AN EDUCATION IN TWEED

A tweed garment such as a sport coat doesn’t have to be stuffy, such as adorned with leather elbow patches and present an aroma that smells alarming similar to moth balls.

Although that image of tweed jackets may have more to do with the way I recall the classic jacket being worn by gentlemen as kid.

 

Modern tweed will have the known hallmarks of the classic fabric but interpreted in a different way.

What is tweed anyway? It is a woolen fabric, that consists of a soft, open and flexible texture, that resembles cheviot or homespun wools, but is actually much more closely woven.

Tweed is usually woven with a plain weave, twill or the well-known herringbone structure. If a particular color effect is desirable in the yarn it is obtained by mixing dyed wool before it is spun.

Tweeds in general are an icon of traditional Irish and British country clothing and is what I think of when I hear the term. The tweed fabric is desirable for informal outerwear, mainly due to the material being moisture-resistant and for its well-known durability.

Tweeds are made to withstand harsh climates and are commonly worn for outdoor activities such as sport shooting and hunting, in both Ireland and the United Kingdom.

There are three main types of tweed fabric used for garments:

• Harris Tweed: The world’s only commercially produced handwoven tweed, defined in the Harris Tweed Act of 1993 as cloth that is “Handwoven by the islanders at their homes in the Outer Hebrides, finished in the Outer Hebrides, and finally is made from pure virgin wool dyed and spun in the Outer Hebrides”.
• Donegal tweed: is a handwoven tweed manufactured in County Donegal, Ireland. Donegal has for centuries been producing tweed sourced from local materials. The sheep thrive in the hills and bogs of Donegal, and indigenous plants such as blackberries, fuchsia, gorse, and moss provide the dyes for rich coloring of the fabrics.
• Silk tweed: A fabric made of raw silk with small flecks of color that is typical of woollen tweeds.