The Official Travel Jacket Thread

[Bounder]

It's officially summer and an SFers fancy turns to, well, clothes, of course, but travel clothes.

I am trying to settle on a new travel jacket and I hope teh forum has some suggestions. Recently, I got one of these.

http://www.duluthtrading.com/store/...-26514.aspx?kw=presentation&processor=content

It is billed as brown but it's really more of a dark khaki. It is surprisingly not awful, considering. It actually looks decent in a rugged sort of way. The material is a very heavy canvas. The jacket is unstructured. The material, however, is slightly stiff which gives the jacket a sort of structured look. It might soften up with time, I don't know.

The patch pockets are too big but it is supposed to be a travel jacket so I should probably overlook that. It does have lots of interior pockets. All in all, for what it is, I wouldn't wear it with a tie but as a casual jacket, it's not much worse than a lot of linen jackets I have seen.

Which brings me to the biggest issue/feature. This thing is really tough. And heavy. It is effectively indestructible, a good thing in a travel jacket. But I think it will run kind of warm, maybe not such a good thing.

Depending on the trip, I am also considering this.

Denim Travel Jacket

 

[FlyingMonkey]

I tend to wear a simple unstructured navy cotton twill jacket from Rogue's Gallery. Twill works really well for a travel jacket.

 

[JTA]

This and this
The unlined version for spring/summer, the lined one for autumn/winter.

 

[radicaldog]

As requested, a bad photo of my travel jacket. I've also got a winter version in solid brown Harris tweed, but the pockets and other (largely invisible) bells & whistles in that one weren't very well thought-through.

 

[Bounder]

You're not going to get away that easily! If you were a bit better at self-promotion, this would be up there with the Swiss Army Suit and the Blazer Suit.

First, the obvious: that is really striking.

Second, what is the purpose of the slanted pocket? Clearly, you had something specific in mind.

What are the invisible bells & whistles? I have to confess, I am a complete sucker for these kinds of things.

What fabric is this? Is it 100% linen or a linen blend? What weight?

 

[radicaldog]

The fabric is a heavy and slubby linen. The buttons are bone (I hard ordered two distanced buttons for the cuffs, but small mishaps like this are the order of the day with any tailor). The back has a single vent and the sleeves are shirt-set.

The slanted pocket is for my passport and/or other things that need to be both secure and readily accessible.

Secret bells & whistles include a hole for headphones concealed under the lapel, with a little loop to keep the cable in place as it makes its way down to the phone pocket with velcro. The other interior pockets are closed with zippers rather than buttons.

The jacket is a bit eccentric, but I think the subdued colour and wrinkly nature of it rather detract from the 'look at me' factor. I don't care much, anyway.

 

[Bounder]

I disagree that it is eccentric. What you've done is create a modernized urban safari jacket. I particularly like the hole for the headphones.

I also like your approach to wrinkles. Most travel jackets take radical steps to prevent wrinkles with mixed success. By using linen, you've gone all the other way. That's brilliant.

The "hacking pocket" is a genuine innovation. I think I am going to do this myself, although I would probably do it on an internal pocket just for security. But it is not bad as an aesthetic detail, either.

Did your tailor give you any difficulty over the design? One of the tailors I know would physically eject me if I suggested a jacket with zippers.

 

[Geezer]

Nice odd jacket, radicaldog. It has an air of the Norton's explorer suit about it, which I like a lot.

 

[Ich_Dien]



Nice odd jacket, radicaldog. It has an air of the Norton's explorer suit about it, which I like a lot.

A lovely commission - +1.

 

[Wes Bourne]

Good stuff. Nice to finally see the finished jacket!

The buttons are bone (I hard ordered two distanced buttons for the cuffs, but small mishaps like this are the order of the day with any tailor).

By 'two distanced buttons for the cuffs', did you mean two buttons on each sleeve, set about a button width apart? Your revised sketch showed a single button on each cuff :

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

 

[Grammaton Cleric]

Looks quite nice!

 

[radicaldog]

Thanks, all. Quite flustered now.

I initially thought about doing one big button, then changed it to two small ones, but received four. It happens. Forgot to add that the jacket is only partly lined (shoulders and sleeves only), though you probably guessed it.

The tailor didn't complain about the design, except in jest. But I have been a good customer of his for a few years, and usually order pretty standard stuff.

 

[Bounder]



Forgot to add that the jacket is only partly lined (shoulders and sleeves only), though you probably guessed it.

Actually, I didn't guess. I assumed you had a lining to help support all the pockets.

Now we need to see a pic of the inside.

 

[radicaldog]

The pockets are supported by facings in the same cloth -- nothing unusual there.

 

[jrd617]

I have a grey melton wool M65 that I use in the winter. Banana Republic