The market for Harris Tweed jackets must be a strange one to operate in. On the one hand the company that makes the jacket has a brand, be it small or large, well known or maybe not. On the other, the second you decide to make something out of Harris Tweed, you’re taking on a second hugely well known and respected brand name in addition to what you intended to put on the jacket. So much so that it may actually dwarf your own brand name. “Yes, indeed, I am wearing a new jacket, it’s Harris Tweed!”
We’re in a good place now though, with regards to tweed jackets, I mean. The world at large appears to be devolving into a total mess, but Harris Tweed has worked it’s way out of the pit of despair it was in after the ill-fated Haggas efficiency drive. And what a glorious thing that is! Suddenly there are wondrous tweeds woven and splendid garments sewn. There are really three options when it comes to getting into proper tweed jackets, in ascending order of cost:
- Find or inherit a pre-loved one, which isn’t too hard, at the tweed itself is very hard wearing.
- Buy a ready to wear standard sized one.
- Have a tailor measure you up and custom make one for you.
Which brings us round to the jacket up for review today, a ready to wear jacket by Peter Christian. Let me find my box-cutter and join me for the unboxing event!
If you’ve watched the video above, you’ll know the basics of what we’re looking at here. A traditionally styled ready to wear 3-button tweed blazer. 4 pockets on the outside (yes, well done if you heard my error in the video, I realise I counted 4 pockets and then referred to 3 pockets afterwards) and three on the inside. Semi-working cuffs, as in that the cuffs are proper, the buttons are there, the button-holes are sewn, but they need cutting open if you want to unbutton them. The lining is a viscose mix, nice and low friction so the jacket slips on without issue. A button-hole for a sprig of something to make your lapel “pop” is also in place. And it all seems competently made, and while not made in Britain, it is at least made somewhere in the EU.
Gorgeous Harris Tweed jacket with a lovely large checked pattern on the tweed.
What maketh the jacket glorious though is the fabric. The tweed of Harris. And what a wonderful tweed it is! Described by Peter Christian as “marine”, it’s a splendid mix of greens and blues, with a red stripe running through. And it is truly what makes the jacket great. When Brian Haggas cannily reduced the number of patterns to 4, and bland ones at that, he also removed most of the creativity and passion from the fabric. While your more common landscape flavoured tweeds are wonderful in their own right, in the words of a popular wordsmith, “This brings sexy back”, or something to that effect.
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- Walking in the Peter Christian jacket with jeans and brogues.
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- A Harris Tweed jacket somehow always looks right in a natural setting.
Size wise the fit is maybe a little generous, there is definitely room for the matching waistcoat here, and let’s face it, a tight fitting jacket means you’ll be wearing it unbuttoned most of the time. I’d love to get the matching trousers as well, for the full three-piece experience. As it is I reckon it works well fit jeans and brogues as well, for a less obviously fuddy-duddy look (this observation is down to WDW, who is just a little less of a tweed-enthusiast than I am!).
Summary:
For a very reasonable 250 pounds, I reckon this is good value for money and Peter Christian offers up a pretty decent jacket. It’s also available in 3 other variants of Harris tweed and 2 variants of Donegal tweed.
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- Nicely made inside pockets, tidily hand stitched lining.
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- Working 4 button cuffs, as prescribed.
As a long term devotee of Harris tweed jackets I find this rather fascinating. The recent background history of the Harris was very interesting, and the Peter Christian jacket itself is very desirable. Beautiful colours, well fitting, and should last forever. I did find the lack of the Harris tweed label rather puzzling though. When I look at a pre owned tweed jacket, the first thing I look for is the Harris tweed label, as this says ‘ high quality’ to me immediately. Thank you.
I contacted Peter Christian to ask about this and it turned out to be a cock-up at the factory. The Orb label was in the inside pocket of my jacket! Usual practice us of course to have it sewn in place on the inside, as it should be.
I would guess that Peter Christian were not very thrilled at this mistake, but it is good to know the Harris tweed orb will be on any jacket I buy from them. Thank you.
I hope you don’t mind me saying I would have sent it back for a small size, sleeves are a little long for my taste, however, beautiful colour with the jeans and well-presented video cheers g
The joys of being short and stout really. Arms can be shortened on a larger size, but chest can’t be let out on a smaller size. Thanks for the feedback!