Fashion
Barbour – what the t*ts is going on?
To summarise. A great jacket, looks cool, but I do not think it is worth it.
BY MATTHEW BISHOP
I suppose before delving any further into the article, it is worth noting that I love Barbour clothes, I really do. But just because I love something, does not mean I am not going to call bulsh*t when I see it.
What is Barbour?
Barbour is a classic British brand founded by John Barbour in 1894, where believe it or not they actually supplied waterproof garments to sailors and fishermen in the North East of England. These days though, you tend to see them worn in the countryside for farming and fishing – or at least by those that travel to the countryside for those activities, as I am yet to really see people that actually live there widely wear it. With farming, I think most farmers would consider practicality over style, which to be fair could be their downfall, as who says you cannot look sexy as f*ck whilst scooping pig muck? Fast forward a little bit and their wax cotton jackets have become the staple of the brand, with the overall brand receiving recognition through three Royal Warrants in 1974, 1982 and 1987 from The Duke of Edinburgh, Queen Elizabeth and King Charles (the Prince of Wales at the time), respectively.
That is advertising that money cannot buy! Some of you may even recognise their jackets from the Bond film Skyfall, where Craig wore the Barbour Beacon Heritage Sports Jacket, having its ruggedness match perfectly with his suave persona and British heritage. The modern quilt style for this particular design stems from Barbour’s desire to have a lightweight and warm jacket for the outdoors.
Pockets, Zips and Other Sexy Bits
Barbour, where do we begin? I sigh a bit as I write this, due to how I end the article, but yeah, it is a fantastic jacket. First and foremost, I love it. Because it is different from most of the jackets you see in their shop and to be honest, whoever designed it in their factory deserves a few extra pounds in their paycheck as god damn it is a cool design. It is so sleek, has a great flow to the jacket, not bulky, fits comfortably, not a million trinkets or thick stitching that distract the eye from the overall jacket. It is just cool.
Let us go a bit more into the jacket though and talk about its features and some of the bells and whistles. The colour is Navy, this is one that is really important to me. If you are ever in a shop and looking at a jacket and thinking of getting Black, nine times out of ten do not do it. Why, because Navy is a little lighter and is far more versatile with your outfits than Black is. Black is a blocky and let us say binary colour where most of the time you need dark tonal colours that can match it quite well, or you just have to wear more black to go with it.
Where as Navy goes with darker colours, like other shades of blue, or even Blacks as well. It even goes with lighter colours, think beige chinos and a navy blazer for example. Cannot really do that with Black too easily can we now? Other colours you see with this is Olive, but it is a dark Olive which can be a little too drab sometimes when the British weather is being miserable as always, plus it does not hide stains too well either – which of course is not good if you are a farmer and have animals.
Pockets, we can all agree in life that the deeper things go, the better they are, and that is just what Barbour is living up to here. We have two side pockets with a buttoned flap which fit my entire hand, and I got some pretty big hands, with those we have an inside breast pocket, of which my gripes are that it is not wide enough and has a Velcro seal. I really feel here they could have gone for a button to match the rest of the jacket or a clip button, Velcro feels like they were cheaping out here a bit as naturally it will only wear down and lose its grip from general usage.
The jacket fastens with a zip that has a circular handle which is great for gripping it and importantly it has never jammed or been caught on any fabric and there is nothing more awkward than doing that in front of your mates or a hot date. You can then continue to fasten the jacket with the three lower buttons, a top button and a neck buckle for when the weather is extra bad. These lower three buttons mean you do not always have to zip up the jacket, the middle button can almost be used to do it up quickly if there is a gust of wind, but mainly it gave me a feel I was wearing something like a blazer which gave a degree of formality to the casual style of the jacket. A really good feature of this jacket is the clips along the back flap of the jacket. Firstly, I have added some mass so, from a few too many cheeseburgers, this gave me a little more freedom wearing it, second it allows for some more breathability, for when the weather gets a little bit hotter. The materials of the jacket, the outer, inner and filling are all 100% polyester and can be machine washed at thirty, and ironed on a low setting (the single dot setting on your irons). It was extremely warm and despite there being a cold wind, I did not feel the tiniest bit cold, it felt like being wrapped up in bed on a Sunday morning - my photographer though, felt the opposite in their attire.
Built for the Barn, Styled for the Bar
Quilted jackets do not need to be just for heading to the country or going clay shooting, they are a fantastic Autumn and Spring jacket or for those mild winter and semi summer days. You can dress this piece down with some casual jeans and a t-shirt. You can see I have done that here with tonal colours, navy jacket with a slightly lighter navy shirt, fishing with medium to light blue jeans. Note that with shoes, you can add some brown chestnut coloured Chelsea Boots, where the brown leather can match the brown found in the collar. Just please for the love of all that is holy, do not wear this with loud, flashy trainers. Juxtaposing can sometimes be good but not in this case, it takes away from the tradition, class and heritage that Barbour is known for.
For those curious I just wore black trainers, as it was a muddy walk and it is a colour that is not in your face at all, nor does it detract from the outfit in this case. You can keep in the casual theme and wear a thin material v-neck or crew neck jumper under this, no shirt or t-shirt needed as it is a warm coat, plus it is sometimes good to think of such jumpers as a long sleeved t-shirt, so you do not always need a garment under them and can most of the time remove the casual nature of the outfit. Just note that this jacket will not really take a thick jumper as it hugs the body quite a bit, so you will find you cannot move freely if you wore one. Dressing it up, this will sound weird, but go for a shirt and tie. There will be some more articles on this in the future, but trust me, it is the definition of smart casual. Some chinos, white or navy shirt with a tie and this jacket on top will make you look tip top.
I really feel a quilted jacket is a must in everyone's wardrobe, and for those younger readers, ditch the shell suits or whatever it is you wear these days and have this as your first piece into building a mature and versatile wardrobe. Who knows, maybe after all the episodes of Clarkson’s farm, girls may be starting to get into guys that have that country look.
Final Thoughts
The jacket is phenomenal, has a good shape and style, plus lots of pockets for storing your wallet and keys. Now polyester can be good, it can give affordable clothing and has great features like being durable, wrinkle resistant, dries quickly, warm and is lightweight. All these features make it perfect for going outdoors and getting it muddy as hell. But, at the end of the day it is plastic – and this is not me getting preachy about the environment, that is just fact, so we are all going around wearing ancient cooked, compressed dinosaurs and plankton. But this is where the value comes in. I do not know how I feel about paying £200 for plastic. I get the advantages of it, but surely use natural materials like cotton etc. That way I understand the £200 price tag as there are labour costs, lower yields and then there are some advantages like it being natural. When I see large prices for plastic, it makes me feel a little like the brand is riding more off its name rather than the quality of the product, then again polyester is somewhat embedded in the modern history of quilted jackets. But it is a tough one. It is down to you guys reading if you would buy it. Most of the clothes we see, we look at the shape and style over all that. But I suppose at the end of that day, the jacket is cool, it feels good, looks good and does the job, so that is all that matters.