Teba Jacket

[carl browne]

How do you gentlemen feel about the Teba jacket from Bel Y Cia in Barcelona?

I saw a photo of one in Jeremy Hackett's book, and thought it pretty distinctive. I'm told they are made from a jersey cloth, so I suspect they are very comfortable. I would expect to wear it in place of a cardigan sweater.

Thank you again.

[carl browne]

Also called the Tabor Jacket, incorrectly, I think.

Bel Y Cia call it the Teba.

[alden]

Carl,

A Teba jacket is nice but you might do to wait until you can have an unlined jacket with patch pockets and action back made bespoke in a suitable cloth. The Teba that might be a curiosity for a few months may sit unused in your closet.

You might want to read these paragraphs written awhile back:

I don’t suppose there is a doubt that elegance is a naturally occurring phenomenon. Look around and you will learn to recognize it.

Elegance can be learned by those who have the capacity to learn. There are traces of elegance deep within each of us, as there are other noble and ignoble qualities. The point is to mine these qualities out and bring them to the surface. It takes a bit of time, reflection and pluck to give form to what are largely, at first, instincts and guesses. Balzac said “a prodigality of color deadens elegance” and a prodigality of purchases can do the same. Go slowly and let each selection inform and guide the next. In the end, you will richer for your patience.

Don’t look for the colors that suit you best, look for the you that suits the colors best.

M Alden

[carl browne]

Mr. Alden:

Is this your very tactful way of saying that you don't entirely approve?

I don't know that you appreciate how very informal we are out here in the west--the Indians haven't been completely subdued yet, and the Teba may get more use than you suppose. However, your use of the word "curiosity" alarms me, so I will almost certainly heed your advice.

Thanks.

[pvpatty]

Mr. Alden:

Is this your very tactful way of saying that you don't entirely approve?

I don't know that you appreciate how very informal we are out here in the west--the Indians haven't been completely subdued yet, and the Teba may get more use than you suppose. However, your use of the word "curiosity" alarms me, so I will almost certainly heed your advice.

Thanks.

I think what Mr. Alden is trying to say is that while a Teba jacket can be a good thing, you would be best served by having a rare garment such as this made bespoke.

[erasmus]

If you have a good sense of when and how you will wear your Teba jacket, the chances of it sitting unused drop considerably and you will find yourself reaching for it fairly often.

Like yourself, I too live on the West Coast and its informality suits the Teba very well I find. I wear it with jeans or corduroys while running errands or on weekends.

Incidentally, Bel y Cia can make the Teba on a made to order basis as my write-up describes: http://sleevehead.blogspot.com/search/l ... %20y%20cia

[alden]

I love Madrid.

Many years ago on a trip to this magical city, I, like many tourists before me, bought a Teba jacket in a grayish green. What appealed to me at the time was the color of the cloth and wearing the garment in the ambience of the Spanish capital was muy simpatico. But the jacket did not fit well and once I returned home its appeal faded and it sat for decades in the closet. Since this writer follows his own advice about “never throwing any article of clothing away”, the Teba sits in a closet in Sicilia where it is worn for various farm duties and serves an excellent purpose as such.

But your question about the Teba raises an interesting question and one that might be of value to other readers. Do you plan on building an essentially bespoke wardrobe? If you do then you would be best advised to wait (save your dollars) and have an unlined coat like this made for you in an excellent piece of cloth



If you do not have access to bespoke and plan to have an essentially RTW and MTM wardrobe, then the Teba may be an excellent proposition with an affordable price point for the interest and utility of the garment.

I am quite sure that Bel y Cia will make a fine MTM product and the first hand commentary from Erasmus is a confirmation. Personally speaking I find MTM to be unsatisfactory for jackets of any kind. If you have a modest budget but still want a few bespoke pieces, focus your bespoke investment on jackets. You can have an overcoat, trousers, shirts, even work suits made for you MTM. The fit is less crucial in these garments than for a jacket.

When you are starting to develop a serious wardrobe, you need to have a long term plan. (Of course, if you have unlimited resources, a plan is less important and you can do as you please.) The plan should incent you to save and invest in pieces that have to be made bespoke. Garments where fit is fractionally less important can be made MTM. And your socks and underwear can be purchased RTW.

Te gusta la Teba hombre? Compretela.

[Leon]

I have the swatch book from Bel, and will order one the next time i am in BCN.

Leon

[carl browne]

Senor Alden:

I may do just that. I've already inquired.

My trouble with Bel is that they don't travel, and I'm at an age that when I travel, it's usually as a tourist, with my family, and we don't like to repeat a destination--too many places, not enough time.

To get it right, you've got to get face-to-face with your cutter, at least a few times.

Conversely, large numbers of bespoke tailors, shirt, and shoe makers set up shop in the Beverly Wilshire Hotel three times a year, where you can get proper fittings, and a little face-to-face interaction.

I've been through this too many times. If I get something off the rack at Bel, It's not going to fit, and mail order bespoke is a recipe for disaster. I just can't afford to get it wrong.

Another problem--probably suitable for a thread of it's own, if it hasn't already been discussed--is the fact that I haven't built a proper wardrobe. I tend to buy whatever suits my fancy, rather than starting with the basics. as a result, I do have a dinner jacket, and some very distinctive tweed coats and suits with stripes and window panes, but don't have a plain navy suit.

Probably best to forget this foolishness until I have some plain, worsted suits in navy, oxford, and dove grey.

[Leon]

Jeremy Hackett writes about ordering one here.

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... _n12756893

Leon

[le.gentleman]

Unfortunately, the Jeremy Hackett Link is not working.

However, Sleeveheadwrote something about it and I also visited Bel y Cia in order to take a look at their Teba Jacket.

[~ Monsieur Xu ~]

I'm toying with the idea of having a modified Teba jacket made up, in a sky blue heavy linen without canvassing and lining. The few changes to be made would be - lengthening the jacket to a conventional jacket's length, changing the shirt cuffs to a conventional jacket's style with a one-button closure, and having the back done in an action back style with a central pleat - a design inspired by a recent issue of Monsieur.

The intention is to bring the garment's design away from its robust hunting heritage and towards an exceedingly light, breezy coat for dining alfresco at one's Mediterranean yacht club. While I would wear my double-breasted unconstructed blazers over high-waisted brace trousers, the modified Teba I would don over a linen shirt and lower-waisted odd trousers, companioned with a cravat and panama...

Would any members be kind enough to supply more detailed pictures of the Teba? There seems to be a great dearth online - most of the pictures are from Erasmus's commission three years ago.

Other candidates for the basis of this airy seaside jacket-cardigan are the Forestiere, and some of the newfangled Cifonelli designs, but these do seem a little dandy in the wrong way. Any opinions from members would be well appreciated.

Cheers,

B

[carl browne]

Go back on the internet and Google:

"Chaqueta de Teba"

In quotes. You should get some decent photos.

[~ Monsieur Xu ~]

Go back on the internet and Google:

"Chaqueta de Teba"

In quotes. You should get some decent photos.

Thanks, but the search turns up only one relevant picture, a decidedly small and unclear one.

Is the Teba traditionally as long as a conventional jacket, or is it more similar to that of a square hem shirt?

Also, does it have side vents or side slits?

The Cucinelli jacket feautured on ASW here (http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_Wbd-uMYmb_4/S ... 00/LP9.jpg) appears to be similar to what I have in mind, with jacket cuffs replacing the Teba's shirt cuffs.

[andreyb]

Gentlemen,

This September I visited Barcelona and like many others before me wasn't able to resist the temptation and put an order for a teba from Bel y Cia. Here is a short report.

There are many good pictures of Bel's exterior and fitting room in sleevehead's blog, so little need to add more. However, I have two pictures that you might find quite interesting:





Believe your eyes! -- this is a full fledged workshop, right behind Bel's showroom on Passeig de Gracia. All tebas are made there.

I was for a week in Barcelona -- yet, this time is enough to have one fitting, as these pictures attest.







Bel promised to finish and send the coat in two weeks... and amazingly, they delivered on their promise (which is almost unique in bespoke world... at least, in my experience).

Here is how finished article looks like when worn:



And a few details:









This garment is entirely machine sewn, with hand made finishing details: buttons attached by hand and absolutely all buttonholes are hand-made. Lining (as much as it is there) appears to be attached by hand, too.

Horn buttons go as standard.

Bel claims that Count of Teba went to their shop for a first teba to be made; thus, they can be considered as "inventors" (or at least popularizers) of this type of garment.

Prices for a bespoke teba range from 750 (classic jersey cloth) to 1200 (all cachmere) euros (incl. VAT). 900 euros seem to be median. Tebas can be cut with common notch lapes and rounded front quarters.

Andrey