Tell me about Harris Tweed?

[moustache]

A cryin shame!!!!

Jim

 

[KeyGrip]

That is a shame. I've been looking for a good tweed coat as of late, perhaps I should speed up my search.

 

[Lone_Ranger]

Key Grip,

You may still be in luck. I just ordered a made-to-measure, tweed hacking jacket, from Bookster. Glen plaid, with a few extras. As a hobby I ride horses. I ride English. A guy my size finds it very hard to find suitable riding attire, that doesn't involve western boots, and a 10 gallon hat.

http://www.tweed-jacket.com/

The hard part is the wait. But, I think it will be worth it. I'll keep you posted.

PS- This is my first post here. The last time I went into a bar and tried to order a side car they looked at me like I was crazy, but you have a thread here about them. Single malt scotch, trenchcoats, Film Noir, etc....So I liked the feel of the place.

 

[KeyGrip]

Welcome to the Lounge, Lone Ranger. Thanks for the recommendation, please let us know how you like the final product. I have to say I'm a little intimidated by that site due to my complete lack of knowledge regarding tweed in general, but their cloth gallery is impressive.

 

[Erik]

Looks like it may be time to bump my Tweed items toward the top of my "that's it, I'm buying it" list.

 

[dhermann1]

Historical perspective

Maybe some of you Brits can provide more background on this, but I find it somewhat ironic that an industry (cloth weaving) that was so involved with the destruction of the old Scotish way of life (I'm talking about the pre 1750 era here) should now be lamented as it also passes into history.
That said, I, too, would love to own a real Harris tweed suit or jacket.

 

[bookster1uk]

Demystification

Welcome to the Lounge, Lone Ranger. Thanks for the recommendation, please let us know how you like the final product. I have to say I'm a little intimidated by that site due to my complete lack of knowledge regarding tweed in general, but their cloth gallery is impressive.

Just ask us for some swatches and become acquainted with it FOC, but it can be quite addictive. Our range consists of what we like, there is plenty of rubbish tweed out there,made to a price, we don't offer any of it.
I am expecting our first specially commisioned Harris Tweed any moment, I know its been sent at last, its been a glaring gap in our cloth range, due to the turmoil that has been well reported both on FL and AAAC.We don't rate the easily available patterns and weights.
The first we will offer is our own 'House Check' in both light and heavy weights. Our exclusive HT's are woven in small batches and to order to begin with, so the time element does not only affect our made to order garments, in this case it will be the cloth too. Its not made in some massive mill 'en masse', its very special.
Making this happen has not been easy,the people we are dealing with are wonderful, and the whole exercise feels incredibly worthy. I'll give FL the heads up as soon as I can,

 

[KeyGrip]

Thank you Bookster. How should I request the swatches?

 

[bookster1uk]

swatches

Thank you Bookster. How should I request the swatches?

just go to www.tweed-jacket.com make a note of those of interest and email me personally at bookster1uk@hotmail.com don't forget to mention FL and i'll see to it

Peter

 

[H.Johnson]

I am expecting our first specially commisioned Harris Tweed any moment, I know its been sent at last, its been a glaring gap in our cloth range, due to the turmoil that has been well reported both on FL and AAAC.We don't rate the easily available patterns and weights.
The first we will offer is our own 'House Check' in both light and heavy weights. Our exclusive HT's are woven in small batches and to order to begin with, so the time element does not only affect our made to order garments, in this case it will be the cloth too. Its not made in some massive mill 'en masse', its very special.
Making this happen has not been easy,the people we are dealing with are wonderful, and the whole exercise feels incredibly worthy. I'll give FL the heads up as soon as I can,

Pete,

This is great news! Keep us informed.

 

[Jeephoto]

I picked up a tweed coat at a thrift store nearby and it has a patch inside indicating it is made of "Harris Tweed". I googled Harris Tweed and now know what it is, but was it popular in suits and caps in the 40's?

Does anyone know any background about it? Is it the suit Indiana Jones wore?

Many thanks,
Larry

 

[Mike K.]

http://www.vintagefashionguild.org/...section,6/cat,59/task,view/id,251/Itemid,100/

 

[benstephens]

Hi Larry,

Harris Tweed was very popular in the 1930s and 40s. I have many items froms suits, sports jackets to overcoats and caps all labbelled from the period.

Being a good hard wearing and warm tweed, it suited many in their country piles with no heating.....

Kindest Regards

Ben

 

[Not-Bogart13]

I would say that Harris tweed is the most sought after, and probably the implied tweed that period movies aim for, including Indiana Jones.

 

[dr greg]

can't give it away

It's not sought after round here, I've got at least 4 jackets on my stall, and haven't sold one in years

 

[Marc Chevalier]

They don't have any real cachet anymore. They used to, though.


Years ago, I had the chance to pick up a 1930s Harris tweed suit in a teal blue/cream herringbone. It was beautiful, and only $35.

Why, oh why didn't I buy it? :eusa_doh:


.

 

[Mike K.]

The odd jacket seems easy enough to find. I just want to locate a nice 3-piece suit in my size (at a reasonable price).

 

[Corky]

The history of the Harris Tweed trademark

The history of the Harris Tweed trademark

By the end of the 19th Century, lesser quality tweed fabrics, exploiting the niche created by Harris Tweed and marketed as Harris Tweed, began to appear in the merchant's warehouses. These 'shoddy' cloths, often woven with machine spun yarn from mills as far south as Yorkshire, began to undermine the markets confidence in genuine Harris Tweed.

In 1906 the Harris Tweed Association was formed with the purpose of establishing a trademark to protect the authentic Harris Tweed industry and the livelihoods of the crofters in the Western Isles.

Lengthy consultation concluded with the Harris Tweed Association publishing the following definition for genuine Harris Tweed.

"Harris Tweed means a tweed, hand-spun, hand-woven and dyed by the crofters and cottars in the Outer Hebrides."

The Harris Tweed definition was registered in 1910 and inspectors were employed by the Association to authenticate and stamp, with the registered trademark, all genuine Harris Tweed. The mark consisted of an orb with a Maltese cross on the top of it, with the words Harris Tweed underneath the symbol.

The years following the First World War were prolific for Harris Tweed. To meet the huge demand for the handmade fabric and with hand finishing falling from fashion, tweed producers began to supply machine spun yarn to the crofters and it was not uncommon for tweed to be sent to the mainland for finishing.

In 1934, after much debate, the trademarked definition of genuine Harris Tweed was amended to read,

"Harris Tweed means a tweed made from pure virgin wool produced in Scotland, spun, dyed and finished in Outer Hebrides and hand-woven by the islanders at their own homes in the Islands of Lewis, Harris, Uist, Barra and their several purtenances and all known as the Outer Hebrides."

Thirty years later in 1964, following a dispute between textile manufacturers on the Scottish mainland and producers in the Western Isles of Scotland, a Court of Session ruling re-enforced the 1934 definition of Harris Tweed and made it quite clear that for tweed to be genuine Harris Tweed, all production processes must take place in the Western Isles.

In 1993 an act of parliament, the Harris Tweed Act 1993, established the Harris Tweed Authority as the successor to the Harris Tweed Association, its purpose being "to promote and maintain the authenticity, standard and reputation of Harris Tweed; for preventing the sale as Harris Tweed of material which does not fall within the definition..."

And with this act the following definition of genuine Harris Tweed became statutory.

"Harris Tweed means a tweed which has been hand woven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the islands of Harris, Lewis, North Uist, Benbecula, South Uist and Barra and their several purtenances (The Outer Hebrides) and made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides."

Today, every 50 metres of genuine Harris Tweed are checked by an inspector from the Harris Tweed Authority before being stamped, by hand, with the orb symbol. All tweed men's jackets made from genuine Harris Tweed carry the orb trademark along with a number that enables the Harris Tweed Authority to identify the weaver of the fabric and the date the fabric was finished.

The history of the Harris Tweed trademark

 

[Not-Bogart13]

It's not sought after round here, I've got at least 4 jackets on my stall, and haven't sold one in years

I said they were the most sought after tweed... which is relative to the demand of tweed in the first place.

Got any size 50's looking for a new home?

 

[Jeephoto]

Thanks guys; lot's of good info there.

My coat has a label like this inside it-

And it looks like it was made by a company called Kuppenheimer.

Now the search is on for an Ivy cap to either match or complement the coat.