Odd tweed trousers and jacket?

"The brute covers himself, the rich man and the fop adorn themselves, the elegant man dresses!"

-Honore de Balzac

alden
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Fri Dec 05, 2008 4:24 pm

RWS'

You find a reference to the tweed suit imperative in Waugh's Brideshead as follows:

"Clothes. Dress as you do in a country house. Never wear a tweed coat and flannel trousers - always a suit. And go to a London tailor; you get better cut and longer credit."

If you take a look in theclothclub, there is someone wanting to make tweed suitings..hmmm

Cheers

Michael
Jordan Marc
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Fri Dec 05, 2008 10:38 pm

Tweed suits are marvelous for romping around the country in the colder climes, but if you choose a heavyweight cloth, say, a cheviot tweed from Harrisons of Edinburgh, make sure your tailor lines the front of the trousers to the knee when seated. Scratchy doesn't begin to describe the abrasive quality of cheviot tweed. Rub you raw in all the wrong places is a more apt description.

JMB
JDelage
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Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:24 am

I would think one would want tweed pants to be lined, like jackets, no?

What I was thinking when I mentioned odd tweed pants to go with this (or similar, regular small pattern) jacket would be a fabric with no pattern. Maybe a salt-and-pepper fabric, or some version of a Donegal motif. The modern versions of the latter might actually be much easier to pair with the odd tweed jacket since the specks of colors are so much less conspicuous that they once were.
alden
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Tue Dec 09, 2008 9:36 am

Scratchy doesn't begin to describe the abrasive quality of cheviot tweed. Rub you raw in all the wrong places is a more apt description.
Ladies pay huge sums of money for peeling the skin, we can get it for free. Wear Cheviot!

Frankly my tweeds are unlined and never caused discomfort but everyman has his own tolerances.

Cheers
storeynicholas

Tue Dec 09, 2008 10:06 am

My grandfather wore, all year round, 'combinations' which were (maybe still are) like full length catsuit undergarments - proof against the cold and tweed rash. of course, the Heavy Brigade would probably add - proof against the heat too. :shock:
NJS
Frog in Suit
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Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:52 pm

L.L. Bean have what they call a "union suit" covering the body between the ankles, the wrists and the neck. I have one (in bright red, of course!) which I wore at Christmastime -- only within the tolerant bosom of my immediate family -- when the children were small and we spent the holidays in the USA.

Image

Frog in Suit
storeynicholas

Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:59 pm

Frog in Suit wrote:L.L. Bean have what they call a "union suit" covering the body between the ankles, the wrists and the neck. I have one (in bright red, of course!) which I wore at Christmastime -- only within the tolerant bosom of my immediate family -- when the children were small and we spent the holidays in the USA.

Image

Frog in Suit
Yes, they were just like this but cream! The tweeds in thise days were very scratchy. It sounds as though you might have worn this as an outfit in itself. The old combinations used to come in short-legged versions too for wear with breeches.
NJS
ottovbvs
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Wed Dec 10, 2008 1:54 pm

I actually was sitting next to an older guy in a restaurant yesterday. He was of darker tone skin, probably Italian, with thick white hair and heavy half horn rims. He was wearing a plain greenish heather mix thornproof tweed jacket and mid brown herringbone tweed pants with a an open necked button down tattersall check shirt, brown plaid scarf and a sort of sophisticated Italian leisure shoe (semi sneaker type). He looked superb. Italians really do seem to have the knack of putting together casual semi formal clothes.
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