You Can Trust A Man In Tweed

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

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

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

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 ?

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

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

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!