Recognizing a Good Tweed Jacket?

[Bugbear]

OH WOW! A Pink Death Prince Charlie with Silver Flamingo buttons.

You know someone will probably want one now.
Panache...

[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.

[Southern Breeze]

OH WOW! A Pink Death Prince Charlie with Silver Flamingo buttons.

I'm intrigued....What would one cost?

[Bugbear]

I'm intrigued....What would one cost?

Told you someone would want one now. Ah, the pink PC strikes again.

[JRB]

If you are looking for a traditional sportcoat or are willing to attempt a DIY conversion then Goodwill and Salvation Army thrift stores are your friends. Either store seems to always have at least a few tweed jackets at any given time. I have two tweed and three Harris tweed sportcoats all from thrift stores and only paid between $7 and $10 for each of them. They are all in good shape (save for the buttons which need replacing on all but one). You really can't go wrong when you're paying $7 for a tweed jacket.

[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).

[Dukeof Kircaldy]

I guess one would have to go bespoke (tailored) to obtain a really good tweed jacket. I am sure if you asked the Saville Road crowd (Gieves & Hawkes, Huntsmann, Anderson & Sheppard et al), or even a good oriental tailor, they would probably make you a coat with removable buttons.

[Bugbear]

I guess one would have to go bespoke (tailored) to obtain a really good tweed jacket. I am sure if you asked the Saville Road crowd (Gieves & Hawkes, Huntsmann, Anderson & Sheppard et al), or even a good oriental tailor, they would probably make you a coat with removable buttons.

Or ask The Wizard of BC.
I am very interested in these removable buttons. I've never been able to fool around with any, but guess there is some kind of cotter pin or something holding them on. Anyway, I think they would be a perfect feature on an Argyle jacket because the buttons could be swapped out with either horn or silver making the jacket useable as day or eveningwear. Black Argyle jacket not tweed that is. And not that I am able to have an Argyle jacket made right at the moment, but it is interesting, and will help to know these things for when I am able to do that.


* Oops, that could be taken wrong, sorry Wizard. I was wondering how the buttons worked, and not whether they are what makes a jacket high quality. Frankly, you could buy your own removable buttons and put them on a worthless jacket. I just haven't figured out how they are held on to the jacket yet. and if regular buttons could be adapted to become removable. It's more of a question than a comment. I'll be quiet now. *

[The Wizard of BC]

Please remember that I did not say a good Jacket HAD to have removable buttons. Or that a good Jacket HAD to have floating Interfacings.

The original question was asking some of the features to look out for when buying a Jacket.

My Kilt Cut Sport Coats are made in Scotland but do not have removable buttons. They also have machine made button holes. They do however have full floating interfacings. Sure, I could have specified all of the bells & whistles when I met with the maker and set out the design but the cost would have been prohibitive. So I opted for very high quality fabrics, the design features I wanted, and high quality interfacings, and gave up the rest.