Fashion Monday with JJ Lee

Some people think that tweed is a fussy, itchy fabric, that it is simply too warm to wear. They're wrong. Or maybe they're right BUT it doesn't matter. When fall comes, I hope for cool brisk mornings and a North Atlantic wind so I can wear it. Want to know what makes tweed, Harris Tweed, absolutely glorious? The land tweed comes from. One look (I dream, I dream) at the land of tweed and you'll want to make the journey. Take the A859 Road in Scotland (just follow the road in Google Map) and you'll want to wear tweed for the rest of your life. If you can't be bothered, check out this video from Esquire and Martin Koddenberg on the weavers of the Isles of Lewis and Harris, the land of Harris Tweed, and the Orb!

This tweed coat is not a blazer,  it's a sport coat but nomenclature shouldn't faze yer. A sporty coat is supposed to snap, This one has a vent that gaps. Somebody's bottom is looking fat. A good looking tweed ain't supposed to do that. For my actual thoughts on elbow patches. I don't like them. Here's why .

I receive many queries on the advisability of elbow patches on new  Harris tweed jackets. I am not against patching up old tweed jackets to mend a hole on a sleeve. I think patching clothes demonstrates love of a particular garment and is a charming sartorial practice. It hints at sage frugality and the muted nature of Old Money, which, by the way, hardly exists anymore because now it is New Money that everyone imitates. A repaired tweed sports coat has dignity. However, buying a new tweed coat with patches already affixed strikes me as painfully presumptuous on several levels. 1. Those who would deem to buy a pre-patcher are most often the type of person who would rarely don the jacket in question frequently enough to wear any hole into the elbow 2. If one did indeed wish to fake the impression of heavy use, the ridiculous symmetry of  having TWO elbow patches, one on each arm, reflects a lack of understanding. A well lived-in jacket will always experience...