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Our Tailored Suit Materials
Aptus Suits recognise that a perfect fit is just one aspect of the ideal bespoke suit.
We realise that for a suit to truly come to life, it needs to be tailored using a selection of some of the finest cloths available; woven from some of the most luxurious raw materials, sourced from every corner of the world.
At Aptus we are continually updating our material ranges, enabling us to offer the Aptus client the best material for every occasion.
Marling and Evans - (The Cotswold Weavers)
Sourced just 15 miles from our Cotswold Head Office, this fine woollen-spun West
of England Cloth, with its soft sleek handle and wonderful drape, has been famous
for 400 years. Marling and Evans began life as a 16th century hand-weaving workshop,
but by the early 19th Century had become one of the most significant West of England
textile companies.
During the 18th Century discerning gentlemen everywhere wore West of England broadcloth
woven from the finest fleece then available, from Saxony. Now 200 years later, Marling
and Evans have built on this heritage by re-constructing its original West of England
Saxony qualities from even finer and softer merino fleece from Australia. 
Aptus Suits have selected a range of Marling and Evans cloths to form part of our Woodcock Range, or Country Tailors Range. This range represents a selection of tailored overcoats, bespoke tweed jackets, and tailored shooting suits that we tailor for country gentlemen and enthusiast alike, all over the UK and Europe.
Harris Tweed
One of the most desirable wool textiles in the world, Harris Tweed is produced in
the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, mainly in the one island with two names – Lewis and
Harris – Whose centre is the town of Stornoway.
Raw Material
Harris Tweed begins life with pure virgin wools which are blended together to gain the advantages of their unique qualities and characteristics. Although the wool is grown principally on the mainland of Scotland, in the early summer the island and communities join together to round up and shear the local sheep to add their wool to the Scottish mainland clip.
Processing and Warping
The wool is taken to the factories of the main tweed producers where it is then washed and dyed. The coloured and white wools are weighed in predetermined proportions and then thoroughly mixed or blended, then carded. The resultant yarn has a twist imparted to it as it is spun to give its strength.
The spun yarn is then warped. This is a vitally important process where the basic pattern of the colours is prepared by winding the threads on to a frame of wooden pegs ensuring an even tension throughout. The warp is then gathered together in long hanks.
Weaving
The warp is delivered, together with yarn for the weft, to the homes of the weavers. All Harris Tweed is hand woven on a treadle loom by the weaver at his own home. Each loom is the weaver’s own property.
The tweed which is now approximately 78 metres long is collected from outside the croft gate and is returned to the manufacturers.
The tweed is returned in the ‘greasy’ state to the manufacturers, and it is here that it is finished – that is dirt, oil and other impurities are removed by washing.
The tweed will also pass through the skilled hands of the mending department where any loose ends and broken threads are rectified.
Stamping
After finishing, the Harris Tweed is then presented to the Harris Tweed Authority’s inspectors, and if all the necessary regulations have been complied with, it is stamped with the Certification Mark – or ORB MARK – as it is known throughout the world.
‘Harris Tweed’, must be made from 100 per cent pure virgin wool, dyed, spun and finished in the Outer Hebrides and hand woven by the islanders at their own homes, “in the islands of Lewis, Harris, Uista, Barra and their several purtenances”. (Harris Tweed Authority”)
In 1896, Henry Percy and Frederick Herbert Dugdale established their cloth merchants business in Huddersfield, the centre of Britain's fine worsted industry.
Using skilled designers, weavers and finishers their ranges soon found favour with the finest tailors and their reputation quickly spread throughout Europe and the Americas.
Today, Dugdale Brothers and Company Limted, remain exclusive designers, fabric merchants and suppliers to Savile Row and the finest tailors, couturiers and retailers throughout the world.
Dugdale Brothers and Fisher & Co have preserved their fabric archive created over several generations. Both companies increasingly realise that bespoke tailors and designers worldwide share the vision that a past as rich in styles as it is heritage is an invaluable inspiration for the future.
