Super 120s, 150s and Cloth Weight: What the Numbers on a Suit Fabric Mean

The question comes up most weeks, and it arrives as a number. Super 180s, a man will say, having seen it on a label somewhere, and he wants to know whether that is the one to have. It is a fair question, and the honest answer takes a few minutes, because the number on a selvedge tells you one narrow thing about a cloth and almost nothing about whether it will make you a good suit.

Two figures matter before you choose anything. The first is the Super number, which describes how fine the yarn is. The second is the weight, in grams per metre or ounces per yard, which describes how much cloth there actually is. The weight decides far more about how your suit hangs, travels and lasts. Here is what each means, from our side of the cutting table.

What the Super number actually measures

The Super count measures the fineness of the wool fibre before it is spun, in microns. Super 100s is a fibre of roughly 18.5 microns, and each ten points up the scale takes about half a micron off, so Super 120s is around 17.5 microns, Super 150s around 16.2, and counts above Super 180s come from fleece finer than 15 microns. That is the whole of it. The number describes the raw fibre. It is not a grade, not a quality mark, and not a verdict on the mill.

Finer fibre does bring real qualities. It spins into a smoother yarn, which weaves into a worsted cloth with more lustre, a softer hand and a closer drape. Hold a Super 150s against a Super 110s and you will feel the difference at once. For a dinner suit it can be exactly right.

Why finer is not simply better

A finer fibre is also a weaker one. A high Super count cloth creases more readily, recovers more slowly, and is less forgiving of a car seat, a shoulder bag or a long flight. It shines sooner at the seat and elbow, and it wants resting between wearings. That does not make it a poor cloth. It makes it a cloth with a particular job, and that job is rarely the suit a man reaches for four mornings out of five.

Weight is the number that decides how a suit behaves

Weight is the figure we look at first, once a client tells us what the suit is for. It governs drape, which is to say whether a jacket falls in a clean line from the shoulder or sits on the body like a shirt. It governs how well trousers hold a crease. And it governs how the cloth takes shape under the iron, which matters in a full canvas jacket, where canvas and cloth are moulded together rather than glued flat.

• 7 to 9oz (210 to 270g): tropical weight. Cool and light, best in an open or high twist weave. Creases easily.
• 9 to 11oz (270 to 330g): the year round range, and the sensible home for most suits in Southern California. Enough body to hang properly, light enough for August.
• 11 to 13oz (330 to 390g): structure, shape and longevity. Travels beautifully and holds a trouser crease for days.
• 13oz and above (390g and up): flannels, tweeds and overcoating. Worn perhaps six weeks a year here.

A 10oz Super 120s will almost always make a more useful suit than an 8oz Super 170s, and it will still look like money.

Open weaves and high twist for Los Angeles heat

Weight is not the only route to a cool suit. How the yarn is twisted and how openly it is woven matter just as much. A fresco, a coarse high twist worsted with visible air between the threads, can wear cooler at 11oz than a tightly woven 9oz cloth, because it moves air and holds itself off the skin. High twist cloths also resist creasing remarkably well, which is why we recommend them to men who drive across this city all day. More in our guide to the best suit fabric for hot weather in Los Angeles.

What a first suit should be made from

If this is your first commission, we will almost always steer you to a mid weight worsted between 9 and 11oz, in Super 110s to Super 130s, in navy or mid grey. It is not a cautious recommendation and it is not the cheap answer. It is the suit that serves you at a client meeting, a funeral and a Saturday dinner, and still looks correct in six years.

The instinct to push a man up the Super scale is understandable, because the number is the easiest thing in the room to sell. It is also the wrong advice for most men. Our job at the bespoke consultation is to ask what the suit is for before we open a single bunch.

The mills we carry, and what sets the price

We keep cloth from the Italian and English mills we trust, and the price rises with the cloth rather than with the work. Drago from $2,995, Zegna at $3,495, Holland & Sherry at $3,495, Loro Piana at $3,995. Our own house cloths begin at $1,795 for a two piece.

The important part is this: the making is identical at every level. Full canvas, no exceptions, cut and made by hand in our atelier in Brittany, with unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations whichever cloth you choose. A $1,795 suit is built exactly as a $3,995 one is. You are paying for the cloth, nothing else. We set out the full picture on what a bespoke suit costs in Los Angeles, and the same choices apply to a dinner suit or to custom shirts.

Questions we are often asked

Is Super 150s better than Super 120s?

It is finer, softer and more lustrous, and also more delicate. For a suit worn several days a week the Super 120s is usually the better garment. For a dinner suit or an occasional commission the 150s is a pleasure.

What weight suit fabric is best for Los Angeles?

Nine to eleven ounces for a year round suit, in a high twist or open weave if you are often outdoors. Seven to nine ounces if it is specifically for July and August. Anything above thirteen ounces sits in the wardrobe most of the year.

Does a higher Super number cost more?

Generally yes, because finer fleece is scarcer and harder to spin. But mill, finish and weave matter just as much, and a fine 11oz Super 110s can cost more than a thin 150s from a lesser mill.

What cloth should my first bespoke suit be?

A mid weight worsted, 9 to 11oz, Super 110s to 130s, in navy or mid grey, plain or faintly patterned. It is the most useful suit a man can own.

Which mills do you carry?

Drago, Zegna, Holland & Sherry and Loro Piana, alongside our own house cloths. Bunches are open at the consultation with every price shown.

Will a Super 150s suit wear out faster?

Worn hard and often, yes. Finer fibre abrades sooner at the seat, elbows and cuffs. Rested a day between wearings, brushed rather than cleaned and pressed properly, it lasts a long time.

Come and handle the cloth

None of this settles in the reading. Twenty minutes with the bunches open, feeling the difference between a 9oz and a 12oz across your hand, is worth more than any article on the subject. The consultation takes an hour, costs nothing, and you will meet Robb or Ben. Read more about the house, see how we work with clients across Los Angeles, or book an appointment and come to the shop on Culver Boulevard in Playa del Rey.