Harris or other Heavier Tweeds - Practical?

In the city, working in a heated building, no need for an entire suit made of tweed unless you suffer from chronic chills.
This is where you use your best judgement because only you know your body's needs and limitations.

I have a tweed sports jackets for the winter in 21oz Johnston of Elgin cloth

If you want a tweed jacket for the city to be worn in the autumn and winter, I think 17/18oz would be enough or 20+ if you want it for very cold weather. Do not get a suit in cloth that heavy, I would go for trousers in a lighter cloth (e.g. 16oz).


All depends on your location, you may be able to get away with a heavier cloth in some cities and in others, you it may be too heavy.

J.G. Hardy have Harris available in 13-14 oz. I think a few of the other cloth merchants have "light" weight Harris in the same weight. You might also try P&H Glenroyal, Worsted Alsport, or some of the lighter-weight tweeds from Islay Woollen Mills...

I had a heavy tweed three piece and it was practical to wear in London perhaps one day of the year, and even then, I was hot when I went inside!

It's a shame, because I loved it!


Edited by Ich_Dien - 8/10/11 at 12:00pm

Living in Atlanta pretty much rules out all tweed from a practical standpoint.........

Practically rules out heavy worsteds even.....................................

If it weren't for travel I'd need anything heavier than an 'all season' fabric.......................................

really sucks!

The material is great. I understand your fondness for it. Consider an overcoat and a sportcoat. An entire suit would be too much, both in terms of comfort in the heated office and in terms of appearance.

I think Harris is too loose a weave for trousers. There are some other harder tweeds like cheviot (P&H Glenroyal) that are ok for suits. I like the look and have a brown herringbone tweed suit, but I only wear the full rig about twice a year since it's so heavy.. and I get hot. I wear the jacket as a sport coat more often.

 

 

+1 for the excellent tweed suit Ich_Dien.

Love the fabric. But don't you think the jacket is too short?

With hindsight, yes. It's sold now, anyway.

How do the pants drape after some wear? I am not so sure if the heavy tweed is a nice choice for pants.

Always very crisp in my experience. Problem is, they need to be fully lined, which makes them even hotter!

This is the one thing I really appreciate about heavier cloth; the fall of the material is always much smoother and cleaner than the lighter weight stuff. Also much less prone to wrinkling.