I was in a particularly long church service yesterday and as good as some of what I heard was, my mind did tend to drift elsewhere. Much of the time I was drifting I spent looking into the fabric of the tweed jacket I was wearing. It was the first time I had the opportunity to wear the jacket (I thrifted it down in Florida last spring and finally got it tailored this fall). The tweed of this particular jacket happened to be a Harris Tweed, which we need not get into all the various types of tweed now but Harris is often known for its earthy tones. For which this jacket was in no shortage of.
From afar (first photo below), the tweed looks to be a few shades of brown and tan. However, upon closer inspection (above and bottom photo) one will notice that there is much more to the colors of the jacket than initially thought. The houndstooth pattern does have a lot of brown and tan in it. But there are also ample doses of red, gray, cream and light blue. It’s a beautiful thing if you ask me.
So what does this mean for wearing this jacket (or any tweed or fabric that exhibits similar depth)? It means that the number of colors you can successfully pair with the jacket has just increased greatly. Those minor bits of light blue and gray can now be perfectly complemented by a tie of the same color; better even if the tie is of wool or madder. Although a brown tie would look nice with this jacket, what about picking up that rust color from the tweed? It’ll likely be a more interesting and unexpected look to both you and those around you, which is often a good thing.
So next time your donning your tweed or in the market to buy one, take a closer look. There’s often more to is than first glance lends.
–JLJ
