Freemindadventures journal

Picking Suit Fabric for Brisbane Heat | Guide

Brisbane summers ruin heavy wool suits. A tailor explains which fabric weights hold their shape in humidity and which ones wilt by lunchtime.

Published recently Six minute read Style notes

Written by the Freemindadventures team

Fit, fabric and footwear advice from South Brisbane

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A heavy English worsted looks superb in a shop photograph and feels like wearing a blanket by eleven in the morning. Brisbane summers kill those suits. If you wear tailoring to work between October and March, the cloth has to be chosen for the climate first and the look second. Weight is measured in grams per metre. Anything above 320 is winter territory in this city. For year-round wear, look between 240 and 280. For high summer, drop to a 200 to 230 tropical wool or a wool-linen blend. Those feel cool but crease faster, so they suit a jacket worn a few hours at a time better than a full day at a desk. Weave matters as much as weight. A plain weave breathes better than a twill because the threads sit looser and air moves through. Fresco weaves and open hopsack jackets are the ones you see walking comfortably through a February afternoon. A tight twill in the same weight will feel warmer by a noticeable margin. Linings deserve a mention because most people forget them. A full bemberg lining traps heat no matter how good the outer cloth is. Ask for a half lining or a buggy back and you will feel the difference within two weeks. Same for canvas: a lightly canvassed jacket flexes with you, while a fused one turns into a stiff board once the glue softens in the heat.

Talk to a real person

Not sure about sizing or fabric care? Ring the shop and we will sort it out.

Phone +61 7 4928 1736

Email freemindadventures@gmail.com

Address 275 Grey Street, South Brisbane QLD 4101, Australia

From the racks

Looks we keep coming back to

Three outfits our South Brisbane customers wore out of the shop this month.

Layered linen outfit styled by Freemindadventures — Relaxed linen layers for a warm Brisbane afternoon.

Leather ankle boots on a wooden floor — Leather ankle boots that survive a wet commute.

Denim jacket folded on a chair — A denim jacket that only gets better with wear.

Customer note

Why people keep shopping here

I came in for one pair of boots and left with a winter wardrobe that actually fits. They measured my feet and talked me out of the pair I wanted, which turned out to be the right call.

Daniel Mercer

Customer, West End

How we got here

A short history of the shop

Freemindadventures started as a weekend stall and grew into a Grey Street storefront. The way we buy stock has not really changed.

First market stall

A fold-out table, two racks of second-hand denim and a card reader that only worked half the time.

The Grey Street move

We took a small shopfront in South Brisbane and started stocking new footwear alongside the vintage finds.

Online, finally

The same stock now ships Australia wide, still packed by the people who sold it to you.

Freemindadventures

Come in and try it on

275 Grey Street, South Brisbane. Bring the shoes you already own and we will find something that works with them.

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Find us

The store on Grey Street

Two minutes from South Bank, with parking on Grey Street and the busway around the corner.