The Chalk Stripe, the Made to Measure suit of the Season

There is nothing discreet about a good chalk stripe. Nor should there be.

Broader and softer in appearance than a pinstripe, particularly when set against flannel, it has a presence that plain suiting simply does not. It is a cloth that asks to be noticed, which makes getting everything else right rather important.

For Winter’s Ledger, photographed at Eastnor Castle, Oliver Brown’s Head of Tailoring and Made to Measure specialist Jonathan Lowe chose a grey chalk-stripe flannel from Harrisons of Edinburgh.

The choice is a particularly good one.

Founded in Edinburgh in 1863, Harrisons has been supplying cloth to the tailoring trade for more than 160 years. Its suiting fabrics are woven in the United Kingdom, and flannel remains part of its collection today.

This particular cloth is grey, but not an austere grey. Brown in the ground lends it warmth, which makes it rather more forgiving against the complexion. Across it runs a generously proportioned chalk stripe, softer at the edges than the precise line of a pinstripe.

The pinstripe has become almost inseparable from the visual language of business dress. The chalk stripe shares some of those associations with City tailoring, but its broader line and the texture of flannel give it a very different character. There is more softness to it, and rather more fun.

Jonathan’s choice of cut plays to that. The shoulder is kept soft and the lapel slightly wider, giving the jacket enough proportion to sit comfortably alongside the scale of the stripe. It is an exercise in balance. A cloth with this much personality does not require a complicated suit.

That is one of the pleasures of Made to Measure. The interesting decisions are not necessarily the conspicuous ones. They are questions of proportion, cloth and how the two work together on the wearer.

A wider lapel by itself is simply a wider lapel. A softer shoulder is simply a construction choice. Put them together with the right cloth and the effect becomes something much harder to quantify: the suit simply looks right.

The chalk stripe is particularly good at exposing this. There is nowhere for an uncertain silhouette to hide when a vertical line runs uninterrupted through the jacket and trousers. The eye sees the whole suit.

Perhaps that is also why it remains such a satisfying cloth to wear.

Menswear has spent plenty of time stripping things back. Navy, charcoal, unstructured, understated. All useful, certainly. But there are days when a suit should have a little more to say. A wide chalk stripe on warm grey flannel does exactly that.

Made to Measure at Oliver Brown

The chalk-stripe suit featured in Winter’s Ledger was created by Jonathan Lowe through Oliver Brown Made to Measure, using wool flannel from Harrisons of Edinburgh.

Oliver Brown Made to Measure begins with our established house cuts, adapted to the wearer’s individual measurements and proportions. Cloth, lining, buttons, lapels, pockets and finishing details are then selected as part of the consultation.

Made to Measure is available across all Oliver Brown stores. Two-piece suits start from £1,500, with an approximate lead time of four to six weeks.