I have a handful (or two) of great Harris Tweed jackets -some I purchased new and some have been vintage pickups (please see my previous post on how to buy a jacket online that fits) and while I love them all, this vintage Multi-color Houndstooth by Burberry is top of the pile. First, I just love the color. It makes such a great match with so many different pants and shirts that the outfit possibilities are nearly endless. I also love that when it arrived, it was the perfect fit, with enough room to allow for layering of even a heavy Aran Jumper. Burberry had done a great job of tailoring it, to the extent that I can't think of a fitment issue that I would want have altered - I love the 3 button front and the button stance is perfect for me. But the thing that I love most about this jacket (as will all my Harris Tweeds) is the stunning weave! It's the intricacy and the interplay of colors in the various yarns is nothing short of amazing. The trick to how Harris Tweed achieves these beautiful depths of colors lays in the dying process. Instead of dying the spun yarn, they dye it in the wool, then blend the colors and then spin it into the thread or yarn which is then woven into the cloth. This jacket for instance has perhaps six or seven different individual thread colors woven to make the cloth, but it is very conceivable that each individual thread may have be made up of several tones of colors of individual wool fibers spun to make these threads, The result is that with upon very close inspection there might be thirty or more perhaps 50 different color tones of wool fiber woven into the cloth from which this jacket was made. The upshot is a depth and richness of color that when combined with the coarse texture of the cloth, and the way the light plays off of these colors and textures is just unsurpassed.
The Close-up (see how many colors you can count in each of the successively more detailed photos of this weave:
This jacket has a great Burberry logo woven in and it's in excellent almost unworn condition. Also, while I bought it on E&Bay UK, it turns out was actually tailored in Germany, which is nice to know, and so the jacket has had a homecoming of sorts.
Pocket flaps and ticket pocket flap:
A sure sign of quality is when the pattern is nicely matched along the center back seam and pocket flaps - here it's perfect:
Today's outfit I've put together with this jacket:
No comments:
Post a Comment