TWEED JACKET

Tweed Making - Archive Footage

2011-04-12T02:04:00.000-07:00

Fascinating stuff

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BJ4Aiytf_Qg

Bookster Tweed Caps

2011-04-07T14:17:00.000-07:00

Bookster Cap Customers Returning To Place Repeat Orders

Tweed Cycle Runs

2011-04-07T14:09:00.000-07:00

Spring Has Sprung, more and more people are cycling in tweed,organised 'tweed runs' abound around the globe, what a splendid way to celebrate 'the cloth', and at the same time keep fit ( from experience a habit that elludes many tweed wearers) and take a classic bike for a spin.

Savile Row Style Magazine

2011-03-30T05:19:00.001-07:00

Our friends at 'Savile Row Style' Magazine are bucking the online trend. Having started as a webzine they are now publising a physical magazine. 4 Copies p.a for £20 (UK) Despite the Savile Row tag, they are concerned with wider ooferings than 'The Row' . High quality Made In England /Britain makers /garments. They are true supporters of those of us keeping the profession/trade alive and indeed prospering. In turn they deserve our /your support. Its a terrific pubication http://www.savilerow-style.com/

Bookster HQ

2011-03-29T13:54:00.000-07:00

Bookster Tweed HQ ( Tweed Central !) in Herefordshire during the big freeze. We receive visitors from far and wide for our by appointment fitting service. One stalwart drove especially from Germany and back in this weather. Visitors also have the opportunity to browse literally hundreds more cloths for practical reasons we are unable to offer online. Our established remote fitting service is very refined, personal and hugely successful, but a visit is obviously an ideal scenario when possible. Leave a space in your itinerary when visiting the UK, as many do already, the Herefordshire /Gloucestershire border countryside including the Wye Valley is simply outstanding. We are easy to reach, just a couple of hours from London by train. We can arrange country hotel accomodation and provide all the info on places of interest for you to enjoy if staying around for a couple of days, including car hire and even horseback riding if you are so inclined. Once we have your measurements, we keep them for future orders and of course they can be tweaked over time if needs be. We also offer sublime British cloths other than tweed suitable for business purposes , the warmer months and climates so you could order a complete wardrobe. Interested? Just call +44 1989 562212

Captain Beefheart

2011-03-29T13:37:00.000-07:00

So sad that Captain Beefheart / Don van Vliet passed away recently. An ardent if casual tweed wearer he perfectly exemplified the diversity of characters committed to 'the cloth'. He has left behind a wonderful legacy of music, artworks and this humble little pic....and..... is that a pack of Gitanes on the table?.....I used to enjoy them as much as tweed. Tempus Fugit...hold on tight and enjoy the rest of the ride I say

You Can Trust A Man In Tweed

2011-03-28T13:46:00.000-07:00

Below is an interesting short piece by a true tweed lover

YOU CAN TRUST A MAN IN TWEED By Jacques de Mesterton The name comes from tweel, a Scottish interpretation of the word “twill”. The legendary cloth was baptised for posterity when a London merchant, ‘round 1830, equated the tweel on an invoice from Hawick with the famed river Tweed, which flows through the Borders region of Scotland and England. Tweed is rugged, highly breathable and drapes magnificently; the stuff is available in countless colours and patterns. Tweed can also be secured to match the challenges of current climate extremes, indicators of a coming Ice Age. Gentlemen may choose from an impressive array of cloth weights to handle everything from the coldest winter to midsummer in the tropics. Tweed is supremely adaptable to a wide range of human activities. It is the country gent’s cloth of choice in places where traditional sporting values are maintained. But Tweed looks every bit as good in town as it does on a Highland stalk. And Tweed inspires confidence in the wearer—you can trust a man in tweed. The cloth suggests strength, dependability and thoughtfulness. Indiana Jones wears tweed. And in the real world, so did Teddy Roosevelt, the very model of a dashing and adventurous American president, the man who ranched in Dakota Territory, was inducted into the British Royal Society for leading a party to the summit of Mont Blanc, won the Congressional Medal of Honor, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, and saved the Grand Canyon. Tweed is the cloth of choice for men of action. King Edward VII was renowned for his “tweedy opulence”, in the words of his grandson Edward, Duke of Windsor. The king, a corpulent man of sophisticated tastes, was the inspiration for the later Windsor Style, which for decades exercised great power over the minds of men everywhere. The Duke of Windsor was devoted to well cut clothes made from heavy Tweed cloths. David, as he was called by Wallis, his American-born duchess, was the most important influence on the way men dressed in the 20th century; and his memory is with us still in this new age. Bookster sells Tweed suits and separates fit for a king at accessible prices, clothes which you may depend upon in these increasingly complex times. Equip yourself for the road ahead—wear the reliably tasteful cloth of presidents and kings: wear Tweed! © Jacques de Mesterton 2009

Return of the Blog

2011-03-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

Its been such a busy year, I almost forgot the blog but am determined to breath life back into it now. Though the blog is called tweed jacket , our clothing interests are now much wider so I shall be providing info on other sublime cloths we have been playing with.
As the warmer months approach , even the most steadfast of us struggle to wear true tweed in sweltering heat.
Equestrian clothing is also important to us so there will be news on that front too.
So few of us are standard sizes, that is where affordable made to measure, produced by ENGLISH tailors comes into its own. This is the place to learn more.
I shall also be adding some delightful vintage illustrations and articles for your entertainment. Submissions will also be gratefully received for inclusion.

I cannot count the number of times I have been told over the last year that 'Tweed is back in fashion'. From our perspective.....it always has been and always will?

Domino Magazine USA November 2008

2008-11-26T12:43:00.000-08:00

We had to fly a Bookster Tweed suit to NY and back for this small but nice feature, its nice to be sharing a page with the likes of Brooks Bros shoes, Penhaligon Cologne and Tiffany, though the assessment of tweed suit as being 'Old Fashioned' is very wide of the mark these days. Of course it has its timeless quality and traditional place in the scheme of things, but tweed also offers the opportunity for 'Casual Elegance' when mixed with other more contemporary styles and types of clothing.

Correspondence From A Wonderful Fellow Tweedster

2008-11-26T12:25:00.001-08:00

I just had to add this message, recently received from a new customer who needed some initial advice before making his purchase.That is another great thing about Tweed, you meet such wonderful people!

Dear Peter,

Many thanks for your reassurance. I don't know what possessed me to mention details. I think it must have been my detestation of, to put it charitably,government totalitarian tendencies combined with security incontinence.
To talk of nobler matters, I must have studied just about every page of both your Tweed Jacket and ebay sites. It was your eBay About Us Page where your sentiments really got me excited.
It was mad for an inpecuneous 1950s Sandhurst cadet to buy a big old fashioned car, then with another young Sapper officer while in training at Chatham, to buy an outdated 1904 4 ton Thames Measurement gaffrigged cutter. The criticism did not deter many cadets and young officers a few young ladies, and even the odd disapproving relative from sharing the enjoyment the old thing offered.
When the 1927 Rolls Royce Phantom 1 was sold to raise a third of the price of this house in 1974 I was labelled lucky. Sour grapes. It was irresistable urge to go for perceived intrinsic value: To love them for their own sake; To admire the qualities of those who designed and made them: To admire the respective qualities of the materials.To enjoy pride of ownership of classics is to share enjoyment with others. To hell with the worship of money. Whoever turned out to admire a pile of pound notes passing by?
So three cheers for Bookster & Tweed Jackets , and for a Happy Christmas, Very best Wishes .........

ARE YOU A CHAP ?

2008-11-18T00:40:00.000-08:00

Many gentlemen like to wear tweed, a proportion of them are 'Chaps' , are you a 'Chap' ?
Visit the website in our links section, read the outline manifesto, and make your own assessment.You may feel sympathetic to the values and virtues it extols, in which case, subscribe to the magazine, each copy I have seen is a little gem, it is undeniably unique, informative, and highly amusing. A little ray of light in a crazy world, and regular references to tweed.

TRUE STORY ABOUT THE PROTECTIVE QUALITIES OF TWEED

2008-11-17T23:37:00.000-08:00

Contribution by Chris Kavanaugh from a thread on Ask Andy About Clothes http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/
The best mens online clothing forum

Your flight is delayed at O'Hare Airport. Somebody neglects to complete a de icing of the wings. You take off in a fog and moments later the plane is broken in three pieces, half in icy water and half in slick, frozen shoreline.There are numerous fires burning.You get up, and in leather shoes walk on debri, some still glowing with heat. The wing is slippery, you slide into waist deep water, but manage to gain the shoreline. You collapse, but the tweed is just enough to keep your core temperature from falling dangerously low.At triage, they remove your jacket and waistcoat. You let out a sudden gasp. You have 3 broken ribs the clothing kept relatively immobile.looking around, you see people with melted polyester wounds literally from head to toe. They are lucky.Many post crash survivors succumbed to shock hastened by the onset of hypothermia.weeks later, you get the newly cleaned and pressed suit back from the cleaners. You see numerous ember burns that give it a peened surface. But by God not a fiber is completely seperated. You, and it are still presentable.* This actually happened in another part of the world to an online acquaintance who asked me for clothing advice while traveling

To order your own highly effective protective yet affordable travel suit go to
http://www.tweed-jacket.com/

TALE OF AN OLD TWEED JACKET

2008-11-17T14:03:00.000-08:00

A charming promotional booklet produced by the venerable Moss Brothers, probably in the 50's.
We hope to reproduce the full illustrated story for your interest and amusement soon, it was a rare find indeed,costing a fair few shekels, and can only have been produced in relatively small numbers.For those of us with a favourite jacket it is all too relevant!

THE HISTORY OF JOHN G HARDY CLOTH

2007-12-15T13:37:00.000-08:00

Almost 100 years ago John G Hardy founded the company which today holds the undisputed position of market leader for the supply of elegant country fabrics. The founder, being something of an eccentric gentleman, became well known for having collected his fabric samples, he would return to London with them stacked under his top hat. He was on of the first cloth merchants to visit the Scottish Highlands and Islands, accordingly acclaiming to have been responsible for the introduction of both Shetland and Harris Tweed cloths to the major markets of the world.

In 1829 the Duke of York, who was to become His Majesty King George VI, used a John G Hardy cloth for the regimental Tweed of the Brigade of Guards. He was the Colonel in Chief of the regiment and the cloth consisted of Black and White, with Royal Blue and Crimson colourations.

King Edward VIII when, as the Prince of Wales, was known to acquire the distinct checked fabric that would later bear the name from John G Hardy. Today, the extensive fabric range still includes several Prince of Wales checks and the expression has become instantly definable.

The company is privileged to hold Royal Warrants granted in the mid 1930’s for the supply of Balmoral Tweed fabric to the Royal Household.

For the discerning purchaser John G Hardy offers a vast array of jacketings and trouserings for all occasions, including the famous Alsport Tweed. Based in Yorkshire, the heart of the UK textile industry, the company enjoys an enviable reputation as one of the worlds foremost cloth houses with its fabrics being sold in over 50 countries throughout the world.

Bookster now offer an introduction to John G Hardy Cloths with six new offerings of light medium and heavy weight Alsport Tweeds. More lightweight patterns will be on offer in the New Year. Visit http://www.tweed-jacket.com/

SANTA FE STICKS

2007-11-08T13:47:00.000-08:00

Handcrafted from Rare Hardwoods in Santa Fe by Two Wood-Culture Enthusiasts
Santa Fe Sticks Classic canes, cane stands and walking sticks hand-carved, custom-made from exotic hardwoods; you choose wood, tip, handle and length. Our canes and walking sticks are the perfect combination of majestic beauty and incredible strength. Each is unique and takes hours to complete.

ELEGANT SURVIVAL Beauty, Fashion and Health

2007-09-28T23:43:00.000-07:00

M-J de Mesterton's website is a style sanctuary for women. The Lady herself has style in abundance and shares some of her secrets on how to look and most importantly feel good. Her site also includes recipes, wine of the month, plans for entertaining and many useful links to recommended sites.

Elegant Survival

This is an article from the site which I think would be useful for gentlemen too!

Ironing a Man's Shirt My Swedish grandmother taught me how to iron men's shirts. Like Scandinavians of all social strata, she adored being at the ironing board. I don't know how other people do it, but here is our system:
Flattening and folding the yoke (found under the collar at the back of shirt) at its bottom seam, iron it. You can iron-out the resultant crease later, when ironing the whole of the back.Iron the underside of the collar, then its topside, then iron a crease at the seam where it meets the shirt.
Iron the insides and outsides of the cuffs, before doing the two sleeves. Then you are ready to execute the easy parts: the two front sides and the back.
Hint: keep a spray bottle of water nearby to mist the shirt's stubborn wrinkles, even if you have a steam iron. If you use steam, empty the iron, refill it, and test-run for rusty water which can be difficult to remove once it is on the shirt. Do not use the highest temperature setting: crispy brown edges are for tortes, not chemises!
Besides the great feeling of accomplishment one gets finishing each shirt, it saves money which one may have spent having a cleaning outfit doing the work. There is dignity in ironing; don't ever let anyone tell you otherwise.
UPDATE: The very best iron that I have ever owned is this one from Panasonic. I have owned irons from Germany that cost three times as much, and each one ruined my silk clothes by dripping on them. This one is totally reliable, and costs about $30.00 US. I choose the the Japanese over the Germans here, and if given the same choice in cars, I would do the same.
Washing Your Shirts
I forgot to mention that your shirts will last much longer if they are washed by hand and hung to dry. Don't use so much detergent that it takes a rinsing marathon to remove it. "A little dab'll do ya", as the old Brylcreem jingle said. If you don't want to get hanger-marks on the shoulders, just put wash-cloths under them, over the ends of your hanger. The worst thing to do, even if you wash your shirts in cold water in the gentle cycle, is to dry them in a machine.--doing so will quickly degrade your shirt's fibres. You'd be surprised at how swiftly they dry naturally, and when they are just a wee bit damp, they're easy to iron.

M-J de Mesterton

NEED A TWEED CAP OR HAT?

2007-08-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

You can have your own tweed cap made up to match your jacket or suit!

Visit http://www.tweed-jacket.com/

WWW.TWEED-JACKET.COM

2007-07-15T13:13:00.000-07:00

www.tweed-jacket.com is the website specifically set up to launch
Bookster1uk's own range of made to order tweed clothing
THE BOOKSTER ORIGINAL RANGE.

Since 2003 Bookster have operated bookster1UK, a specialist clothing shop on eBay, offering a wide range of classic vintage & tweed clothing to customers around the globe. The Bookster Original Range was launched by bookster1uk in early 2007 and due to popular demand you can now order their new range of tweed jackets and 2,3 & 4 piece suits on this easy to use website
www.tweed-jacket.com

ABOUT WOOLLEN CLOTHS

2007-04-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

If you are baffled by the names of woollen cloths and would like an expanation, click on our the TEXTILE DICTIONARY link and you can find out about twill, gabardine, loden, worsted and many more including covert which is a cloth with a mix of two shades of brown used to make the true Covert Coat (commonly called racing coat), a three quarter length coat usually with a velvet collar.

WHAT TO WEAR

2007-03-30T14:23:00.000-07:00

We've added two great new links for you. 'Ask Andy About Clothes' - an informative site about all things sartorial and 'Men Style' GQ's site about the latest trends in fashion and how to wear them.

2007-03-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

STOP PRESS!

BOOKSTER LAUNCHES

ORIGINAL RANGE OF TWEED JACKETS AND SUITS

CLICK HERE TO VIEW OUR FULL RANGE

SHOP

2007-03-14T08:07:00.001-07:00

Enter Shop

Have you heard of Bladen jackets?

2007-03-13T14:26:00.000-07:00

You might be interested in the story behind the major tweed jacket makers such as Bladen, John G Hardy, Aquascutum, Lambourne, Pytchley, Dunn and Co to name a few. One of our favourite makers is Bladen. You will love the styling, quality, tailoring and cloth. Our no 1 customer T can sniff out a Bladen at 20 paces. We would like to find out some interesting history on Bladen clothing. Can anyone out there help!

In the mean time we've found a great site 'How to tie a tie' (see our link). We'll be practicing some new knots for our photos. You will see that we currently favour the 'Four in Hand'.

More interesting items coming soon, please add us to your favourites and visit again. Bookster mailto:Bookster1uk@hotmail.com

Email us now

SHOP AT BOOKSTER1UK

2007-03-09T05:12:00.000-08:00

Enter Shop

ANNOUNCING BOOKSTER'S NEW RANGE OF TWEEDS

2007-03-09T04:40:00.000-08:00

On 25th March 2007 Bookster1uk the leading Tweed Specialist in classic and vintage tweed clothing will launch their own range of jackets and suits.

We at Bookster have long provided our discriminating customers unique, quality vintage clothing and related items, specializing in authentic, hard-to-find British tweeds. We continue to seek out the best for our vintage collections, but feel it is time to fuse our passion for tweeds and our experience to produce our own line of exclusive new clothing items at very reasonable prices.
Our first offering is a range of pure Scottish wool tweed jackets and three-piece suits.
We've selected the best cloths we could find. All are pure wool and woven in Scotland. We could have compromised with lesser quality cloths, but have no enthusiasm for that type of exercise.
We feel the quality manufacturing of an item is as important as the cloth, and so determined that our items had to be tailored in England by traditional methods and not offshore. This allows us to oversee every step of the manufacturing process. After all, the garment has the Bookster name on it.
Our items are very keenly priced, as affordability has always been important at Bookster. Anyone can spend a lot of money for a very nice item, but we feel we have found a perfect balance of quality, uniqueness and fair pricing.
Our first offering is in a range of six cloth patterns. If you buy a jacket and decide you want a matching waistcoat or trousers, they can be ordered from us subject to the cloth's availability. As availability of the cloth is variable (it is not mass produced), you may not get a second chance. Each item will be personalized with your name and date of purchase on the inside pocket in bespoke fashion.
The specifications of each garment are detailed on each listing and we provide multiple photographic views of each item to help you make an informed decision. To discuss your needs or answer any questions, please e-mail us or telephone us at the numbers below. We are always glad to answer any queries you may have.
We will be introducing new exclusive items and patterns over time, so keep an eye on our eBay store. You can also subscribe to our newsletter to keep you up-to-date with new developments. If you subscribe to our newsletter, we promise faithfully not to bombard you with e-mail or share your information.
Last but not least, your patronage will be helping to ensure the survival of fine English tailoring and Scottish cloth producers.
Rule Britannia!

Visit our shop at www.bookster1uk.com