The Need For Tweed

It's now officially Autumn.....(unofficially every day is an Autumn/Winter day in my house, but that's between me and my thermostat)

There will be those among you who mourn the passing of Summer, with it's BBQ's, Pimms, assorted sporting cappers. But fear not chumrades, because this is preceisly the time of year to dust off that most versatile of garments...
...the tweed jacket!

Now technically speaking, tweed is a very specific fabric, made in a very specific way. However the spirit of this blog has always been to help the modern gentleman get by on a High Street budget. A brand new Harris Tweed jacket can easily set one back a cool £400. Yes, it's a jacket for life, but you I for one can't justify spending on a jacket what I could pay for a second hand car!

We are lucky in that may High Street stores offer a range of tweed-esque jackets at reasonable prices.
Here's a starters for ten from Next and can be found here

It's called herringbone but we shant be picky. It's a solid choice.
It's two buttoned which means it'll hang well if left open but equally won't look too forced if bottoned up. The colour is understated without being boring, and the sloped pockets (and cheeky extra small pocket on the right) give it a modern feel. The good folks at Next have also given you a handkerchief as well, so there's no excuse not to wear one!
It retails for £75.00 which is the higher end of this type of jacket, but the material looks good and and this can be worn with a range of looks and in various situations, so you'll get your money's worth.

Our next offering comes from H&M and can be found after the jump

I'll start brutally, I don't care for this look and the model looks like he needs a decent meal....and some vitamin D
Rant over
The jacket is another faux tweed number, but different from the previous one from Next. This is far more comtemporary and is in keeping with the H&M look and feel.
It's darted so will look fitted without having to be tailored. As I have said before this is great for me, but not if you have a bit of a belly.
The colour is....ok, but unless it's worn with bright colours or you are a naturally bouncy person, it'll wash you out and make you look, well, like this guy.
The pockets have no flap which is a personal preference, but I am old school in this sense and would rather have the flap.
The stiching on the buttons doesn't look too sturdy and I doubt the material is very durable either. That being said, it's made for the club, not the country side.
The only redeeming feature of this jacket is the price. At £34.99 it's half the price of the one from Next.

The last jacket today is from Topman, found here

This is a 'difficult' jacket, which is presumably why the model asked to have his identity hidden!
When I first looked at it I though a derranged canibal had made a jacket from human skin....
The colour is flattering to nobody's skin tone, and the leather pocket adds nothing to the garment. Oh, I've just noticed they added a similar flap on the left lapel. Why? Your guess is as good as mine...maybe they had some material left over? The material is too thin and the pockets are ludicrously large (is he a clown?)
Oh, and it's needlessly short
The only thing I sort of, half, kind of like is the different coloured buttons. But it's a sad day for the sartorial world when 'the button' is the best feature.

If you want to know the price, it's £80.00. Personally you couldn't pay me £80.00 wear this.

I always like to end on a high, so here's a smasher of a jacket from M&S

...proper job!