When people talk about an unstructured blazer or sports coat, do they mean uncanvassed?
So I have read that many Italian-style tailoring involve less structured jackets. This jacket from Canali is an example: https://us.canali.com/shacket-in-blue-linen-silk-cotton-and-wool-30274cu04777301/p
So would these jackets be fused rather than canvassed?
Shacket in blue linen, silk, cotton and wool - Men's suits, casual ...
A lightweight design takes shape in this single-breasted shacket in blue in a blend of cool wool, cotton, silk and linen. Buy now on canali.com.
2 Replies
yes unstructured means no canvas, although "less structured" doesn't necessarily mean no canvas, it could just mean less shoulder padding for example
unstructured jackets aren't fused because there's no interlining to fuse
Unstructured does not mean "fused rather than canvassed," it means there is no structuring on the inside at all. No canvassing, no fusable, no interlining.
Though notable, unstructured generally means there's, well, no structure built into the front of the jacket - the chest and waist area. The back is, to my knowledge, not structured anyways. But on the flip side, the lapels, the collar, and the shoulders are usually going to have some structure internally, even on an unstructured jacket, even if (for shoulders) that structure is just light canvassing and no padding. There do exist fully unstructured shoulders but they are rarer, and you definitely want the collar to and lapels to have some structure lest they become floppy.
As for less vs more structured jackets... hmm. Okay, so think back to when all jackets were bench-made rather than factory made, right, think back to before fusables were a thing. All jackets (or at least, all jackets worn by men who could afford nice jackets) were canvassed. However, the question is, how much? Canvas is 1) warm, and 2) provides structure, and you may want to be more warm and have more structure, or be less warm and have less structure. So the makers of a good jacket wouldn't say "fully canvassed" (because how else do you make a jacket of any quality?) but they might tell you if it was intended to be more severe and stiff, or lighter and more relaxed. That's still true today. You can have the same exact navy cloth made into a suit fit to attend the most important business meeting of your life where you need to impress people, or made into a suit you want to wear to a relaxed and intimate outdoor summer wedding. You'd choose different options for the first suit versus the second, right? Including how heavily or lightly structured it is.
I guess in physical terms, it's: what is the canvas made out of, how dense is the canvas, how thick is the canvas?