Cotton-drill tour jacket
Tuesday, 19th April 2011
This is the tour jacket: a four-buttoned, work jacket-shaped garment, made from an uncommonly crisp and comfortable cotton-drill. You might not know to look at it, but there’s more than one way to wear it.
The jacket is a spring-time update of the winter work jacket. It has a turn-down collar with straight collar points, a four-button fastening, and simple single-button cuff sleeves.
It also has laid-on patch pockets, into which hands may be slotted from either the top or the concealed slouch entrance near the side seams — the latter lined with an off-white organic cotton. The back panel of the body of the tour jacket is lined with the same stuff; not too heavy, but substantial enough to keep wearers company when the sun does not.
The fabric is a fawn-coloured cotton-drill. Sourced from a mill in Lancashire, north-west England, and made from superior quality yarn, it is strong and so wears well over time. It is also slightly brushed, with a soft handle, and has a compact, breathable weave. It drapes as well as it wears, and is, in all probability, the finest cotton-drill in the country.
There’s also a little bit more to the tour jacket than meets the eye. With the hot-under-the-collar predicaments of summer in mind, a concealed strap on the jacket’s interior allows it to be hitched over the wearer’s shoulders and worn on the back. It’s based on hunting jacket mechanisms of yesteryear — a foolproof, there-if-you-need-it addition.
The strap — also cotton-drill — fastens onto corozo buttons beneath the arms, and passes through a loop at back of neck. Not only should it afford wearers some fresh air, it allows for crease- and hands-free carriage of the garment from A to B. Good for cycling, perhaps.
The jacket, and all its technicalities and measurements, is in the shop, from today, here.
