The cloth is thick, heavy barleycorn tweed, Donegal writ through. The yarn — a warp of dark grey and a weft of black — is alive with little flecks of unexpected shades, from amber to magenta. It is merino lambswool, softer than one might assume, and fairs mightily well in the wet and the windy.
A classic walking coat, this: long and single-breasted, and with a two-piece raglan sleeve that allows a great range of movement in the upper body. Very helpful when it comes to layering, too. "Balmacaan" is the traditional name for this style of coat — from the Balmacaan forest in Scotland.
The coat has a collar of sizeable proportions, cut to sit straight when down, and really hug the neck when up. On one side there is a little tab. This buttons across, one side to the other, and keeps the collar upright when the going gets gusty. It can be buttoned back, too, or let to hang loose and lopsided.
There's a short cuff tab, running backwards from the outer sleeve seam, which offers two levels of tightness.
The buttons on the coat are horn, dark in colour and matte in finish. Because each is a thing of nature, they each differ subtly in shade and marking, one to the next. The coat has a fly-front, with the buttons hidden away when fastened, so less likely to snag on barbed wire, bramble, and other outdoor perils.
The pockets are set at just the right height for the comfortable plunging of hands, and they're covered by flaps to shield wrists from wind and rain. They also have a secret: as well as being deep pockets in their own right, they contain a channel that serves as an entrance into and / or exit from the inside of the coat.
Outerwear history says this originates in army coats from a century or more ago — making it easy to access the shirt or jacket or trouser worn underneath the coat. It is both a great party trick and an easy way to access your personal effects with your weaker hand if your lead hand is clutching a coffee.
Round the rear lurks a deep vent which runs from the belt line to the hem. It is constructed in the old-fashioned and faintly over-complicated manner of mid-century British walking coats, and means there's more coat to the coat to expand when the wearer lurches forwards or sideways.
One more pocket: this time on the inside, on the left-side as worn, and set a little lower than normal to make things easier on the elbows. It is a chest pocket of standard wallet- or mobile-size.
The coat is lined halfway down the back with a smooth and slinky satin, cut as a single panel. It helps with sliding the balmacaan on and off, being as the outer cloth has the potential for friction. The sleeves, too, are lined with the same cloth.
