The well-cho­sen tweed jack­et in the clos­et is nev­er a waste of space. Tweed (wool) is a tex­tile that breathes while reg­u­lat­ing warmth, is sus­tain­able and giv­en that they are tra­di­tion­al­ly hand­craft­ed are quite unique. Tweed (sport) jack­ets are tai­lored for indi­vid­u­als, and are often lit­er­al­ly one-of-a-kind. The wide vari­ety of tex­tile choic­es (col­or, design, etc.) and jack­et styles make for pieces that are unre­peat­able. For exam­ple, there are over 4,000 reg­is­tered tar­tan designs in Scot­land, where tweed originated.

Tweed is a hardy, woolen cloth that emerged in Scot­land out of avail­able mate­r­i­al but also the unique spir­it and tra­di­tion­al cul­tur­al struc­tures. Tweed was and con­tin­ues to be a blend of util­i­ty, mean­ing and the expres­sion of val­ues.  The threads are spun after they are dyed, so the fibers are a rich mix of col­or that ren­der a rich and speck­led appear­ance. The threads are then worked into dif­fer­ent weave pat­terns such as sol­id, twill, her­ring­bone, hound­stooth, and tartan.

Despite the cre­ative ele­ments of the design and con­struc­tion process, the tweed jack­et is often worn for out­door activ­i­ties (even full on sport!) because the cloth is so durable and water resis­tant.  Accord­ing to the Har­ris Tweed Author­i­ty, tweed is known as the “cham­pagne of tex­tiles”. Tweed stands alone as being ver­sa­tile, durable, and still a mea­sure of class!

Har­ris Tweeds are one of the most high­ly respect­ed tweeds on the mar­ket. They are made from 100% pure Scot­tish wool and hand woven local­ly by weavers. Fac­to­ries are almost non-exis­tent as this work is often done in domi­ciles. Every weaver is high­ly skilled, reg­is­tered by the Har­ris Tweed Author­i­ty, and locat­ed on the Out­er Hebrides in Scot­land. Using this cloth is an excel­lent exam­ple of sus­tain­abil­i­ty and patron­age of authen­tic craft and arti­san skill. 

In the past, most of my tweed gar­ments were cre­at­ed from Dug­dale Brother’s tweed. Dug­dale tweeds are also an excep­tion­al British prod­uct, eth­i­cal­ly made and adhere to REACH reg­u­la­tions.

My next project that I would like to share with you is my long red plaid tweed coat made with a Har­ris Tweed tar­tan. Last sum­mer I was lucky to meet with Har­ris Tweed sup­pli­ers from Scot­land. Their plaids and plain weaves are breath­tak­ing! They pos­sess a rich­ness in tex­ture and col­or that I do not often see in tex­tiles, and I work with them every day! I might have pur­chased all the tweeds on dis­play, but this red and brown tar­tan caught my eye. One glance at it and you will see why.

The women’s jack­et is made with 100% pure Scot­tish wool Har­ris Tweed. The design is long, dou­ble breast­ed with real leather but­tons. The cuffs and pock­ets are made with soft lamb leather from France. Inside the jack­et, I used a mix­ture of silky ray­on and mat­te ten­cel. Ten­cel is used to add a bit more weight and warmth to the coat.

Tar­tan is often referred to as plaid; or approached in fash­ion in sim­i­lar terms. When is it appro­pri­ate to wear plaid? How does one choose it? Tar­tan designs are explic­it­ly linked to a his­tor­i­cal past, but are shared, cel­e­brat­ed, and worn by every­one and in every cir­cum­stance. Tweed has a rep­u­ta­tion for dura­bil­i­ty. But when made into tar­tan and plaid designs, one gets the best of both worlds: a jack­et that works for you and is also a work of art! Choos­ing col­or and a par­tic­u­lar weave or plaid design can be moti­vat­ed by many dif­fer­ent rea­sons, and none of them are wrong. Tweed is an exam­ple of fash­ion that doesn’t need rules!

Plaid and tar­tan designs come in a myr­i­ad of col­or schemes, and many peo­ple have coats that play well with sea­son­al moods and even make-up and eye col­or. They con­tin­ue to have ties to fam­i­ly his­to­ries, and some choose designs and col­ors to feel close to ancestry.

Plaid can also be a way to wear col­ors that oth­er­wise do not flat­ter a per­son or col­ors that are worn to sup­port teams and orga­ni­za­tions. Red is some­times a dif­fi­cult col­or to wear despite being so attrac­tive on its own. A plaid that mix­es red with more neu­tral tones makes for a stun­ning solu­tion, espe­cial­ly for a woman’s work jack­et. (Men should not have the monop­oly on red any­more.) Plaids are also a great option for those who pre­fer unique and dis­tinct sep­a­rates that often do not match, which is often a more fem­i­nine inter­pre­ta­tion of pro­fes­sion­al fash­ion. (This is tak­ing over the bridal world as well!)

The advan­tage of work­ing with a cus­tom tai­lor or cou­ture dress­mak­er is that he or she has the knowl­edge and resources to make your search for a tweed jack­et full of infi­nite pos­si­bil­i­ties. The jack­et will be made to fit, but even the details will be yours, an expres­sion of things impor­tant to you that excite love and confidence!

Shop jack­et on Ana­gras­sia web­site: Long red tweed plaid jacket 

Long Red Wool Jacket Details:

Red 100% Har­ris Tweed Tar­tan Plaid Wool

Real Gen­uine Lamb Leather from France for Sleeve Cuffs and Pockets

Real Leather Buttons

Dou­ble Breasted

Ankle Length

Bespoke Tai­lored Col­lar and Lapels

Ful­ly Lined with mix of silky ray­on and Tencel.

(I used Ten­cel for the low­er half of the jack­et, so it would add more weight and warmth to the jacket.)

Things I would change for future jackets:

I would make the real leather pock­ets small­er and place them in a dif­fer­ent spot. They pop out a bit with the large open­ing at the waistline.

The bot­tom of the jack­et tapers in a bit. In the future, I will keep the seams straight with the grainline.

Atelier sewing plaid jacket behind the scenes:

Shop jack­et on Ana­gras­sia web­site: Long red tweed plaid jacket