It may be the wrong time of year to be thinking about jackets, hunting, or hunting jackets, but we can’t help ourselves. Archival reader Burhan sent us some shots of his new-to-him Duxbak, to which he wisely added wool knit cuffs (an Archival favorite) and a few inside pockets.
My father found a great old Drybak at a Eugene garage sale. If I get wool cuffs put on, I hope to use it duck hunting this winter, but in the meantime it’s entrusted to a farrier friend‘s safekeeping. Note the heavy construction and Binghamton, NY origin – that’s our pal Matt‘s hometown.
Classic Dana Designs Bomb Pack from eBay (Mine is also purple, but a slightly different colorway)
I always think of the Dana Designs packs which were called “Blurple” – a cheerful hue lurking somewhere between blue and purple – as being my favorite color ever for technical baggage. Since those aren’t available aside from eBay, here’s a wide range of purple goods that have been catching my eye recently.
Gorgeous Skookum crew neck sweater. Japan-only, of course.
Tom’s report: I love thrifting because there’s no common denominator of quality like you see at fancy vintage stores or high end (and high priced) flea markets. Usually when I go through the outerwear at the thrift stores in Eugene, it’s just a fuzzy cake of cheap polar fleece. But when I was in town last month, a sliver of hunter green caught my eye between the day-glo layers, and I pulled out a immaculate condition HuntingWorld jacket.
Though the jacket looks waxy, it’s actually made with a 60/40 fabric treated with a polyamid finish.
Both collar and cuffs are lined in best quality corduroy.
Raglan sleeve construction – ostensibly for freedom of movement in the field.
Deep bellows pockets. Not wild about the velcro, although I admit to liking the elastic gathering.
Heavy duty, two way YKK zipper.
Partial wool lining with internal drip strip (ala Barbour Bedale).
eBay is the best place to find quality Hunting World items – we’re most fond of the Battue luggage series and our beloved deadstock khakis. I really enjoy browsing the random sampling of deadstock and used Hunting World artifacts on eBay…. here’s what showed up in the net during the last trawl:
Dry Bones is a terrific clothing company out of Tokyo, Japan. While their primary focus is on denim, Dry Bones also makes beautiful, 50’s inspired outerwear. My favorite is this insulated, wool tweed car coat (google unreliably translates the model name as “Pharaoh“). I love the two-tone flecked wool, exposed 2-way zip and knit ribbed collar and cuffs. The inside of the coat looks as stylish as the outside. This is one of those pieces that absolutely looks like it has been shopped from past.
The FWK Engineered Garments Bedford is one of my (Lesli’s) favorite jackets. While the fabric changes each season, the cut, detail and fit remain the same. It’s July and I’m wearing a Bedford in slub linen. But I’m already looking forward to the corduroy version which will be available in August. As we’ve noted before, the Bedford brings to mind the Archival Clothing party doctrine that any garment in a line should be available in any fabric. Here’s the Bedford in linen:
Simple patch pocketing
Unstructured form
Scaled to fit women, the Bedford duplicates the styling of the gent’s version
Civilizing detail: spare buttons in two sizes
ST modeling a size 2 FWK Engineered Garments Bedford
Editor’s note: it’s never too early to start planning your Fall wardrobe. I’m already mentally packing up the linens and breaking the corduroy. London blogger Jim Green of Modern Day Hunting writes about his obsession with British workwear company, Old Town Clothing. If you’re inspired by Jim’s report to order something from OTC, start the process now as it takes 4-6 weeks to complete.
After recently hearing me waxing lyrical about my favourite clothes maker – OldTown, Archival Clothing have kindly asked me to give a customer review of some of their items. Living in London UK it is of course easier for me to travel up to their Norfolk showroom to get items fitted and made for me. So hopefully this might help you make a decision on giving them a try if you are not UK based.
I first heard about OldTownin 2009 via some random person on the street asking me if the French workwear jacket I had on was from OldTown, it wasn’t, but later that night I decided to google them to find out more. After finding them it felt like it was my lucky day, a place where I could buy all the clothes I had imagined I would like but simply had no idea where to source them from.
I spent many hours perusing the site but simply couldn’t decide what to get – my main concern was sizing. They make their clothes to order so not quite like buying from a shop normally although they do cater for returns. So after much deliberation I plumped for a safe bet and ordered a straight edge waistcoat (vest to you US folks) in engineer’s navy stout cotton twill. Size wise I was unsure, I am usually a 38 so stuck to that. All of OldTown‘s items are made to order, you choose the size and fabric, pay either via the phone or the online ordering form. For overseas you will need to email first to discuss shipping etc. Their turnaround time for garment delivery is approximately 4-6 weeks. For me half the charm of buying from them is the wait.
Four weeks later the waistcoat arrived, it fitted great, the waistcoats are slightly fitted so if you want a looser fit go up a size maybe. I was now officially hooked. I managed to plan in a trip up to the showroom a few months later with a rough idea of what I was after, upon arrival and seeing all the clothes on display I immediately got flummoxed…too many nice things. Their items are all pretty much spot on size-wise. I have quite a few pieces from them now and have been ordering a few times a year for spring and winter bits. Instead of giving an extensive list here’s a few items that are worth considering and I will try to give enough info for if you wanted to order from overseas without trying on first.
Overall Jacket – This is a sure fire winner and possibly my favourite garment from them. The fit is fairly boxy but not in a big baggy way, it looks good. I would safely say you can feel confident that your own normal jacket size is going to fit, but please discuss it with the ever helpful Marie either via phone or email if you have concerns. They don’t do different sleeve lengths unless you go to the showroom specifically and get measured, mine measures 24.5 inches from the top of the shoulder to the cuff, I didn’t have the sleeves adjusted that’s how they came. However bear in mind my jacket has been washed once, I have had it for a few years now so take my arm measurement as a very rough indication of size. I would say you could safely order your normal jacket size with no sleeve adjustment and the fit would be good, this one is in grey stout twill. For the other jackets in their range the same rule applies but do bear in mind that some are more fitted than others. I own two Stanley jackets in 38 also, they are a slimmer fit but still fit me well.
Jim’s Dreadnoughts collection
Dreadnoughts – These are great trousers, the first pair I got was in the tan corduroy, I liked them so much that I ordered a pair in biscuit twill about a month later. I just recently got some summer lightweight 10oz denim ones as well. Waist size wise they are spot on. they all come as a standard 32 inch leg. If you are worried about leg length then get them as they are and have them tailored yourself so that the fit is right, I wear turn ups on the cotton ones so it’s not a problem. They are super comfy and sit fairly high up on the waist. All the OldTown stuff improves with age, these are no exception. They also have a rather novel fastening which I now prefer to the normal button fly. Shape wise they are quite loose down the leg but fitted around the waist. I also own some high rise, all their trousers are exact on their waist sizes so order with confidence.
If you can ever fit in a visit to the UK and to OldTown I recommend it highly, just ensure you know exactly what you want before you get there or else you will come out with twice as many items as you intended! Do factor in some extra time to wander around the town of Holt and also the surrounding area and coastline, it’s a lovely place.
I’m always shopping for a jacket to complete my archival uniform. My preferred jacket possesses indoor-outdoor utility. It needs to be unlined w/open patch pockets and a high buttoning neck. Chore coats, forestry cloth cruisers and and engineer’s jackets work OK from Fall through Winter. But in Spring/Summer, I want something made from a summerweight fabric like cotton poplin or linen. Last year, I experimented with Safari jackets but could not pull off the belted waist and epaulets (epaulets should just disappear for a decade).
This Spring, I’m testing a Mister Freedom Biribi linen jacket. Based on French military work garb, the Biribi is constructed of new old stock French linens and vintage hardware and trims. The Biribi is one of the few work jacket styles that are being marketed to both men and women; it comes in sizes down to a slim 34. If you are interested in the jacket, email the helpful folks at Mister Freedom to check on availability.
Aspirational layering (zippers, webbing, waxed cotton and wool)
For a little winter cheer, I’m reprinting pages from my favorite Barbour print catalog from the early 1990s. Compared to current offerings, the catalog presents a minimalist collection of jackets. Each has a specific, distinctive feature making it unique to the line. Once you memorize this catalog you’ll be able to distinguish between models based on fabric weight (light or heavyweight waxed cotton), lining (wool or cotton), pocketing (size, type and placement), length and snap gusseting (none, double or single). Synthetics are non-existent save for the quilted waistcoats and shooting jackets meant to be worn as jacket liners. The catalog’s visual presentation of the product line is exemplary. Female models are mixed into the story world without overly feminizing their looks. Almost every jacket is paired with a signature bag and breed of dog. For instance, I’m thrilled to see that the Moorland, a Barbour favorite, gets the Weimaraner treatment. Sadly, many of my favorite, more exotic models have disappeared from view including the Solway Zip, Longshoreman smock, Northumbria and Spey wading jacket. Let’s see if we can pester Barbour into bringing a few back in broader size range.
Take a look.
An all time favorite
The pockets on the Border are vast
Proposing a Barbour reissue in sizes down to XXS
Synthetic exceptions
I’d like to recreate this bag tangle with my own collection
Military service runs in my family. My father was a colonel in the Army and my sister attended the Air Force Academy. I toyed with the idea of attending a service academy but doubted my ability to survive past the day they outfit you with your uniform. I might have reconsidered military school if I could have enrolled in the Life Photo Archive version of Sandhurst military academy. I love the bookish style and striped blazers of the Sandhurst cadets. And who wouldn’t want to spend their school days playing chess, pedaling bicycles in formation or jumping motorcycles by horseback?
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