Bespoke suits
Full canvas, half canvas and fused
What sits between the cloth and the lining, why it decides how a jacket ages, and how to check with your hands.
- 4.8 from 22 Google reviews
- Tailoring in Bangkok since 2011
- Suits from 6,000 THB
Every jacket among the bespoke suits made here is canvassed. Here is what that means, and how to check any jacket for it, here or anywhere.
01
What canvas is
A layer of stiffened cloth — traditionally horsehair — set between the outer cloth and the lining of a jacket. It is what gives the chest its shape and what lets a jacket keep that shape after it has been worn, cleaned and hung a hundred times. It is stitched in, not glued, so the cloth and the canvas move against each other rather than acting as one board. That is what makes a canvas suit hold its shape long after a fused one has softened.
Construction is the first thing a rushed schedule puts under pressure, which is why the twelve-hour express is explicit about what it does not skip.
02
Full, half and fused
| What it is | How it ages | |
|---|---|---|
| Full canvas | Canvas through the whole front of the jacket | Moulds to you over time; the longest-lived |
| Half canvas | Canvas through the chest and lapel only, fused below | Keeps the chest; the lower front behaves like a fused jacket |
| Fused | A stiffener glued to the cloth | Can bubble or separate at the chest in time |
A half canvas suit sits between the two: canvassed at the chest, fused below it. The suits here are canvassed. Ask at the order whether yours is full or half canvas. It affects the quote, which is why it should be asked before the cloth is cut rather than after.
Ask which of the three you are being quoted, wherever you are measured — including a visit to your hotel.
03
The pinch test
You can check any jacket in a shop, including this one, in about five seconds. Take the front of the jacket between finger and thumb, below the buttonhole and away from any pocket, and try to separate the outer cloth from the lining. If you can feel three distinct layers moving independently, there is canvas in there. If the front feels like one stiff sheet, it is fused. Do it on the lower front to tell full from half: a half-canvassed jacket pinches like a canvassed one at the chest and like a fused one near the hem.
The test works on a finished jacket, so it is worth doing at a fitting rather than after collection — two fittings, and the days between.
The pinch test is one of five checks; the rest, and the questions to ask, are in how to check a suit before you pay.
04
Does it matter here
Yes, and slightly more than in a cold climate. Heat and humidity are hard on glue, and a fused front that separates does so at the chest, where it is most visible and least repairable. A canvassed jacket also breathes rather better, which is not nothing in Bangkok. Whether the difference justifies the price is a judgement about how much you will wear the suit — what separates cheap from expensive puts it beside the other two variables, and what sets a suit’s price explains how construction moves a quote. Construction also decides how well a jacket takes an alteration later — what can and cannot be altered sets out the limits.
Our craftsmanship
Questions people ask
- What is canvas in a suit jacket?
- A layer of stiffened cloth, traditionally horsehair, set between the outer cloth and the lining and stitched in rather than glued. It gives the chest its shape and lets the jacket keep that shape after it has been worn, cleaned and hung many times. Because it is stitched rather than glued, the cloth and the canvas move against each other instead of behaving like one board.
- What is the difference between full and half canvas?
- Full canvas runs through the whole front of the jacket; half canvas covers the chest and lapel and the lower front is fused. A full-canvassed jacket moulds to you over time and lasts longest. A half-canvassed one keeps the chest and behaves like a fused jacket near the hem. Which of the two you are getting affects the quote, which is why it is a question for the order rather than for afterwards.
- Are the suits here full or half canvassed?
- They are canvassed; whether yours is full or half canvas is a question for the order. It changes the quote, which is why it belongs in the conversation before anything is cut. Ask it in the same breath as the price, since the two are connected and the answer changes what the figure means.
- How do I check a jacket myself?
- The pinch test, and it takes five seconds. Pinch the jacket front below the buttonhole, clear of a pocket, and try to part the outer cloth from the lining. Three distinct layers moving independently means canvas. One stiff sheet means fused. Do it on a finished jacket rather than a basted one, and away from a pocket, where the extra layers will fool you.
- How do I tell full from half?
- Do the same pinch low down, near the hem. A half-canvassed jacket pinches like a canvassed one at the chest and like a fused one at the bottom. It is the only reliable way to tell without opening the garment. It costs you five seconds and it is the only check in this whole trade that needs no expertise at all.
- Does canvas matter in a hot climate?
- Slightly more than in a cold one. Glue suffers in this climate, and a fused front lifts at the chest, where it is most visible and least repairable. A canvassed jacket also breathes rather better. Glue and humidity are a poor combination, which is the practical reason rather than a traditional one.
- Is fused construction always bad?
- No. It is faster and cheaper and a well-made fused jacket is perfectly serviceable, particularly for a suit you will not wear weekly for a decade. What matters is knowing which you are buying, because it is invisible at the point of sale and it is the difference that shows up in three years. For a suit worn a few times a year, a well-made fused jacket may outlast your interest in it, which is a legitimate calculation.
- Does canvas change the price?
- Yes, because it is hours of work. Every jacket this shop makes is canvassed, so the canvas is already inside its starting price of 6,000 THB rather than an extra. Ask about construction and price in the same question at the order, and you will have both answers before anything is cut. It is hours rather than materials, which is why it moves the number more than most people expect for something invisible.
4.8 from 22 reviews on Google
What a customer said
5 out of 5 stars
Amazing work by the Loft tailors team , so quick, very nice people. We did a 3 peace suit and 2 pants for my wife, so happy 🤩
Visit the shop
BTS National Stadium Station Exit 3 & 4, Rama I Rd, Wang Mai, Pathum Wan, Bangkok 10330.Open 10am to 9pm, every day.