Tweed Color Specks

[tulloch]

Presumably this makes it even more difficult to match the cloth if one has a very nice tweed jacket (as I have) which would be set off perfectly by a matching vest?

My jacket is in the "plain ginger" (if such a thing is possible with Harris Tweed!). The sample I obtained with a view to having a vest made, apart from being a very slightly different shade of ginger seemed to have more flecks of white which gave quite a different impression. Perhaps I should just give up on the idea.

Not at all! The amazing thing about tweed and Harris in particular, is that there are these little bits that stay in the background until you have something beside them and suddenly they stand out and make it 'match' or harmonize. I have a beautiful green and black herringbone jacket that coordinates with blues, browns, reds, and yesterday I wore Orange with it - works wonderfully. I have a dark grey Harris jacket that has blue, white, green, purple undertones that only really show when called upon by my pants, vest, shirt or tie.

This is amazing stuff, folks.

[Paul Henry]

Presumably this makes it even more difficult to match the cloth if one has a very nice tweed jacket (as I have) which would be set off perfectly by a matching vest?

My jacket is in the "plain ginger" (if such a thing is possible with Harris Tweed!). The sample I obtained with a view to having a vest made, apart from being a very slightly different shade of ginger seemed to have more flecks of white which gave quite a different impression. Perhaps I should just give up on the idea.

Harris tweed production is still very much a hands on industry,it would be almost impossible for them to guarantee an exact match of an earlier batch of clloth, I don't think this it an especial problem,as I enjoy the variety of different fabrics, I accept though if you are trying to match up with an earlier batch you are not going to be so happy!My advice in this instance would be to certainly go for some tweed, but make it purposely different, complementing or contrasting, then no one will think you have dressed without thought!

[Lime]

Not at all! The amazing thing about tweed and Harris in particular, is that there are these little bits that stay in the background until you have something beside them and suddenly they stand out and make it 'match' or harmonize. I have a beautiful green and black herringbone jacket that coordinates with blues, browns, reds, and yesterday I wore Orange with it - works wonderfully. I have a dark grey Harris jacket that has blue, white, green, purple undertones that only really show when called upon by my pants, vest, shirt or tie.

This is amazing stuff, folks.

I agree completely: I simply meant "matching" in the sense that it would be more difficult to get one garment made at a later date which was in exactly the same material as an already owned one for instance if you had tweed suit and the trousers wore out and you wanted to replace them rather than using the jacket as a separate. I realise there are already difficulties in doing this as the older item will have been cleaned, rinsed by rain, stained, bleached by the sun etc.

[Lime]

complementing or contrasting, then no one will think you have dressed without thought

Yes that is certainly a consideration; I do have a variety of odd tweed vests kicking about but I just fancied, as an idle whim, having a matching vest for this particular jacket.

[thescot]

@zirrow: I'm so glad you asked this question. I've wondered the same over the year--many years, in fact--but I never had enough sense to ask it here.

Thanks. Like you, I poiunced on the explanation of neps. Finally, it all makes sense.