My colleague Sven over at Gentleman’s Gazette put up a great post this week on the quilted jacket.
I’ve got one from Brooks Brothers, and it’s by far the biggest workhorse in my wardrobe. For probably five months of the year it’s worn virtually every day. I wear it for all outdoor excursions around the neighborhood, and wear it into town over a sportcoat when the polo coat or toggle coat would be too much.
Although mine says dry clean only, when necessary I throw it in the laundry (along with my pocket squares, as I recently tweeted), and it develops a gentle fade that way. — CC
With the greatest of respect – Like the Barbour, was this ever a part of the real Ivy League style?
It’s a great jacket for sure. I only wish to wonder if it is classic Ivy? Or is that not the point?
If anything can be consdiered trad on Ask Andy, if it has the right pleasing associations to that demographic, can anything also be Ivy too?
My aim is merely to engage in a conversation here, not to make any confrontational point.
Regards –
“Was this ever a part of the real Ivy League style?” What a curious question to come from England!
“If anything can be consdiered trad on Ask Andy, if it has the right pleasing associations to that demographic, can anything also be Ivy too?”
Of course. Anything can be Ivy in the minds and pages of Marsh & Gaul, if it has the right pleasing associations to their demographic.
A bit more seriously, according to the GG article the item was invented in 1965. No idea when it became popular in the US among people who also wear buttondowns and tassel loafers. Squeeze would probably know.
Christian, Sir, this was a convesation and not a confrontation. I am not English but I do currently live there/here. I have no very great interest in Marsh and Gaul.
Regards –
And I have no very great interest in Ask Andy.
Probably very wise. My interest was just in this game of definitions.
I have asked my question, received my answer from you, and so I will leave you in peace. Thank you.
Regards.
Dear Christian,
I am glad you found our quilted jacket guide noteworthy. It is indeed an item that is often overlooked yet a workhorse.
Thank you for sharign!
I think there’s an interesting poll somewhere in here, measuring how many readers wear strictly vintage or exact replica 1950’s-60’s Ivy League clothes (let’s call them Team “Rules=Holy Writ”) versus how many incorporate such items into an otherwise “modern” (Ralph, Brooks, etc.) wardrobe (Team “I Like Rules But I Also Like That Darted Jacket”)
My feeling is if you’re too busy worrying about whether you’d fit into a Take Ivy photo you’re not having fun, and if you’re not having fun with how you dress you’ve missed the point.
-DCG
The Barbour wax jacket was introduced in the United States as a private label Paul Stuart product.
By the mid 80’s Barbour was running magazine advertising for their own label and really started to gain traction in the early 90’s. Barbour put together a really nice catalog at the time. That along with a small Husky flyer came with my Barbour purchase from that time period.
The Barbour Paul Stuart product was introduced in the 1970’s.
Barbour coats were sold with vigor during my time at J. Press.
Though clearly some men look good in them, I’ve never been quite certain how these quilted jackets fit into a man’s wardrobe when kitted out as the pictured one is. I’m always reminded of a similar one I and many other American boys had in colors of black, maroon, and navy blue (or silver, pink, and aqua for girls) made by Sierra Pacific or Puritan or some other yesteryear coat maker. I have seen some rather attractive ones tailored as sport jackets by an Italian maker with a three-button, notch or peak lapel, patch or flap pocket, etc. style. Those jackets were in neutral colors of tan, grey, and brown. I suppose if one fancies oneself kicking around a paddock, they’re a bit of all right, but then one ventures into the murky area of authenticity, which applies only if one actually has a horse (but let it lay, let it lay). Still, when it comes to the Barbour jackets, I have a memory of an elderly female neighbor whom I saw early one morning wearing a patently new one in that drab green color. As she fancies herself a grande dame of our city, I surmised that she had seen “The Queen” which had just opened that week. Pity she wasn’t stepping out of a Land Rover rather than her S-Class Benz.
Nooooooooooooooooooo.. Guys, quilted jackets are for girls, please stop…
Yes Bebe, I hear you. Like negotiating the tough terrain on Lexington Ave wearing Welly’s? I’ve seen it. Quilted jackets, not unlike the Bedale Barbour, look best on the ladies.
The Barbour Coats I bought for Squeeze were NOT quilted.
I have both the green waxed Barbour Beaufort and a navy Barbour Lisdale. Barbour quilted jackets look great and are appropriate for both men and ladies.
Christian, you need to get a life.
I don’t give a fig as to whether these jackets are “Ivy Style” or not. I have half a dozen of them that I wear them pretty much non-stop during cool-to-cold weather. Most of the men in the Park Avenue Investment Bank where I work long ago dispensed with wearing heavy overcoats (as did I) and wear quilted jackets over their suits to the office. Workday, weekend, whatever, they are a versatile and handsome jacket with just enough sportif to make one’s step just that bit more jaunty on a cold morning. Reggie
Quilted jackets are a clever marketing trick. Cheap material suitable for a granny’s dressing gown , but change the colour from pink to sludge green or navy and you can flog it as part of the Country Life outfit.
When I was a teenager there was a crazy fat lad who wore one of these quilted jackets. People made fun of his jacket and I suppose it’s because of this that these jackets carry a stigma of uncoolness in my mind. I wouldn’t wear one even if they shot me.
Quilt by association indeed!
“When I was a teenager there was a crazy fat lad who wore one of these quilted jackets. People made fun of his jacket and I suppose it’s because of this that these jackets carry a stigma of uncoolness in my mind. I wouldn’t wear one even if they shot me.”
Widmerpool?
@Reggie Darling
When men on Park Avenue decided to dispense with wearing heavy overcoats, they were simply participating in the destruction of Western Civilization.
@AWaspySoutherner
Going on a blog on a Friday night to anonymously tell the blogger he needs to get a life suggests you could use one, too.
Men in quilted jackets on Park Avenue represent the destruction of Western Civilization?
I’d hate to think what hooded sweatshirts on the “Jeopardy” college tournament signify.
Christian,
Re: “I’d hate to think what hooded sweatshirts on the “Jeopardy” college tournament signify.”
They represent what is left after civilization has been destroyed.
No quilted jacket here. http://img.ahawallpaper.com/raw/dc0/john-wayne-122275.jpg
@ Grumpy and Christian:
Physicians and patients used to look like this; now they both look like those Jeopardy contestants:
http://scottthornbury.files.wordpress.com/2013/03/doctor-patient.jpeg
@WaspySoutherner
As someone pushing 60 who is not predisposed to love BlogWorld, I disagree. First, it takes energy, thought and creativity to do what Mr. Chensvold does here. Second, if he succeeds in causing a single young man to dress like an adult with taste, he’s done this country (and young women) a big favor. Third, while the back and forth gets a bit uncivil at times, if you look beyond that, the commentary here is very well informed and participants are people who actually read.
Finally, that said, I would never wear a quilted jacket; it looks like the stuff they use in military aircraft to suppress noise.
PS: One last important point: This site is excellent in directing the reader to other sites where there is a real wealth of information about tailoring, manufacturing, style and the business of retailing. I’ve been interested in cloths almost my entire adult life and I’ve learned more in a year and a half of following this blog than in the whole of the previous time. I don’t always agree with our host, but it takes guts and a thick skin to put yourself “out there.” That should be recognized and appreciated by followers and, I think, by and large, it is.
For trendy ninnies. Preferred outerwear of sodomites everywhere.
Comment by Grumpy — March 2, 2013 @ 9:44 am
@Reggie Darling
When men on Park Avenue decided to dispense with wearing heavy overcoats, they were simply participating in the destruction of Western Civilization.
———-
Amen, Grumpy!
I can appreciate a good quilted jacket…but only if it’s made of wool or some other organic fiber. The shiny technical fabric comes across as cheap, in my opinion.
Just remebered this:
http://www.ivy-style.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/fe2.jpg
Quilty as charged.
At my school, Beauforts and Bedales are more common than the quilted jackets are. Every girl has a Burberry quilted, but only a few boys have quilteds, and they’re usually Barbour down vests. An olive Liddesdale was actually passed down to me a few years ago, but it looks sort of awkward on me unless it’s buttoned closed and I have my hands in the pockets. I think the wool or some other natural fiber looks more… natural.
Reggie, what colors do you have? Six jackets is certainly enough 😉
Whether one dresses in Ivy fashion or not, it should be stylish. It seems to me like many who try too hard to copy a certain look or check their tie knot every five minutes are almost never perceived as elegant or stylish but rather self centered.
Christian, who makes that jacket you’re wearing in the link you posted?
They look perfectly fine on the beaters, dog handlers and game keepers.