The London Lounge

All - I am having some Harris Tweed odd jackets made up and really liked a few of the solid Harris Tweeds in the book. I've never seen it done but, would it work to have blazers done in in Harris Tweed? I was thinking about the blue and one of the deep greens.

I love so many of the fabrics in this book and want to support this and other traditional Scottish crafts (i.e. real Fair Isle still woven in crofters homes...). I also get cold easily so the heavier carded fabrics will keep me comfortable in our New England weather.

Hold off on the Harris Tweed...if you haven't already begun your jacket

Might want to consider some of the fine Shetland tweed coming out of our own Derby

Harris Tweeds are rarely truly "solid" in colour; I have been told the warp must contain a mandated content of natural coloured fibres. I have some cream herringbone Harris Tweed, 100% undyed, where one can see faint flecks of grey in the warp. It adds to the character I guess. In the 1960's and 70's you could buy a very bold tan (or even burnt orange) Harris Tweed in a solid twill, which was striking and made great sports jackets and overcoats.

For the odd jackets I have chosen herringbone or "broken" herringbone fabrics. The blazer I imagined would be in the blue which, along with the black, appears quite solid even up close. These two very much surprised me given the color requirements for the fabric to be stamped. I considiered one of the greens, in which you can see the multitude of colors in the cloth. However, I think the green may need to be another odd jacket - hunt club or more equestrian in style. I will certainly also give the Shetland tweeds a look.

I suggested the Shetland since I had not even considered them...and I was in the market for a blue Harris Tweed

I have since been won over by the beauty of the Shetland and will consider it for the 2010 Cloth Derby...likely as a shirt jacket

Vonwotan, so you would like a dark blue Harris Tweed odd jacket - fine, but why call it a blazer? I imagine you don't mean to put brass or gilded buttons on it.
On the other hand, I feel that solid dark blue or solid gray are not the most inspired choice for tweed jackets.
So, my suggestion would be: if you want a blazer, have it made in serge or hopsack or other similar cloths; if you want a solid coloured Harris Tweed odd jacket, avoid dark blue and gray. The green sounds interesting!

Costi wrote:Vonwotan, so you would like a dark blue Harris Tweed odd jacket - fine, but why call it a blazer? I imagine you don't mean to put brass or gilded buttons on it.
On the other hand, I feel that solid dark blue or solid gray are not the most inspired choice for tweed jackets.
So, my suggestion would be: if you want a blazer, have it made in serge or hopsack or other similar cloths; if you want a solid coloured Harris Tweed odd jacket, avoid dark blue and gray. The green sounds interesting!

Solid dark blue Harris Tweed may not be suitable for the country but it would make a fine choice, e.g. with cords and moleskins, for a large town or city. Such a jacket should have traditional leather buttons, probably black or dark brown.

Such a jacket would be additional to a traditional navy blue blazer. My preference for blazers are barathea and serge. Green would a second, not main choice. Green blazers are more common in the United States, especially at the Augusta National Golf Club!

Apologies for diverting this thread slightly but - I really appreciate the versatility of the blazer but strongly dislike shiny buttons, especially gold buttons. I have gone for gun metal coloured buttons in the past and what I believe are called annodised (I may very well have got that wrong), but have gone off both of these. What are the alternatives? Is a blazer with horn or plastic buttons just a blue odd jacket?

Scot wrote:Apologies for diverting this thread slightly but - I really appreciate the versatility of the blazer but strongly dislike shiny buttons, especially gold buttons. I have gone for gun metal coloured buttons in the past and what I believe are called annodised (I may very well have got that wrong), but have gone off both of these. What are the alternatives? Is a blazer with horn or plastic buttons just a blue odd jacket?

I have a plain blue hopsack SB (one button) with peak lapels and horn buttons. I consider it to be an odd jacket rather than a blazer.

Scot, you could try mother-of-pearl (blue died, of course).

Costi wrote:Scot, you could try mother-of-pearl (blue died, of course).

IMHO, MOP buttons are more appropriate for lightweight blazers.

I see what you mean, but I would extend the notion of "light" to all but the heaviest of blazer cloths
I think a SB blazer can also take horn buttons very well. The DB version works fine with enamel, if one wants to avoid the "marine" look of shiny metal buttons.