Sam's Menswear
The Studio · Fabric

The fabric library.

A reference for choosing, not a stock list. 198 colours and weaves across the families Sam works in, from worsteds and flannels to tweeds and tuxedo barathea. Find the direction you like here, then see the real fabric at your fitting.

Most of the swatches on this page are drawn, so your screen can show you a direction; ten of the library's fabrics are photographed instead, cloth and cut into a jacket, further down the page. The books are what you actually turn on the table, and there are a great many more pages in them than there are colours here. New to the weave names? Reading a swatch explains a twill from a chalkstripe from a barathea.

Shelves of fabric sample books at the studio, spines labelled Tuxedo, Suit, SS Jacket and Dressing
The shelves at the studio · photographed by R. Ragupathy
Open fabric books on the table, a swatch card from the Italian mill Reda resting on navy suiting
Choosing, in progress · R. Ragupathy
Hands turning the pages of a navy suiting book across the studio table while choosing fabric
An hour at the table · R. Ragupathy
Category
198 swatches shown
From the bolt · Ten fabrics

From bolt to jacket.

A swatch tells you the colour. It won't tell you how a stripe sits once it's cut, or how heavy a coating actually reads on a shoulder. Ten of the library below, photographed as cloth and again cut into one of the custom suits Sam makes, on a tailor's form — a study of drape and colour, not a finished commission, but closer than a flat swatch.

Macro photograph of navy worsted wool with a soft pale chalk stripe, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A navy chalkstripe jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, by a window in the Vaughan studio
Cut into a jacket
Navy Chalkstripe
Suiting · 10oz · Pure worsted wool

A chalkstripe reads softer than a pinstripe, laid on rather than woven tight -- forgiving of a boardroom or a courtroom without looking like either.

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Macro photograph of charcoal worsted wool with a fine white pinstripe, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A charcoal pinstripe jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, Toronto's downtown skyline out the window at dusk
Cut into a jacket
Charcoal Pinstripe
Suiting · 10oz · Pure worsted wool

Finer and crisper than a chalkstripe, closer in spirit to a banker's suit -- it holds its line through a long day at a desk.

Design with this →
Macro photograph of charcoal worsted wool in a small all-over birdseye dot weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A charcoal birdseye jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, a North York streetscape out the window at blue hour
Cut into a jacket
Charcoal Birdseye
Suiting · 10oz · Pure worsted wool

From three feet it reads as a plain charcoal, with more depth and less shine than a flat worsted -- the kind of suit that hides a hard week.

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Macro photograph of navy worsted wool in a two-tone diagonal sharkskin weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A navy sharkskin jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, Mississauga's Absolute World towers out the window at dusk
Cut into a jacket
Navy Sharkskin
Suiting · 10oz · Pure worsted wool

A two-tone diagonal weave that shifts as you move, closer to a shimmer than a shine -- it catches the light without ever looking shiny.

Design with this →
Macro photograph of navy wool hopsack in an open basket weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A navy hopsack jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, a King West Toronto streetscape out the window
Cut into a jacket
Navy Hopsack
Summer · 8oz · Wool hopsack

Open enough to breathe through a Toronto summer, and textured enough to wear as a jacket on its own -- with grey trousers as easily as its own.

Design with this →
Macro photograph of navy high-twist fresco wool with a visibly open weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A navy fresco jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, a tree-lined Thornhill street out the window
Cut into a jacket
Navy Fresco
Summer · 8oz · High-twist fresco wool

Spun tighter than a normal summer cloth so it springs back rather than creasing -- the one to trust for a July day that starts in an air-conditioned office and ends on a patio.

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Macro photograph of chocolate brown wool in a herringbone zigzag weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A chocolate herringbone jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, a North York park in autumn out the window
Cut into a jacket
Chocolate Herringbone
Jacketing · 13oz · Shetland / Donegal tweed

Built as a jacket rather than a suit -- the kind worn with grey flannel trousers rather than its own matching pair, from October to March.

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Macro photograph of black barathea dinner cloth showing its fine pebbled weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A black dinner jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, Toronto's skyline lit up at night out the window
Cut into a jacket
Black Barathea Dinner Fabric
Formal · 11oz · Wool barathea

A fine, pebbled weave with almost no shine -- it doesn't fight with satin lapels or a grosgrain stripe. Black is the classic choice, and the safer one under harsh overhead light.

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Macro photograph of midnight blue barathea dinner cloth showing its fine pebbled weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A midnight blue dinner jacket fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, Mississauga's skyline lit up at night out the window
Cut into a jacket
Midnight Barathea Dinner Fabric
Formal · 11oz · Wool barathea

A blue so dark it reads as black under most light, and richer than true black under warm, low light -- the reason a midnight dinner suit is often called the better black tie.

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Macro photograph of camel coating wool in a heavy herringbone weave, folded on a worn oak bench in daylight
The cloth
A camel herringbone overcoat fitted on a wooden tailor's form with no head or arms, chest to waist, a snowy Thornhill street out the window
Cut into a jacket
Camel Herringbone Coating
Coating · 20oz · Camel hair / wool

Coat weight, not suit weight -- warm enough for a Toronto January, and cut to go over a jacket rather than instead of one.

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Fabric is only half of it

See it as a suit.

Find a direction here, design the jacket, lapel and lining on the drawing board, then bring both to your fitting. Sam puts the actual fabric in your hands before anything is chosen for good.

See custom suits or open the drawing board or call 647 · 458 · 0711
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