1968 Brioni travel jacket, and travel jacket ideas.

I'm looking for pictures of the above. Apparently it had some 16 pockets. If it's the one I've once seen it even had a little adjustable loop to help keep a folded newspaper in place in one of the hip pockets.

I saw a wonderful bolt of rough, heavy linen at my tailor, so I'm planning something of that sort -- inspiration would be gratefully received. At the moment I'm thinking three-button, four patch pockets, but with the left chest one at an angle (as in the Barbour International jacket, say) and with a buttoned flap. Single-button cuffs. Shirt-set sleeves. Quite a few internal pockets of course, some with zippers. Ideas/opinions?

This is a bad iphone shot of the cloth:

Aha, this is a Timothy Everest copy of Brioni's travel jacket:



And here is a ladies' version:



Some interesting ideas there. I love the superimposed patch pockets, though one has to be careful with adding too many bells and whistles.



radicaldog said:

I'm looking for pictures of the above. Apparently it had some 16 pockets. If it's the one I've once seen it even had a little adjustable loop to help keep a folded newspaper in place in one of the hip pockets.
I saw a wonderful bolt of rough, heavy linen at my tailor, so I'm planning something of that sort -- inspiration would be gratefully received. At the moment I'm thinking three-button, four patch pockets, but with the left chest one at an angle (as in the Barbour International jacket, say) and with a buttoned flap. Single-button cuffs. Shirt-set sleeves. Quite a few internal pockets of course, some with zippers. Ideas/opinions?
This is a bad iphone shot of the cloth:

Click to expand...

I really like the idea of the barbour slanted pocket on a jacket, and hope you go through with it. Some Barbours also have a pocket on the seat of the jacket, which might something to consider. Or maybe if you have the jacket made with two vents, a pocket sewn onto the center flap in the lining. Excited to see how this turns out



NotoriousMarquis said:

I really like the idea of the barbour slanted pocket on a jacket, and hope you go through with it. Some Barbours also have a pocket on the seat of the jacket, which might something to consider. Or maybe if you have the jacket made with two vents, a pocket sewn onto the center flap in the lining. Excited to see how this turns out

Click to expand...

Cheers. the game pocket in the back of Barbours isn't ideal for a sportcoat, as I see it: the weight would pull the collar back and compromise the fit. And I was thinking of doing centre vent, mainly because it's linen (side vents tend to crease unflatteringly in that cloth). I confess that I'm not very good at posting my clothes here (just shy), though I've left the odd photo here and there. Might make an exception with this since it's an experimental design. Here is a rough sketch I just made for the tailor's use:



I'm still unsure about some details and I'm seeing the tailor on Friday afternoon, so if any suggestions will be gratefully received. For instance, the slanted breast pocket could have just a little button tab instead of a flap, otherwise it may be too symmetrical wrt the phone pocket. Or maybe I should lose the latter entirely -- one weird thing may well be enough. Thoughts?

http://www.mrporter.com/product/319247
Chest pocket like this one ?

Orvis has some ridiculously over the top travel jacket that might inspire some ideas. It has a very different feel than what you're going for, but who knows ...

What are you doing for the back? Two side cinches? Half belted design? Nothing? I sort of like the idea of a half belted design, at the very least.

Not sure if I like the design of the flaps on the two examples you posted better, or your design. I lean towards the ones posted. Here are two examples of Will's shirt jackets, which I've been finding very inspiring lately. They each have different flap designs: one and two

If it's possible, I would ask for a zippered internal pocket. Travel jackets sometimes get thrown around if you're taking them on and off at airports, and it's nice to have one pocket that you can be sure will always secure your most important documents.

Hm, other than that, I think I'd prefer a less unconventional buttonhole on the sleeves.

As a frequent traveler, I find this project really exciting. Keep us posted, please.

Until recently, Sartoriale on EBay had been selling a Brioni travel jacket. It was if I remember tweedy in nature. Can't seem to find the listing right now on my damn IPhone. Maybe try contacting him see if he'd send you his photos.

Great concept. I think your choice of fabric gives you greater flexibility to experiment.

I like Dieworkwear's suggestions for a half belted back and zippered internal pockets. But I would have no more than two internal zippers and two internal pockets with simple button flaps.


On the front, why not move the button flap phone pocket into the hip pocket with just an inch or so sticking out? I think it will hang better than if it is attached to the outside patch. (Barbera has a small patch pocket within a patch for a phone and it works very well). You will still see it and it will be easy to access.

On further thought, I think mohair or fresco might be better than linen. They'll hold their shape better, especially on those ridiculously long flights where you have to make connections and take taxis or trains afterwards.

I think the "cell phone" pocket might also do better inside, just in case you travel to one of those countries with tons of pick pockets. Of course, if you are in those countries, I suppose you can always just be wise and move your cell phone to your internal pockets, but it seems like it's better to just always have it more secured. At the very least, I agree with pocketsquareguy's suggestion - it would probably hang better if it were inside the patch pocket. If you feel like that ruins the "unique" look of this design, perhaps you can change the hip pockets into bellow pockets, and maybe split one up into two compartments. Lots of ideas to play around with ...

I'd also make one of the internal pockets big enough to hold a rolled up magazine or small book. Sometimes those things can be a pain to carry around if you don't have your briefcase. Though, I don't know how that would affect the drape of the jacket. Probably not good for it.

A good clip of Colonel John Blashford-Snell, to provide more inspiration.

If you can somehow do it, designing in some kind of hidden hood would also be quite smart, in case you arrive to a city and it's pouring.

There are a bunch of pictures of Mr. Blashford-Snell in other adventurer suits on the internet. Might be worth Googling around.

The more I think about this, the more I think I would do away with the overly creative pockets, and just stick to something truly functional and smart looking. Perhaps

• Half belted, action back, perhaps also with pleats on the back.
• Two internal zippered pockets. One to hold important documents, so that the Russian or Nigerian authorities can't throw you in prison and beat you up for not having papers. The other to hold coins, since many countries operate more on coin currencies than paper.
• One internal pocket for an iPod, one for a cell phone.
• Three or four patch pockets on the outside. Two at the hips could be bellowed with flaps. The one at the breast could be turned, in the way you've designed, or just left "upright."
• Made from fresco or mohair, so that you don't arrive at your destination looking too messy.
• Single button cuffs, three button front.
• If you want, have an internal patch pocket in one of the hip or internal pockets. Just to keep candy for kids or suicide pills in case of your capture.
• I would do double vents, personally. Easier now that it's wool
• Make sure one of the pockets is big enough to hold a small paperback book (perhaps the bellow pockets at the hips). Another should be big enough to hold your travel wallet.
• If you can somehow figure out how to hide a hood, all the better. Then you would be truly prepared for anything.

This may seem a little unconventional, but some of the modern technical sportswear designers have some interesting design features that you may like to incorporate. Perhaps an internal jacket sling, like the one on the Acronym jackets, so that if it is blisteringly hot you can take it off and not have to stow it in a bag straight away?

[VIDEO][/VIDEO]

Thanks for all the feedback. Replies by topic (don't want to clog the page with too many quotes):

- Cloth: I think I'll stick with this linen. It's heavy and springy so it won't wrinkle to the extreme. High-twist 'travel cloths' don't have a lot of surface interest and in the end they wrinkle a bit, too. And I think it's better to just be happily wrinkled in a wrinkly material than a little wrinkled in a smart material.

- Zippered pockets inside: certainly. Ages ago I had a Fay travel jacket that had them (uninspiring design), and I used them all the time.

- Back: I was thinking either nothing or just a sewn-in half belt, only if the tailor says it woud help with supporting the coat when the pockets are full. I want to keep this relatively simple. Action backs don't do much for me -- they're only really useful for shooting.

- Hood: the cloth will soak up water like mad anyway, so it wouldn't help much. Besides, I'm used to getting soaked, and linen isn't easily damaged by water -- another reason not to use wool. Though I'm thinking of a light grey or blue Harris tweed version for winter now! Oh well, one thing at a time.

- Sling: that's a possibility. I've seen coats with two backpack-like straps. I'll think about it. The problem is that, when carried on a sling, the coat would have to be folded in a way that doesn't cause stuff to fall out of pockets.

- Internal patch pocket in hip pocket(s): certainly. I have those in my Albam "casual blazer" (they're made of some sort of elasticated material) and use them all the time. Sorry that I didn't include all the inside ideas in the sketch. I was really more interested in discussing the overall appearance, though this discussion of functionality is indeed very useful. Relatedly, I've thought of moving the phone pocket inside the hip pocket, but I do really like Brioni's superimposed pockets design, though I may well have to give up on that here. I'm certainly not giving up on my slanted chest pocket idea though (slightly annoyed that Oliver Spencer did something similar!).

- External hip pockets will certainly be sized for a small paperback or a 7'' tablet (I've got an iPad now but I think the future will bring 7'' for reading).

I'm enjoying this subject. I have experimented with several RTW versions myself. I started with a classic Willis & Geiger safari style and then moved on to various sport coat versions by Zegna and one other company.

- Having a variety of specialty pockets (phone, pen, eyeglasses, passport with zipper,) has a real purpose. To me, this is the real purpose of a travel jacket. I've even seen a custom long thin pocket on the chest for a pair of cigars from Luciano Barbera at a trunk show around 2001.

- For function, I think you want your most important items easy to access and safe. Pick pocket proof or resistant for passport, etc. The Zegna jacket came with one vertical zip pocket on the inside chest. That was easy to get in and unzip downward. I used it for my passport. It also came with a zip along the top of the outer hip pocket. That was nice but I never really used it (this was pre-phone). I did use inside zip pockets and recommend at least two with the remaining ones using buttons.

-Having bellows pockets is good in concept, but in reality I never carried bulky or heavy items. After a point, anything heavy or bulky makes the jacket look sloppy and the weight can be uncomfortable. It is far easier to manage these items in a shoulder bag. I don't think bellows pockets are very flattering on most guys, even empty. For that reason I would skip bellows and an iPad pocket.

- I had one travel jacket made of a linen, wool and silk blend. I wore it around Italy late one summer with excellent results. The fabric was cool enough, yet the wool and silk kept it from looking like a wadded up tissue even with almost daily wear.

Have fun with this. I'm looking forward to hearing the feedback from your tailor.

The order's in, in a slightly toned-down version (at least externally):



The back will have a centre vent and an adjustable half belt (buttons for adjustment placed inside, so it will look like a sewn-in belt from the outside), which should be useful for dealing with overstuffed pockets and/or extra layers worn under the jacket. There are a few invisible bells & whistles though: various pockets, slits for headphones, etc. We ended up doing the final sketch with all the specs in my tailor's diary.

For the technically-minded: there will be self lining inside the lapels, but only some 3-4cm of light canvas throughout the front, mainly to support the buttons. Internal pockets will line up with the external ones (though they'll have to be slightly smaller) in order to avoid the need of having a proper full canvas for support. We're still a bit unsure about position and relative size of pockets, so he'll prepare them in a scrap cloth and just bast them on, and we'll finalise everything at the forward fitting. Meanwhile we had a bit of fun modelling a pocket with the expansion system I wanted (didn't want the pockets to be sewn flat onto the body of the jacket, but don't like slits or accordion-style expansion) with a bit of scrap cloth:



Thanks again for all the feedback and suggestions.