I've been working on these boardshorts for the last couple of years now.
It all started with a conversation about the best fabric to use for boardshorts. A friend of mine (Lee Robertson) was having problems with the boardshorts he bought, they just didn't seem to survive for too long or they went at the seams in particular places. I was working at the local fabric shop at the time (I still do) and I knew we didn't have anything in stock that would fit what he wanted, so Lee managed to go online and source this amazing, densely woven cotton instead.
It was designed in one of the world wars for naval uses, infact I'll just copy the description from Lee's website:
'There was an urgent need for a new, protective clothing fabric that would be comfortable in the cockpit under combat conditions and that would also keep a pilot warm and dry in the sea.
After many trials, the boffin's at the Shirley Institute in Manchester U. K. developed 'Ventile'. When made into finished garments, life expectancy in the sea was extended from a few minutes to 20 minutes and rescue was now a real possibility. 80% of anti-submarine pilots who fell into the sea now survived.'
(taken from Eels Bespoke surfing shorts.
http://www.ayav06.dsl.pipex.com/eels/history.html)
Lee's idea for bespoke shorts set us off on a mission to try out some home-cut patterns until we fell upon a pattern that worked. We then made a few shorts up and tried and tested them by giving them out to a number of Lee's friends. Now the test was on. The shorts were taken in and out into the waves and surf of Cornwall, held tort against waxed and sand-gritted boards while their owners sat waiting for a wave out the back and just generally battered by the sea, for about a year. Not only did they survive, but they softenend and moulded to the owners shape aswell. The fabric's fantastic and all 100% cotton. it's the tightness of the weave and it's density that makes it so water durable. These shorts are available online, just click the link above and have a look.
