Smock in cotton-linen panama in natural
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£150.00 — ex VAT
Smock, made in London, with a mid-weight (11oz) blend of cotton and linen from Lancashire.
Sizing
The smock is a relaxed fit, but fits true to size, and so the effigy here of calico and wood — a 40 chest if ever there was — is wearing size M.
| XS | S | M | L | XL | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| To fit chest | 36 | 38 | 40 | 42 | 44 |
| Pit-to-pit | 18¾ | 19¾ | 20¾ | 21¾ | 22¾ |
| Back length | 29¼ | 29½ | 29¾ | 30 | 30¼ |
| Sleeve from centre-back | 26½ | 27 | 27½ | 28 | 28½ |
The method of sleeve construction on the smock means the shoulders accommodate and drape smoothly over human contours of every shape and size — rendering a shoulder measurement both impossible and irrelevant.
The smock is an all-purpose pullover, made with one foot in salty wind-battered maritime tradition, and the other in normal landlubbin' everyday life. It has an easy, relaxed shape, and is intended to be worn either loose, by itself, or like a protective workwear overall, over a shirt or woollen sweater, say.
A very large pocket runs across the belly of the smock, from one side to the other. It scoops down very slightly inside so that small and loose personal effects can be stored without complete risk of them falling back out, but the primary function of this pocket is to keep hands warm during a typhoon.
There's an almighty great side panel on the smock, which runs all the way, unbroken, from the bottom of the body to the end of the sleeve. It's a peculiar piece of engineering which helps with range of movement and likewise with durability, offsetting as it does the stress placed on the seams.
Strong little tacks abound on the smock, strengthening points expected to endure the most stress. The mouth of the pockets, for instance, and the sides of the neck.
The neck has a teardrop shape, and is cut so that its outline tapers towards the shoulder. It is high at the front and even higher at the back — again, a nod to old coastal smocks.
The smock has a dropped shoulder. This and indeed the body shape of the smock as a whole echo the way in which traditional smocks have been cut for at least a couple of centuries — almost square, and with the body of the wearer imposing the shape on the smock rather than the other way round.
There is a yoke spanning the back of the smock, which runs in line with the level of the armholes. It had a hanging loop and box-pleat built into its mid-point: the former for hanging it up when not in use and the latter for opening up some room in the back slightly in times of need and danger.
The sleeves have no cuffs, and instead welcome being turned up one or two times.
The cloth is equal parts cotton and linen, and is a panama weave of light to middling weight. The cotton imbues it with strength and structure; the linen lightens the feel of the cloth on the body: the balance of the two making for a workwear-style cloth with a cool touch and pleasingly pebbly feel.
As worn
The gent here is as standard a 38 chest as you could ever wish to meet, and with a height of 6ft 1in and weight of about 12 stone, and the smock he's wearing is an S.
Makers of
The smock, with respect to how it is put together and the sturdy nature of its cloth, has more in common with a jacket than e.g. a shirt, with heavy turned seams here and other seams bound tidily with cotton there. It is as such is made by a family-run specialist of coats and jackets in north-east London.
The cloth is sourced from a mill in Lancashire, in north-west England. Cottons have rolled off its line for nearly a century and a half. Industry-leading methods of weaving, dyeing, and finishing — unimproved in decades — along with steadfast adherence to quality, result in some truly first-rate cloth.
