% each jacket in a like-for-like wearing environment.


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## DownByTheRiverSide (Oct 25, 2009)

*I'm sure I am showing ....*

.... ignorance here, but exactly what qualities are we bringing to the mixture by adding the silk ? I have some silk/linen shirts that I have worn a good bit and am happy with, but dont know anything about silk/wool mixtures.



ToryBoy said:


> My 90% wool/5% silk/5% cashmere suit is wearing as well as my 100% wool suits
> 
> I have a sportscoat that is blend of wool, silk and linen blend with the majority being the former, again this is wearing similar to my 100% wool sportscoats but wearing better than my 100% camel sportscoat.
> 
> I think there are two issues to consider, i. the quality of the cloth and ii. the percentage of wool, I think a 90% wool 10% silk jacket will wear better than 50% each jacket in a like-for-like wearing environment.


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## ToryBoy (Oct 13, 2008)

*It has a nicer texture and has a different look*



DownByTheRiverSide said:


> but exactly what qualities are we bringing to the mixture by adding the silk ?


Let's just you are building a suit rotation, you start of with plain suits, then you may add stripes (pin and or chalk), light colours for the summer, thicker cloths for the winter, herringbone and windowpane for design, etc.

You could get a suit or jacket in a fancier cloth for evenings out and fancy events, because of the feel and the luxury. They could be a 50% wool, 50% silk cloth.

The reason I went for the suit and jacket with high wool and low silk mix was because the cloth looks different. For work I only wear plain suits; so instead of getting 3 100% wool suits in grey (light, medium and charcoal), I could mix it up get two in 100% wool (light and charcoal) and then the third (medium) in a blend. Or I could get a plain suit, the second as pinstripe and the third as a plain blended cloth.


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## DownByTheRiverSide (Oct 25, 2009)

*I certainly understand ....*

.... the need and desire for variety. But if we are talking practicality, I passed that a long time ago. I have more than enough to cover my true needs, I am just buying the things that for whatever reason strike my fancy.

For some reason that I dont quite know, I have never been much attracted to the suits/jackets that have silk in them, but when I am shopping next, I think I shall give them a closer look and determine more exactly how I feel about them. Sometimes I get too stuck in my rut and dont even try things I am not already familiar with.



ToryBoy said:


> Let's just you are building a suit rotation, you start of with plain suits, then you may add stripes (pin and or chalk), light colours for the summer, thicker cloths for the winter, herringbone and windowpane for design, etc.
> 
> You could get a suit or jacket in a fancier cloth for evenings out and fancy events, because of the feel and the luxury. They could be a 50% wool, 50% silk cloth.
> 
> The reason I went for the suit and jacket with high wool and low silk mix was because the cloth looks different. For work I only wear plain suits; so instead of getting 3 100% wool suits in grey (light, medium and charcoal), I could mix it up get two in 100% wool (light and charcoal) and then the third (medium) in a blend. Or I could get a plain suit, the second as pinstripe and the third as a plain blended cloth.


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## aluminiumfish (Feb 19, 2009)

just some thoughts

Silk does'nt last as long as wool when it comes to flexing repeatedly ( eg the tips of a Silk tie ).
Wool will flex I think 30,000 times and silk considerably less ( guessing here now ..but i think its like 5000 times or less...)
This makes a big difference in a trouser but less so in a Jacket /Coat.

Also
I don't think the pilling on any silk wool mix will be down to Silk.
Silk does'nt have a crimp like Wool does and silk is a long thin straight filament while wool is a short crimpy fibre.Much more the likely candidate to be responsible for pilling is Wool.


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