Recognizing a Good Tweed Jacket?

[IRISH]

can any knowledgable tweed jacket owners express some methods of discerning quality when buying a tweed jacket?

presumably, this would applicable both when paying good money for a new jacket from a name retailer as well as finding a good buy in a second hand shop. useful information from those with experience would be appreciated.

thanks in advance of your suggestions.

[McMurdo]

I've got a few Tweed Jackets now, I'd say take a close look at it, inspect it and if there is little to no wear and it fits then go for it. I've also found that if it says Harris Tweed on the label then you have a good buy.

[The Wizard of BC]

The differences in a OK Jacket, a good Jacket and a truly awesome Jacket are not readily apparent to the first time Jacket buyer without some knowledge of how Jackets are made.
The two most tailored and complex garments a man can buy are his Kilt and his Jacket. Both have internal interfacings and strengtheners built into them that you can't see just by looking at them. But if they are not there the garment will begin to sag and stretch from wearing it. This can begin to happen as soon as the first wearing in some garments. It also becomes very evident after the first cleaning.
If you are thinking of buying a new Jacket here are some questions you may ask of the seller or maker to tell the difference in the quality and the construction.

1- Does the Jacket maker use floating hair canvas interfacings or do they use fusable interfacings?
If you are only going to wear the Jacket once or twice a year, and it will be stored flat for the rest of the time, a Jacket with fusable interfacings will serve fine. Almost all Jackets, massed produced today will use interfacings which are glued with heat to the inside of the outer fabric.
If you are going to wear the Jacket often then the added expense of floating interfacings is worth the price.

2- Does the Jacket maker use machine made button holes or hand-stitched button holes?
This is a small thing to most people and I'm sure you would think that a machine made button hole is perfectly good but a hand-stitched button hole will last years without stretching or distorting and will not fray.

3- Does the Jacket maker use removable buttons?
When you send your Jacket to the cleaners the buttons, especially if they are silver or real Horn should be removed from the Jacket to avoid damage not only to the button but to the jacket itself from the extreme pressure of the pressing.

4- There are Tweeds, and there are Tweeds. I am not a fan of the "Harris" branded Tweed. (But that is a personal, not a quality thing) Harris Tweed weavers are a group of hand weavers and small weaving companies set up to preserve the small weaving companies. It is not one large company producing all the fabric to the same standards and quality. The brand "Harris" means it was produced on the outer islands of Scotland by a small independent company. So there are variations.
The cost, per yard, difference between a good quality fabric and a so-so fabric means the difference in the finished Jacket is only $20 or $30. So always go with the highest quality fabric.

If you are looking at a used Jacket here are some things to look for.

First - Hold the Jacket up to a good light and look for small, pinprick holes which are evidence of moths.

Second - Look inside the Jacket at the armholes. If you see fraying of the liner pass it by.

Third - Look at the seam in the back of the Jacket between the shoulder blades. Does the stitching show stretching?

Fourth - Is the Jacket fully lined? That means all the way down the sleeves and the entire inside of the body. Then look at the bottom of the lining. Is it sort of loose and folded over? and is it hand stitched. If the Jacket liner is machine stitched then it is almost always made with fusable interfacings.

Finally - Take the Jacket near the lapels and just above the chest pocket and skrunch it and ball it up in your hands and then stick you nose in it and smell. It there is a smokey smell, a mild musty smell, or an oily smell the jacket may only require a cleaning. But if you smell yeast, or a baking bread smell, then pass it by as the fabric is rotting inside and as soon as you try to clean it the Jacket will start to fall apart.

Notice I have not mentoned anything about style of Jacket. Styles change over the years and what we today think of as an Argyle or Braemar Jacket has not always been the same. Style of Jacket is completly up to the wearer. I personally prefer older styles of Jackets. But that's becase I don't like to look cookie cutter, just like everyone else.
But one style feature is and has always been the same in a well fitting Kilt Cut Jacket and that is side vents. In the back of the Jacket you will find two small loose "cuts" near the side seams with a flat panel across the butt. Avoid a Jacket with a single vent at the center of the back. It will gape open and look unsightly when worn with the Kilt.

I hope this helps.

I remain, as always, your faithful servant.

[Nanook]

1- Does the Jacket maker use floating hair canvas interfacings or do they use fusable interfacings?

To my knowledge no mass made Highland style (kilt) tweed kilt jackets are made today as fully floating but ALL are "glued".
With tweed materials in contrast to finer woolens its not really that big a thing to have glued (fused) versus floating construction. Heavyweight tweed as used in Highland jackets is a very stiff material so won't really drape anyway.. and today's glues hold up well to dry cleaning solvents.
In this regard I would suggest that many a new jacket is better than similar jackets from the 1960s and 1970s when the cements were less stable. The automation in today's textile factories too has made significant progress since the 1960s.
Even among "hand made" fully (floating) canvased jackets there are significant differences. There are loads and loads of short-cuts possible and places where the eye does not see where machines can and are put to use. Even among the top tier luxury brands (where off the rack jackets start at around $1500 USD) there are, it seems, different classes of workmanship.

2- Does the Jacket maker use machine made button holes or hand-stitched button holes?

Completely over-rated! A lot of poorly machine made and fused jackets have what to even expert eyes looks like hand stitched button holes..

3- Does the Jacket maker use removable buttons?

This is a Highland jacket thing taken over from the military where the same jacket pattern is used for multiple regiments. None of the finest ready to wear tailors (Brioni, Kiton, Luciano Barbera, Oxxford, Chester Barrie) haver ever used removable buttons.. and going along Saville Row to Huntsmann, Anderson & Sheppard etc. you too won't typically get removable buttons on jackets..

4- There are Tweeds, and there are Tweeds. I am not a fan of the "Harris" branded Tweed.

There is Harris and there is Harris tweed.. Its nothing other than a "marketing brand" shared by many weavers for a given specification. While there has been a lot of Harris tweed of less than stellar quality there have also been (and are some) Harris Tweeds that have been at least as good if not better than any of the other Isle, Border or Haggarts tweeds.

Unless one is looking to an antique jacket (made before "the War") I would suggest that pretty much anything "Scottish made" in a kilt jacket will be of similar standards (often even the same factories). One just needs to accept that they are "cheap" jackets and hardly the stuff of heirlooms.. but still can be worn for 20 years.. here its really the material that plays the tune.. a heavy tweed will hold up to more abuse than a lighter one (but unfortunately really heavy tweeds have become much more rare).

[Southern Breeze]

I've got a few Tweed Jackets now, I'd say take a close look at it, inspect it and if there is little to no wear and it fits then go for it. I've also found that if it says Harris Tweed on the label then you have a good buy.

My thoughts exactly. I have one used Harris Tweed that I only paid ten dollars for.

[Howard Clark]

Yes, look for a 100% wool label or better yet "Genuine Harris Tweed" with the orb label means it will be first class materials at the least, and the workmanship almost always good as well. Get to the second hand shops like Goodwill and Salvation Army. There are usually several tweed jackets, at least around here. Harris Tweed was very popular here in the states during the 1970's and 80's. They are simple to spot once you have educated your eye. Good luck in the hunt.

Italian fabric and designers seem to dominate the suit market now.

[Finn]

Wow, Steve. Great lesson! Thanks!

[IRISH]

thanks to all, especially the wizard for that last lecture.

[Howard Clark]

Yeah, Steve, that was great ! Thanks. I learned several things in that post.

[MacMillan of Rathdown]

Mr. Aston gets a Gold Star and goes to sartorial heaven.