Originally designed to suit a particular country sport, the styles of tweed jackets vary from the more loose-fitting casual styles worn for shooting, through the popular formal sports jackets to the more structured and tailored hacking jackets for riding.
The Shooting jacket
The first jacket worn for the sport of shooting was the Norfolk in the 1860s. It is a loose-belted single-breasted jacket with box pleats on the front and back and was adapted from the jacket worn by the Rifle Corps in 1859. The jacket allowed easy movement when using a gun. The jacket was either named after the sport-loving 15th Duke of Norfolk who started to wear it on his shooting parties, or due to the Prince of Wales setting a trend by wearing it on his shooting trips in Norfolk.
This style is not as popular now, but you can still purchase it through companies such as www.bookster.co.uk (- main picture, top: full Norfolk jacket)
 | DS Dundee have a modernday version in their shooting range – the Ettrick shooting jacket, which comes in cinder, wheat and highland check, has kept the belted style to give more support for carrying heavy items in the large lower pockets. |
You can go for a tailored shooting jacket with one shoulder panel in leather for the shotgun or rifle, usually with matching elbow patches and large outer pockets such as this Bookster shooting jacket (above – www.bookster.co.uk), but usually they are more relaxed such as the Musto stretch technical tweed jacket. It has 3% lycra for a more comfortable fit whilst shooting and has a Teflon water-repellent finish. The jacket features microfleece lined handwarmer pockets, two internal poacher’s pockets, an inner zipped security pocket and an inbreast pocket – so you’ll have plenty of places to keep all your winnings safe! www.musto.com |  |
New Lightweight washable tweeds
Tweed is a heavy fabric but now there are new lightweight tweeds, which can also be machine washed rather than the normal end-of-the-season dry clean.
 | Musto’s lightweight machine-washable tweed shooting jacket is made out of Scottish tweed (96%wool, 4% nylon) and can be machine washed at 30C, but still remains waterproof, windproof and breathable. The fibres and barbs are coated in a plasticising process to keep them smooth and flexible after the wash. |
 | Barbour also has a shooting jacket in lightweight washable Berwick tweed with a quilted lining of 50g polyester wadding. |
The hacking jacket
Taking its name from ‘hackney’ – a term for a saddle-horse, this jacket was originally worn and designed for horseriding. The slight flare from the waist and centre vent ensured the jacket kept its shape on and off the horse. The slanted, flapped pockets stopped any items from falling out of them whilst leaning forward jumping a fence and the third narrow ticket pocket was ideal to keep smaller items safe such as coins. Now a great place to keep your betting slips safe.
This style suits the slimmer man due to its high waist, shorter lapels (3–4 buttons) and fitted silhouette.
| An example of this style is the Torridon Tweed riding jacket, which can be purchased through www.bookster.co.uk. |  |
They also have adapted the jacket a little for everyday wear – this Grannoch tweed jacked is less waisted and has longer lapels. |  |
The modern sports jacket
Adapted from the hacking jacket, the modern sports jacket has longer lapels with either one or two buttons. The flapped pockets may or may not be slanted, and it usually has side vents for easy access to trouser back pockets. By the early 1900s it became fashionable for men to wear sports jackets at the more casual social functions rather than just keep them for sporting activities, and the jackets began to have a simpler cut losing the more practical sporting features such as the belt and bulky pockets.
The modern tweed jacket ranges from the classic to the trendy:
 | Devonport London, a newly-launched menswear brand, concentrates on the qualities of tradition, heritage and highly-skilled craftsmanship shunning the use of adhesives and other modern fusion techniques, looking instead to the traditional methods of hand-stitching, loose horsehair interlinings and hand-making collars. |
 | New Look brings tweeds to the younger man who doesn’t want to spend too much and just wants to have fun with the look, layering and mixing with other fabrics and textures such as jeans. |
Assembling your tweed ensemble:
(click links below)
- Twill be Country Tweeds in the Lead
- Tweed patterns and textures
- Tweed colours
- Tweed Trousers/Breeks and Accessories
 |  Karen Grace is a Personal Shopper & Image Consultant for www.frumpytofunky.com and fashion writer for http://mensstyling.blogspot.com She studied Personal Styling at the London College of Fashion and is a registered affiliate member of the Federation of Image Professionals International. For personal shopping and styling services you can reach her via frumpy to funky on [email protected]and |
Allison is the Publisher of Eclipse Magazine. She loves going to the Races and is learning to bet (despite being officially the worst bettor in the History of the Universe), there’s a lot more to learn…
