I understood you completely and what are you saying you are totally right but also wrong because you cannot compare an 30 years old aspirated engine with today electric ones or even the turbo/hybrid ones , like i said in the previous post, today is a lot more complex, for god sake we have recycled cashmere now (like everything else, life was much easier in the past) just is a kind of big difference between different making...everything matters..2 ply compared to 8 ply, 5 gauge compared to 7 gauge, thicker fibre compared to thiner one, thinner threads or thicker threads ,more room in the hallow fibre also matters in the feelings, dense/lose knit everything must be taken in calculation by the customer and what he needs/wnt...in the old days was an easier way to find that great quality, because were so few true cashmere houses know-how, less complex in the making and you knew what you get.
On the "how it makes you feel" then yes ...but that makes you love more the tense knit 7 gauge compared to a more relax knit, thats why im saying (i know people who hates this but loves oversized garments, or people who never buys tense knit because of their weather)...its about what you like and what you pay for with your own money, if you like that old Ballantyne feel only you should never buy from Italians without asking how the RTW garment it is made because a lot of them dont have much specifications on their list or in their shop and every maker makes different knits with different specifications even if all are cashmere . China has no saying in the raw material for the Scottish and Italian yarns, they have to comply otherwise is a break from the rules. Colombo has fully committed to this, his family controls everything now, they harvest they spun wash dye they do everything from raising goats in Inner Mongolia till the end of the garment quality check
Again, from my perspective Apples to Apples in the quality of the knit comes from everything, from the start to the finish, how the raw material is harvest spun, washed, creates its shape. You want a specific garment, i want a great garment but because of my weather and travels i love to have different makers with different shapes constructions etc. For you, nowadays only William Lockie is coming close to the old Grade A+ Ballantyne garment, but remember that nowadays not even WL is a Grade A+ overall garment. For that you must go bespoke with the Scottish makers or for Italians you must ask them to do it for you from scratch with Scottish cashmere/yarn if they dont find for you an RTW knit
Talk with Colombo or Mr Attolini or Kiton for an 7 gauge tense knit, heavy weight 6-8 ply, raw pure or kid cashmere (they use long fibre no matter what you prefer), if you want everything attached by hand, hand stitches, natural or dyed knit, by the way you can take your Ballantyne to them and they will immediately will know what you like the most (again this is done in their warehouse not in their shops). Of course you have to pay on front but you will get you what you pay for, and if the end result is not what you like or something is a little bit different, they will do the changes or if its already more complicated they will place it in the RTW and start another one from scratch with the adjustments that you told them in the end garment. Or even WL is making at least MTM, not at level of bespoke, but you can still choose quite a lot. For example in all these years i never accounted another maker that comes close to Colombo worsted cashmere
On the "how it makes you feel" then yes ...but that makes you love more the tense knit 7 gauge compared to a more relax knit, thats why im saying (i know people who hates this but loves oversized garments, or people who never buys tense knit because of their weather)...its about what you like and what you pay for with your own money, if you like that old Ballantyne feel only you should never buy from Italians without asking how the RTW garment it is made because a lot of them dont have much specifications on their list or in their shop and every maker makes different knits with different specifications even if all are cashmere . China has no saying in the raw material for the Scottish and Italian yarns, they have to comply otherwise is a break from the rules. Colombo has fully committed to this, his family controls everything now, they harvest they spun wash dye they do everything from raising goats in Inner Mongolia till the end of the garment quality check
Again, from my perspective Apples to Apples in the quality of the knit comes from everything, from the start to the finish, how the raw material is harvest spun, washed, creates its shape. You want a specific garment, i want a great garment but because of my weather and travels i love to have different makers with different shapes constructions etc. For you, nowadays only William Lockie is coming close to the old Grade A+ Ballantyne garment, but remember that nowadays not even WL is a Grade A+ overall garment. For that you must go bespoke with the Scottish makers or for Italians you must ask them to do it for you from scratch with Scottish cashmere/yarn if they dont find for you an RTW knit
Talk with Colombo or Mr Attolini or Kiton for an 7 gauge tense knit, heavy weight 6-8 ply, raw pure or kid cashmere (they use long fibre no matter what you prefer), if you want everything attached by hand, hand stitches, natural or dyed knit, by the way you can take your Ballantyne to them and they will immediately will know what you like the most (again this is done in their warehouse not in their shops). Of course you have to pay on front but you will get you what you pay for, and if the end result is not what you like or something is a little bit different, they will do the changes or if its already more complicated they will place it in the RTW and start another one from scratch with the adjustments that you told them in the end garment. Or even WL is making at least MTM, not at level of bespoke, but you can still choose quite a lot. For example in all these years i never accounted another maker that comes close to Colombo worsted cashmere
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