Tweedy

Country weekends are all about being outdoors.  If the coveted invitation comes your way, plan to get a lot of fresh air- riding, shooting skeet, early morning markets, walks with the dogs, antiquing, picking apples, finding a sunny spot to read, or maybe some biking or bird watching.  Tweeds are in their element in the country.

Women's Barbour "Linford" tweed jacket

Tossing on a tweed jacket for a walk through the leaves feels satisfyingly rustic.

  

This is a great time to pull out those brown alligator shoes and bags that never seem to look quite right anywhere else.

Woman's hacking jacket

A traditional tweed hacking jacket is single breasted with three tortoiseshell or horn buttons.  It has rounded tails, a single back center vent (so it doesn't bunch up on the saddle), and two slanted, flap pockets (to get one's hand into more easily when mounted), plus one ticket pocket and a breast welt pocket for men.  

Hacking jackets usually have at least one inside breast pocket, plus an inside flask pocket with a flap.  The sleeves traditionally have just one button.

Queen Elizabeth hacking at Balmoral

Ralph Lauren hacking jackets

Men's shooting jacket

A shooting jacket is single breasted with three tortoiseshell, horn or leather buttons.  It often has full front and rear shoulder patches and elbow patches, a storm tab, 2 large front bellows pockets with flaps and a back half-belt with two back vents and double back action pleats.  It usually has two inside breast pockets and an inside "poachers" pocket.

Men's Norfolk jacket

A Norfolk jacket is the "hoodie" of traditional folks.  In Downton Abbey, the Earl of Grantham wears his Norfolk jacket for casual wear the way some modern guys wear sweats.  It is similar to the shooting jacket, but has shoulder patches instead of leather shooting patches, or often, front vertical seaming or an extra layer of fabric strapping (to help support pockets full of shotgun shells), no storm tab, a center vent, center back pleat, and a full belt.

F. Scott Fitzgerald in a Norfolk jacket

Elements like the box pleats in back are difficult to tailor, so it is hard to find an authentic version of the Norfolk.

This is Thom Browne's attractive jacket for the Brooks Brothers Black Fleece collection.  In 2008 Thom Browne was named GQ's Menswear Designer of the Year, for his great style and attention to detail. 

Women's Norfolk jacket from Brooks Brothers

Tweeds are perfect for Autumn with jeans or corduroys tucked into brown field boots, or on rainy days, a pair of wellies...

Le Chameau boots are handmade in France, and go arm-in-arm with tweeds.  The creme de la creme of wellies is the "Chasseur," handmade in France by Le Chameau in natural rubber with a full leather lining.

Houndstooth

Tweeds come in many patterns, but they are typically woodland colored.

Barleycorn

Herringbone

Overcheck Estate Tweed

This traditional overcheck tweed is often called an "Estate Tweed," because a Scottish Highland estate would often create its own distinctive pattern with colors chosen to match the local landscape, for camouflage while hunting.



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Images: 1. GQ Style 9 Autumn-Winter Photgraphed by Philip Poynter 2. Equestrian Connection, 3.Kevin's 4. John Lobb 5. Styleforum.net 6. The Daily Mail 7. 8. Ralph Lauren 9. F.Scott Fitzgerald Archives 10. Brooks Brothers 11.Brooks Brothers 12.13. Le Chameau14.Orvis