Our seasonal made-to-order (MTO) offer that we do every spring – early fall delivery – is now open and will close on April 26, thereafter.PS Pop-Up.
The big new items this year are a quilted line of donegal coats, a small number of donegals in the reserved colors of brown and charcoal, and a special donegal in heavy wool, by Fox Brothers.
On the knitwear side, the cashmere crewneck and cashmere rugby will also be available for MTO in seven colors each, with several new ones.
The great thing about the MTO system is that we can offer a huge range of colors like this – as well as extra small and large sizes – which wouldn’t be possible otherwise, as it would be too much stock to carry. More patience and understanding from a PS reader, equals more choices.
We’re changing the name from pre-order to MTO, by the way, to make it clear that these are custom orders, so they can’t be exchanged or returned. They can’t really be made any other way and are only for the customer – as opposed to a pre-order of chinos, which is a way to keep future stock. If that’s not clear at all, please shout.
Dongal liner
Let’s start with the liner, as I like how quirky it is. No other brand can offer something like this.
Hundreds of people out there have donegal coats. Some have noted that while it’s a very versatile piece of outerwear, it would be great if it could carry over into really cold weather – let’s say, when it gets down to snow anyway.
The only way to do this in an orderly manner is to sell a removable lining, which attaches to the jacket with buttons, and send this to the student buttoned up. Then they need to have a local tailor who can attach the buttons in the right place – or sew them on themselves, as it’s not a difficult thing to do (even I can do it).
No other brand can offer this, as it demands so much from the customer. But the obvious alternative – everyone sending their coats to the factory – will be more expensive. So again, the PS student benefits from being more involved and willing to put in that little extra effort.
The cost of a tailor to do this will vary, but as an indication of the high end, London Valet says they will do it for £80.
The liner is made of the same material as the coat’s existing lining, with wool added to it. We specifically chose wool wadding because of how much better it performs compared to synthetics.
Wool is warm and also thermodynamically responsive to body temperature, regulating moisture and activity variation. Having it as wadding means you stay warm when doing things like walking fast, or moving between hot and cold places, by reducing the moisture inside the coat.
I know some readers will ask how much space is needed for the liner, and therefore if it will fit inside their existing dongle. Well, the liner is 6mm thick and I can fit it inside my size 4 coat, which fits me perfectly – soI made a videoI compare it to a size 5, I argue that I can wear either.
Also, remember that the line runs only through the body of the coat – not the arms – and around half way down the shoulder. It doesn’t make the shoulders or sleeves look smaller.
The liner has two patch pockets on the chest, so you don’t lose access to those, in the large pocket on the left hip. It is available to orderPS Store MTO page.There are no current plans to keep it going forward.
The dongals
The liner is shown inside donegal’s special edition this year: a heavy navy wool from Fox Brothers.
We started these specials last year with W Bill camelhair, and it went down very well. The camel was sold within a week, and people have been asking about it ever since. Also, MTO allows us to offer more colors in donegal, and more expensive fabrics – as Fox is.
Things we chose this yearCT15from Fox, the midnight fleece wears warmer than its 26oz weight would suggest, thanks to that set and flannel-like finish. Lucas had a sample made from it last autumn and it’s a beast, easily wears warmer than other donegal fabrics and keeps him toasty all winter.
So it’s a completely different offering to the lighter weight bomber jacket we introduced a few years ago – this is less flashy, more of a business jacket (though still very smart) and a lot warmer. The special Fox edition will only be available during MTO.
The final offering from donegal coats in this MTO are four archive colours: charcoal, brown, medium (also known as black/white) and light weight navy.
We get several requests every year for archive colors, so we put together all the short lengths from different suppliers – Valet, Lafayette Saltiel, Private White, My Wardrobe – and found that we had enough for 15 charcoal, 8 dark brown and 20 lightweight navy coats.
The medium-grey donegal is the only one of these that will be included in the fall, but if people want to secure their size now, they can also order that. The weight of all fabrics is a standard 760g, except for the lightweight Navy which is 680g.
Weaves
Knitwear is more straightforward. The two standard PS styles are the same, and most of the colors are the same as last year.The only difference is that we added one new color to the crewneck – oatmeal – and two colors to the rugby – charcoal and black olive. Those are the new colors above.
Other colors available for the MTO crewneck are:navy, grey, charcoal, black, sky blue and lavender. Only navy and gray will be in stock for fall.
Other colors available for MTO rugby are navy, grey, brown, black and swan. Navy, gray and natural will be in stock for the fall.
As most readers will notice, the cashmere crewneck is our version of that wardrobe piece, while the rug is a little unusual, being a heavy weight that is rarely offered these days but we wanted to make a comeback. All colors are shown below.
The relaxed shawl-collar cardigan is not offered at MTO this year, and may be discontinued. If you’ve been thinking about one for a while, it’s worth getting it in stock now.
Goals
These things are all available now, openMTO pageat the PS store. They will be available there until April 26. Payment can be made in full or half upon ordering, half upon delivery.
The kits will be delivered in early October, and the dongals and lines at the end of that month. Both put in time hopefully when they are most needed.
As a reminder, these are made to order, so these pieces are non-returnable and non-exchangeable.
Everything will be available for you to see in the PS Pop-Up, which is insideour showroomfrom April 23-25. Hours are 11am to 7pm, Saturday 10am to 5pm. All other details about eventshere.
