Topic 2; Economy of Tweed; How to be a good customer

[YoungLawyer]

Following the tailcoat, my attention has now turned to tweed. I'm trying to think of the combination of tweed that I would get the very most use out of, and keep the cost down. I would expect to be able to wear tweed in a variety of situations; shooting, following a hunt, as a hacking jacket, being presentable in the country, and as an odd jacket in the city in winter. I certainly couldn't afford enough tweed for a dedicated outfit for each situation. Is it possible to think of an affordable combination that would allow a relatively young chap to be well turned out in each of those situations.
What about having a four piece suit made from a relatively lightweight tweed (say 15-16oz). Jacket with single vent, slanting pockets, three buttons and strongly waisted (like a hacking jacket); waistcoat; high waisted trousers with single pleats; and high waisted plus twos with double pleats. It wouldn't be a dedicated coat for shooting, but if it were cut with small armholes, surely there would be enough movement. True, it wouldn't have reinforced shoulders, but I don't know many people who actually do wear out their tweeds... Has anyone done anything similar?


On another topic, how is it possible ensure you improve the fit of the coat at a fitting? My experience with the tailcoat was that I didn't notice an issue with the cut until after I'd taken it away. In that case it was the size of the armholes, which I'm very annoyed with myself for not correcting at the time, as it is the sole thing that detracts from what is an otherwise stunning coat. How do you manage to check the fit - is there a way you can hint to your tailor that the armholes (or anything else) should be altered. How do you check different postures. If something has gone wrong, what do you do about it?

[Costi]

YL, you may not want a very slim-fitting tweed coat, particularly if you want to be able to wear it with a waistcoat, too (or a pullover). You might also do the plus twos and/or the waistcoat in a different tweed - they look nice when mixed well. Versatility will greatly depend on your choice of tweed.
If it can happen to your tailor to miss something, you can hardly blame yourself. The first fitting is mostly for the tailor's eyes anyway, perhaps only "experienced" customers are able to make any useful judgments at that stage. The first 2-3 coats with a tailor are a bit of calibrating work, like the first pancakes you fry. This doesn't mean they are sacrificed, but the following ones should be much better if the tailor works well. It's more effective when you both have a reference rather than speak in the abstract or on a drawing.

[Simon A]

I am not sure you can have one coat do everything effectively. A hacking jacket should be fine for the hunt, for country wear, and for weekends in the city if you felt like it, but it can be a bit tricky wielding a firearm with such a close fitting garment, especially when making snap shots. Action backs are a great help in shooting jackets in my opinion, either two deep pleats over the shoulders or one deep pleat up the middle of the back. Action backs look odd on town jackets and your city friends may keep asking you where your elephant gun is.

[A.Hacking]

YL,
I would love to see how this project comes off as I have something similar in mind for myself. My suspicion is that depending on the type of shooting it might be asking a bit much from one coat. If it is early season walked-up partridge or grouse one might be able to get away with a coat that would still look good in town as an odd jacket. If, however, one is shooting big driven pheasant days in the UK in January and carrying gloves, hip flask, ear defenders, and need to be able to stuff pockets full of cartridges then it may be better keeping the suit coat for post-shoot drinks and investing in a specialised shooting coat that will accommodate the bits-and-bobs and keep the weather out by having more options for storm-cuffs, action-backs, high collars etc.

Have you considered a solid-colour melton for the waistcoat, perhaps picking up a colour from an overcheck on the tweed?

Don't forget to order enough cloth to make a couple of caps as well - the finishing touch!

[YoungLawyer]

Thank you for your replies. That's an interesting point about the fittings - it suggests that despite all this knowledge of what looks good and works well, we as customers are still very passive during the most important part of the process. I'm not really happy with that idea, and rather wish that I'd been able to see that potential problem coming. I knew from the start that small armholes and a quiet collar were important, but seem to have failed with that part of my commission, in spite of how well it looks overall.

The idea with the tweed suit is to work out what would have the most use; not necessarily together. For instance, tweed trousers/+twos and waistcoat could be worn with an odd shooting coat found off the peg, but then the same trousers could be worn with a jacket made to match. What about smart wear beagling as well as shooting? Perhaps just a hacking jacket and matching trousers (could see service for shooting in lieu of plus twos?) would be the minimum, with a coordinating waistcoat (ede and r do very good off-the-peg offerings), and an unmatching tweed shooting coat.

[Simon A]

If worried about the bottoms of regular tweed trousers becoming wet or muddied while hunting, do as the army does. A heavy duty rubber band facilitates the blousing of the trousers over the top of your high top hunting boots and keeps them out of the way of 95 % of the slush. A good brush, sponge and a hang at the end of a day's hunting will keep them tidy.