Popover in linen poplin in navy

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£160.00 — ex VAT

Popover, made in London, with linen of middling weight (9oz) from a mill in Northern Ireland, and horn buttons from the Cotswolds.

Sizing

The popover is true to size, and as such, the wooden and calico gentleman here, who has 40 right there on his chest, is wearing it in size M.

XS S M L XL
To fit chest 36 38 40 42 44
Pit-to-pit 19 20 21 22 23
Shoulder 18 18½ 19 19½ 20
Back length 29 29¼ 29½ 29¾ 30
Sleeve from centre-back 22 22½ 23 23½ 24
Can be many things, a popover, but surely they must always pop over the head (hence the name) and be alike in concept and function to a shirt. This one has an open, one-piece collar, as well as a fairly long, relaxed body, so that it may function as a useful mid-layer — over a shirt, even — from time to time.
The popover is open at the front, halfway down the chest, but it can be fastened, for the more conservative amongst us, with the help of a button halfway down, to gently cajole the two sides of the front together. Accordingly, the collar is softly pressed, so rolls out elegantly, rather than with a fixed break.
The popover has short sleeves, which end just above the elbow on mannequins of typical proportions.
The hem on the body is straight all the way around. There's a yoke across the upper back, into which is built a hanging loop. Lower down, meanwhile, are vents built into the side seams, which, while only a couple of inches high, increase by miles and miles the ease with which it can be lifted over a head.
This linen is meant not for shirts, but rather tailored jackets. It is a very fine, high-count weave of very fine, long-staple yarn, first mercerised for a sleek look, then sanforised to remove potential shrinkage. It is thick and strong, and creases less than most cottons, let alone crumpled, unkempt linens of stereotype.

As worn

Him, here, a card-carrying member of the 38 Chest Society — with a height of 6ft 1in and weight of 12 stone — is wearing the popover in size S.

Makers of

The popover is made by a coat and jacket factory in north London. Rather than being made like a shirt, as you might otherwise expect, the popover is instead made to the same standards, and with much the same structure, as robust outerwear, with heavy fusing and turned seams and the like.
The cloth is woven by a linen mill, a few miles south of Belfast in Northern Ireland. The mill was built at the end of the 1800s, back when Belfast was "Linenopolis". That it's one of the last mills still standing in the area is testament to its exemplary work in the weaving, dying, and finishing of luxury-grade linen.
The horn buttons are cut, shaped, and polished by the last horn button-makers in Britain. Relocated from the Midlands to the Cotswolds, they continue a tradition going back to the 18th century. "It is no easy task," claimed William Hutton in 1780, "to enumerate the infinite diversity of buttons made in Birmingham."

So they say

The linen popovers are really quite remarkable, for their cut and quality. I wear them very often, and they are a joy.

The proud owner of not one but three popovers — both linen and corduroy — said so in September 2017.

I received the popover this morning and it is beautiful. The material, the construction, and the finishing are fantastic. This was my first S.E.H Kelly piece and I'm thrilled with it.

So said a man who kindly bought the popover in cord in September of 2017.