S.E.H Kelly

[Sheldon Troulebrains]

Hi Paul,
I really love your garments! I'd like to purchase a jacket or overshirt or coat or something, but I have a tight clothing budget at the moment and will need to plan and save carefully. Do you have any suggestions for a very versatile, 3 season type jacket that really captures the spirit and aesthetic of what you're doing at SEH Kelly? Or: if you could wear only one piece of outerwear from the SEH Kelly collection, which one would it be?

 

[sehkelly]

Hi Paul,
I really love your garments! I'd like to purchase a jacket or overshirt or coat or something, but I have a tight clothing budget at the moment and will need to plan and save carefully. Do you have any suggestions for a very versatile, 3 season type jacket that really captures the spirit and aesthetic of what you're doing at SEH Kelly? Or: if you could wear only one piece of outerwear from the SEH Kelly collection, which one would it be?

Why -- thank you very much for such kind words. Very kind.

Forgive me, please, and without wishing to be difficult, "three season" is very subjective, depending on whereabouts in the world you are ...

However, presuming you're in something comparable in climate to London (I have a limited world-view) then the SB3 in merino-wool twill is a very good candidate, being as the cloth is quite warm but also quite breathable. Merino is good like that. They're at https://www.sehkelly.com/sb3-jacket/. The corduroy ones, too, on the same page -- they're excellent in that respect, though the merino version arguably scores higher in a game of SB3 Top Trumps.

The car coat is worth mentioning, too -- that's at https://www.sehkelly.com/car-coat/. I mentioned it in my previous or second-most previous post here, too. They're typically made with Ventile, which is a good all-year-round cotton, being breathable and weatherproof in equal measure. The coat is intended to be versatile, and layerable (a technical term) over just about anything else you might care to wear below it. We have a new heavy version coming next week, which is skewed a little more towards colder weather, but the standard Ventile versions are all-year-rounders through and through.

I always find it easier to recommend things around the corner rather than those in the here-and-now. Shopkeeper's curse, I suppose. However, to that end, the parka in the new protective ripstop shell, the donkey jacket in cotton sail-cloth, and upcoming field coat all aspire to be "3 season type jacket(s) that really capture the spirit and aesthetic of what we're doing at S.E.H Kelly."

I hope that helps somewhat, but please -- keep the questions coming, by all means.

 

[Sheldon Troulebrains]

Why -- thank you very much for such kind words. Very kind.

Forgive me, please, and without wishing to be difficult, "three season" is very subjective, depending on whereabouts in the world you are ...

However, presuming you're in something comparable in climate to London (I have a limited world-view) then the SB3 in merino-wool twill is a very good candidate, being as the cloth is quite warm but also quite breathable. Merino is good like that. They're at https://www.sehkelly.com/sb3-jacket/. The corduroy ones, too, on the same page -- they're excellent in that respect, though the merino version arguably scores higher in a game of SB3 Top Trumps.

The car coat is worth mentioning, too -- that's at https://www.sehkelly.com/car-coat/. I mentioned it in my previous or second-most previous post here, too. They're typically made with Ventile, which is a good all-year-round cotton, being breathable and weatherproof in equal measure. The coat is intended to be versatile, and layerable (a technical term) over just about anything else you might care to wear below it. We have a new heavy version coming next week, which is skewed a little more towards colder weather, but the standard Ventile versions are all-year-rounders through and through.

I always find it easier to recommend things around the corner rather than those in the here-and-now. Shopkeeper's curse, I suppose. However, to that end, the parka in the new protective ripstop shell, the donkey jacket in cotton sail-cloth, and upcoming field coat all aspire to be "3 season type jacket(s) that really capture the spirit and aesthetic of what we're doing at S.E.H Kelly."

I hope that helps somewhat, but please -- keep the questions coming, by all means.

Thank you for the detailed reply. You've given me some things to think about. I do appreciate the difficulty of commenting on "3-season" jackets. FWIW, I'm in Illinois, USA, where temps ocassionally dip below 0F and summer temps hover in the mid-80s (all of this, of course, subject to change in the next 50 years as we settle in to the era of climate change). I suspect that's more temperature variation than in London.

Two follow-ups for you:
- Your overshirts are conspicuously absent from this list. Where do you place the overshirts in this game of Most Versatile Garment? I like the idea of wearing one as a mid layer in winter, as an outer layer in spring/fall, and perhaps opened up over a light shirt in the summer (this last one seems like the biggest stretch). Thoughts on this?
- When can we expect a sneak peak at the field coat? I looked through the thread and found only a couple mentions. I'm intrigued.

Thank you!

 

[mattw]

Thank you for the detailed reply. You've given me some things to think about. I do appreciate the difficulty of commenting on "3-season" jackets. FWIW, I'm in Illinois, USA, where temps ocassionally dip below 0F and summer temps hover in the mid-80s (all of this, of course, subject to change in the next 50 years as we settle in to the era of climate change). I suspect that's more temperature variation than in London.

Two follow-ups for you:
- Your overshirts are conspicuously absent from this list. Where do you place the overshirts in this game of Most Versatile Garment? I like the idea of wearing one as a mid layer in winter, as an outer layer in spring/fall, and perhaps opened up over a light shirt in the summer (this last one seems like the biggest stretch). Thoughts on this?
- When can we expect a sneak peak at the field coat? I looked through the thread and found only a couple mentions. I'm intrigued.

Thank you!

I'll chip in. I'm in Chicago and have the car coat in navy. It's a wonderful piece, especially in the rain- Ventile is magic- but on the tail ends of three-seasonality, I have needed to layer with some knitwear to get enough warmth. On the flip side, this means I don't find it unbearable when it is warmer and some rain protection is needed.

I've become a huge fan of the brand and, without additional data points in the form of more pieces from the collection, will say that you can't go wrong.

 

[CrowShit]

Quite a few SEH fans in Chicago, should we start a club?

 

[sehkelly]

Two follow-ups for you:
- Your overshirts are conspicuously absent from this list. Where do you place the overshirts in this game of Most Versatile Garment? I like the idea of wearing one as a mid layer in winter, as an outer layer in spring/fall, and perhaps opened up over a light shirt in the summer (this last one seems like the biggest stretch). Thoughts on this?
- When can we expect a sneak peak at the field coat? I looked through the thread and found only a couple mentions. I'm intrigued.

Thank you!

Oh right, yes -- I didn't mention the overshirt, because I was thinking about fully fledged coats and jackets.

The ambitions of the overshirt are perfectly and entirely aligned with your own expectations of it. It is a very able mid-layer and potential top-layer both. We make a lot of garments with raglan sleeves, which gives good comfort and movement, and the overshirt has a good (two-piece) example of it.

The field coat, meanwhile -- I am on the case, but for the time being ...

 

[Sheldon Troulebrains]

I'll chip in. I'm in Chicago and have the car coat in navy. It's a wonderful piece, especially in the rain- Ventile is magic- but on the tail ends of three-seasonality, I have needed to layer with some knitwear to get enough warmth.

Thanks for the info. When you say "I have needed to layer with some knitwear," are you telling me that you can get through Chicago winter temps with just a sweater and car coat?!?!?! That would be much warmer than I expected. A very warm coat indeed. Do you spend much time walking outside during the winter months?

Quite a few SEH fans in Chicago, should we start a club?

Sad to say I couldn't join your club. Alas, I'm languishing in Urbana for the time being....

The ambitions of the overshirt are perfectly and entirely aligned with your own expectations of it.

Glad to hear it. I'll definitely keep the overshirts in mind.

The field coat, meanwhile -- I am on the case, but for the time being ...

Looks great! I'm excited to see more.

 

[mattw]

Thanks for the info. When you say "I have needed to layer with some knitwear," are you telling me that you can get through Chicago winter temps with just a sweater and car coat?!?!?! That would be much warmer than I expected. A very warm coat indeed. Do you spend much time walking outside during the winter months?

Oh no, I meant toward the latter half of fall/early part of spring, and maybe not going strictly by the calendar, either. Winter is very much excluded from "three-season"

 

[chickenfark]

wearing my navy merino tweed topcoat today, love this thing

Spoiler: detail

for some reason this dumb second picture won't edit out.

Spoiler

 

[irbe]

^ great close up of the colour.

 

[Sheldon Troulebrains]

Oh no, I meant toward the latter half of fall/early part of spring, and maybe not going strictly by the calendar, either. Winter is very much excluded from "three-season"

Oh thank goodness. I though either this was a miracle cloth or you were made of densely knitted wool.
Is that the "normal" meaning of "3-season?" Spring summer fall? I kind of thought it was fall winter spring. But what do I know?.

 

[mattw]

Is that the "normal" meaning of "3-season?" Spring summer fall? I kind of thought it was fall winter spring. But what do I know?.

Derp. I don't really know...

 

[Patrick R]

It works both ways. Flannels are 3-season pants in Chicago: fall, winter, spring. I have a cotton/nylon army jacket that is definitely a 3-season jacket in Chicago: spring, summer, fall.

 

[Sheldon Troulebrains]

It works both ways. Flannels are 3-season pants in Chicago: fall, winter, spring. I have a cotton/nylon army jacket that is definitely a 3-season jacket in Chicago: spring, summer, fall.

So it seems best to always qualify "3 season" with a particular space-time. Tricky term, that one.

 

[sehkelly]

wearing my navy merino tweed topcoat today, love this thing

Great. Thank you for posting that.

We're already laying ground for the topcoat for this time next year, and just this week, we opened up talks with a certain weaving company in Northern Ireland with whom we hope to develop some new coating tweed over the next few months.