Pick Stitching: What It Is and Why It Matters in Irish Clothing
When you see a faint row of stitches running along the edge of a lapel or pocket, that’s pick stitching, a hand-guided, visible topstitching used in high-quality tailoring to reinforce seams and add subtle detail. Also known as topstitching, it’s not just for looks—it’s a telltale sign that a suit was made with care, not mass-produced on a machine. In Ireland, where suits need to last through rain, wind, and long days on your feet, pick stitching isn’t a luxury—it’s a practical clue that the garment will hold up.
This detail shows up in suits made by local tailors in Dublin and Cork, and in imported brands like Bench that still prioritize traditional methods. It’s not the same as machine stitching, which is uniform and tight. Pick stitching is slightly loose, uneven in a human way, and often done with thread that matches the fabric. It’s found on the edges of lapels, pockets, and sometimes along the hem of trousers. You’ll see it in suits that cost more than €500, and you’ll rarely find it in anything under €200. That’s because it takes time—a skilled tailor might spend 20 minutes just on one lapel. And in a country where damp weather eats away at cheap fabrics and poor seams, that extra time means your suit won’t unravel after a few winters.
Pick stitching also ties into other things you care about: tailoring, the art of shaping fabric to fit the body with precision, often using hand-sewn techniques, and garment construction, how every piece of a suit is assembled—from the canvas inside to the stitching on the outside. These aren’t just buzzwords. They’re what keep a suit looking sharp after three years of Irish weather. If you’ve ever wondered why some suits look expensive even when they’re not flashy, pick stitching is one of the first things to check. It’s not flashy, but it’s honest. And in a market full of fast fashion, that honesty matters.
What you’ll find in the posts below are real, practical guides on spotting quality suits, understanding what makes a €500 suit different from a €5,000 one, and learning how to tell if a suit was made to last—or just to sell. You’ll read about the fabrics that hold up in rain, the stitching that survives damp floors, and the brands Irish men and women actually trust. No fluff. Just what works.
