Thread by @dieworkwear

I will tell you why on earth. 🧵

As I've stated many times, suit jackets and sport coats are made from many layers of material, including haircloth, canvas, and padding. These layers give the garment its structure so it doesn't fall on you like a t-shirt or dress shirt.

For the chest and lapels, these layers can be attached to each other using a single-needle roll-padding machine, such as you see here. This is what you'll typically see on factory-made suits (this is a Strobel KA-ED machine). Happens both on the low- and high-end.

A better — or at least a more artisanal — method is to do it by hand using a technique known as pad stitching. This is where the tailor picks up multiple layers of cloth and adds shape using their hands, needle, and thread. Can result in a better lapel roll.

IG atelier.willow

You can tell when something has been pad stitched by hand because you'll see a bunch of diagonal stitches like these. However, to see this, you would have to deconstruct the suit (or be present at fittings), which isn't reasonable for most people.

So how can you tell when the pad stitching has been done by hand?

Flip the lapel over. If you see a bunch of uneven dimples like this, the work was done by hand.

IG andreaseoul_official

Of course, that's not the real reason why Pedro Pascal did it. The back of his lapel is smooth, which suggests this is machine-made. He did it just as a fun styling move. But now that you've learned this little trick in judging the quality of a suit, you can use it when shopping