These two comments just came in on an older post that I wanted to highlight.
I'm a big study in tweed, and can say that the biggest difference in English tweeds to Scottish and Irish tweeds is the softness, and simpler patterns.
Windowpane, plain twill tweeds, and subdued colors are definitely more common with English made tweeds (though not exclusively, as even Harris Tweed makes plain tweeds.) Yorkshire tweeds fall into this category, as do "West of England Cloth" and Abraham Moon Mill tweeds.
Scottish tweeds are rugged and strong like the highlands, but are softer as they get newer, older Harris Tweeds are rougher in general. Modern ones have become softer. They love color combinations and have a tremendous variety.
Donegal/Irish tweeds tend to have the colorful rainbow neps in them, but that isn't a strict requirement. They tend to be the most rugged tweeds and in my studies the least soft, almost always being lined with another material. That said they are my favorite.
And
I'm over the moon that tweed is coming back as a worn fabric in social circles. I was always a fan, and for years was able to pick out some great pieces at Thrift stores.
Nowadays they are far rarer as people are picking up these old bulletproof brands and putting them in their closet once more.
Never mind the flourishing of new tweeds and clothing we see with Cordings, House of Bruar, Walker and Hawkes, Magee 1866 and the like.
It's a good time to be a tweed head.
Links to the mentioned companies:
- Cordings <https://www.cordings.co.uk/>
- House of Bruar <https://www.houseofbruar.com/>
- Walker & Hawkes <https://www.walkerandhawkes.com/>
- Magee 1866 <https://www.magee1866.com/>
Being a Yorkshireman living in the Yorkshire countryside and being a shooting/fishing man I am a great fan of tweed, especially those woven in Yorkshire which are, as you say, very soft. My favourite outfit in the cooler months s a tweed hacking jacket paired with a par of cavalry twill trousers (Cordings are the best - they use cavalry twill woven in Yorkshire)
ReplyDeleteSounds great. I love that combination.
DeleteIf you’re in Paris you can be complimented on your J Press herringbone black and brown(ish) tweed jacket. Even if there’s no specific tweed label in the inside, does that mean your tweed is back? If so, I’m in!
ReplyDeleteJ. Press always has a great selection of tweed sport jackets in the American style. Unfortunately, this year all of their Magee jackets and many of their Harris are unlined.
DeleteI have never understood unlined tweed jackets
DeleteAn unlined tweed jacket is disconcerting. I also have a J Press black/brown herringbone tweed. It belonged to my father. The jacket itself was fine when I inherited it. But the lining was shot. My seamstress replaced the original lining with a striking dark mustard color lining. Imagine anon 5:37 strolling Montparnasse in that!
DeleteI am a big fan of the J Press Magee and Harris tweeds you reference as "unlined". I wore one just today and find it to be the perfect cut and weight. It is their "soft make" and is minimally lined, but not completely unlined. The shoulders are the best I have found at Press in decades.
DeleteI have lightweight 11 oz navy tweed jacket (Holland & Sherry’s Sherry tweed bunch) with minimal lining. Not so hot indoors. I wear it on daily basis. Versatile piece as it can be dressed up or down. Navy works fine in smart casual or business casual office settings. (Love Cordings too but their jackets don’t fit me well.)
ReplyDeleteThat is not true about Donegal. It depends on the weight of the cloth. I have a lightweight cap in Donegal from Malloy and a heavyweight Donegal one from Magee. Chalk and cheese.
ReplyDeleteAs for jackets, the one I bought in Ardara is nearly as soft as a flannel suit jacket.
Here, here! The weight truly makes such a difference in texture!
DeleteA literature professor friend and I keep a list of expressions that are incorrect but sound just plausible enough to become common (or at least frequent) usage. These include:
Delete- Butt naked (vs. buck naked)
- Pour over (vs. pore over)
- Can't see the forest through the trees (vs. for the trees)
- Nip in the butt (vs. bud)
- Pummel horse (vs. pommel horse)
- Squash (vs. quash)
- Chalk full (vs. chock full) and our winner...
- Here, here! (vs. Hear, hear!)
Was that both necessary and kind?
Delete-Mike
Maybe they meant here, like, here, too! But, it's a doggy dog world here in the comments.
DeleteChapeau
Delete-Mike
And of course pour over is perfectly correct when speaking of making coffee.
Delete"And of course pour over is perfectly correct when speaking of making coffee." Gee, thanks for that.
Delete"Was that both necessary and kind?" Someone mentioned to me the other day that my scarf was dragging on the ground and was about to fall off. I thanked her. I would consider it kind if someone pointed out to me an expression I was using incorrectly.
"It's a doggy dog world here in the comments." That's great!! One to add to the list. Thank you.
If someone took me aside and privately let me know that I was using an expression incorrectly, I would consider it a kindness. If someone corrected me in front of an audience, I would likely feel otherwise.
Delete-Mike
Responding to Sartresky, the main one I see these days is "hone in on." To hone means to sharpen. What people mean is "home in on." I can take it further with plurals (We have five test; There are two artist), tense (He is bias); and dropping articles (Majority of people). I refer to these things as "illiteracies" because people who read a lot have absorbed how these particular rules through reading. Those who don't read much are going to repeat the things they think that they're hearing, as seems to be the case with your examples. For anyone interested in this type of thing, you might enjoy Googling the word "Mondegreen."
DeleteI have a brown Harris Tweed jacket ... WITH BROWN LEATHER BUTTONS !!!
ReplyDeleteFor those who haven't clicked through the links, the prices are extremely reasonable by American standards.
ReplyDelete