Wearing my Barbour jacket with a suit

[Draus]

Hey guys,

over the last few months I grew very fond of the look of wearing a Barbour jacket over a suit (see example 1, example 2) and finally purchased a Barbour Ashby jacket. A few days ago it got cold enough to wear the combination for the first time and I noticed (to my despair) that I totally forgot about the secondary (inner) zipper of the Barbour jacket, which is used to zip in a vest for the colder months. Due to the angle of the secondary zippers they rub against the (lapels of the) jacket (see picture 1, picture 2) and since the Barbour zipper is pretty robust and big, it is far from smooth and has some rather sharp edges. I was lucky and only tore some threads on the inside of my suit jacket but it totally ruined my day none the less.

Now my question to you guys: Do you have experience with this problem and how did u solve it? My first solution was giving the Barbour to my tailor in order to cut out the inner zipper and hide the remaining plastic of the zipper in the cloth by sewing together the zipper ****. This solution keeps me from ever zipping in a vest – which is not a huge deal, but not optimal. Furthermore, the outer (main) zipper is made the same (sharp) way and does touch the jacket (although not as directly) too. My second impulse was to get some sandpaper and round out the sharp edges, but I do not see that working really well.

Thankful for every idea

 

[johng70]

You said you were thankful for every idea, so I think you should strongly reconsider this combination. I don't think it looks good at all - whether or not you solve the zipper issue. I see you are from Germany and I'm in the U.S. so I recognize style choices may be different there. If you do decide to continue, hopefully someone can chime in with a work-around for your issue.

 

[Draus]

You said you were thankful for every idea, so I think you should strongly reconsider this combination. I don't think it looks good at all - whether or not you solve the zipper issue. I see you are from Germany and I'm in the U.S. so I recognize style choices may be different there. If you do decide to continue, hopefully someone can chime in with a work-around for your issue.

Thanks for commenting, John - obviously tastes always differ. But I would not post here if it was my desire to not wear it. So that is not really a solution for me.

 

[Maljunulo]

Why wear a suit if you are going to wear something like that over it? The effect is totally incongruous.

But I'm just a grouchy old fart.

 

[JLibourel]

Why wear a suit if you are going to wear something like that over it? The effect is totally incongruous.

But I'm just a grouchy old fart.

Amen to that. It is a total sartorial anomaly. It is rather like wearing outdoor boots with a suit or maybe a flannel lumberjack shirt with a suit and tie.

 

[baystreetwarrior]

Do you have experience with this problem and how did u solve it? My first solution was giving the Barbour to my tailor in order to cut out the inner zipper and hide the remaining plastic of the zipper in the cloth by sewing together the zipper ****.

I think double-sided tapes are best friend for women... even better friend for you, my friend!!

 

[Draus]

Nothing wrong with wearing a Barbour over a suit, if the weather needs it, but I'm inclined to think that you're doing so with the wrong Barbour. The Ashby is a tailored, rather slim fitting jacket that isn't really designed to go over anything more than a shirt and pullover. A Beaufort, however, will go over anything, and will still look good whilst being loose enough not to damage anything worn underneath, like a suit.
https://www.barbour.com/Categories/Unisex/Barbour-Originals/Barbour-Beaufort®-Wax-Jacket/p/MWX0017SG9134

There is enough room inside. The problem is the angle.

 

[Draus]

I think double-sided tapes are best friend for women... even better friend for you, my friend!!

Taping the zipper is just a temporary solution.

 

[baystreetwarrior]

Taping the zipper is just a temporary solution

Then, the permeant solution is to buy a new Barbour coat which doesn't have inner zippers.

 

[Purplelabel]

If this issue hasn't been resolved, buy an older jacket. No inner zips, as back in the day Barbour used poppers for their inner liners.