It’s long been said that Yankee frugality dictates that men hang on to their clothes, repair them as necessary, and pass them on to their progeny.
Somehow I got hold of one when the owner wasn’t looking. It bears witness to the values of Ivy style: quality, smartness, practicality, longevity, thrift, stability. Custom made in the ‘40s by Langrock, then New Haven’s finest Ivy haberdasher (though more closely associated with Princeton, Langrock was originally founded in New Haven), the jacket’s superbly tailored tweed is hardy enough to deflect cannonballs.
Chamois suede piping, a rustic nod to military dress, adorns the collar, pockets and sleeve cuffs. The effect is striking yet within bounds. Frayed buttonholes, suede edges and linings have all been carefully resewn, patched up and replaced. Decades later the jacket’s original owner passed it on to his son, as evidenced by both men’s names on separate cloth labels.
Outmoded? On the contrary: still in the race. Patched up? Better to say well cared for. Hand-me-down? Yes, but in the best sense: bequeathed in love and inherited in gratitude. Most recently, by me. — MARC CHEVALIER
Great tweed, and a great piece o writing. Very well done.
great jacket–well worth hanging on to and preserving-great commentary too.
max
That may be the coolest knit tie I have ever seen.
I don’t know which is worse: the color, the cut, the piping, or the tie?
You’ll have to choose one of the three, Strictly Trad. Can’t get away with indecision.
Or one of the four, rather.
Catcher,
If I were forced to choose, the piping is definitely the worse feature of this jacket: citified cowboy-styule, at the very best.
Next worse is the color, by all means!
Catcher (and All),
My humble apologies for spelling “worst” as “worse” and “style” as “styule”.
Bad glasses rather than illiteracy, I assure you.
I dig the piping.
Seriously guys. That jacket may not be trad, but it’s really fantastic. Picture it in the country on the weekend witha flask in one pocket and a hunting rifle under the arm. Just because its unique and a little unusual doesn’t mean its crazy.
I’d wear that.
I think the piping is a nice change of pace. It’s good to color outside the lines sometimes.
I find it rather entertaining how worked up one man can get over another man’s jacket. It’s not as if it were some shiny piece of alpha sized ectomorphic ersatz Italianesque tailoring in lame’ being sold out of Nordstrom’s or Macy’s these days and marketed towards the Gentle-thug market along with gold pyramid studded “house loafers” in crushed velvet.
The jacket is sound, the style is simple, it appears to be sack cut, and leather bound edging on country clothing has a long and storied past. The color is interesting, if not necessarily conventional, and for a custom piece, the owner and his descendants, and now Marc, had and continue to have every right to appreciate it for what it is. A unique country garment which is just unique and interesting enough to let one’s fellows know that it was not purchased off the rack, and to imply everything else which that unspoken message holds within itself.
The piping also would look nice, especially the collar piping if the collar were turned up, which it’s sublime proportions would indeed allow, and for that stand up collar to be worn much as a mandarin collar on old uniforms was worn.
Thanks for posting this up, Marc! You always have the most interesting things! Also, that tie really is pretty much Perfect! I like the jacket as well! Please keep the fascinating posts coming!
nice
Marc,
A few questions; how many buttons on those cuffs; functional or not, and regular or hooked vent, and what sort of lining, and in what color? One more question, while we’re at it; what sort of tweed do you think that is? Saxony wool, Cheviot wool, Harris? You said it was practically bullet proof, so that discounts Shetland which is too soft to be described thusly.
Evan:
Two-button cuffs, functional; hooked vent, as I recall; rayon twill lining in dark tan. A hardy Shetland wool whose nap has worn off over time. Gingery color.
April Fool’s Day came early this year.
I would vote for that piped flap on the
chest pocket as the least attractive
element.
To me the pockets should be flapped or patch flap
for two reasons:
1. To match the chest pock
2. I hate patch pockets.
Otherwise a great jacket.
M. Chevalier,
C’est absolument horrible.
Ok first of all from the historical point of view this is a stunning piece of tailoring and clearly very well loved and taken care of for the last couple of decades. When it comes to style, I understand this is not for everybody but this is meant to be a country jacket and the leather piping , the buttons and the color is reflecting that. Personally I would not dare to wear in town but traversing around the country, no problem whatsoever.
It’s a great jacket made even better with the surrounding history and significance.
Thanks for sharing Marc!
I wonder if Minimalist Trad is really an AKA of Strictly Trad, much like AEV, and VEA? They seem so very similar in tone and style…. 😉
Once again, see my comments above about people getting so worked up about another man’s jacket.
Marc,
Thanks for answering my questions, and sincerely, thanks for sharing this unique and fascinating time capsule of a jacket! It’s really wonderful to see how truly broad and adventurous the style and its adherents were at one point, before things began to fossilize…
That jacket really is a rare gem!
Evan Everhart,
I can assure you that I am not Strictly Trad, though, as my sobriquet indicates, like him, I think that Ivy/Trad style is understated, rather than “adventurous”.
I was unable to understand the AEV – VEA reference; could your explain?
Thanks in advance.