Green tweed jacket and its memories
I grew up on the scenic shores of Lake Michigan in Petoskey, a town that has been a posh resort area since the 1800s. That's why a town of barely 6,000 (whose population tripled in the summers) had a Saks Fifth Avenue and a string of carriage-trade boutiques. One of m
y favourites was Ed Behan's Tweed Shop, which carried a divine range of Scottish tweeds, cashmeres and thick mohair blankets. My mother, sister and I all had Eddie B. pieces; I recently gave my GF Alice a Tweed Shop traveling suit that was still perfect.
Etsy seller mysweetiepiepie is selling one of the signature items, a dark green wool herringbone fitted blazer with thick real horn buttons, lined in silk crepe. I remember this piece, and it is as desirable today as forty years ago.
This is how they made quality jackets... look at the scalloped and seamed pocket detail! Even without its nostalgic reference, one gorgeous blazer. I'd love it, but the measurements (below) say it's for someone else. Price, $52.99.
Note: Measurements for body are for width of garment laid flat, not circumference. For example, waist is 35".
Shoulders: 16 1/2
Underarm to underarm: 19 3/4
Waist: 17 1/2
Hips: 20
Length from under collar: 28
Sleeves" 23
Comments
And Petoskey. My roommate in college--Joan Glass--was from Petoskey. I didn't realize it was so posh, but now that I think of it, her father worked for an auto co (an executive) and she dressed in high WASP style, probably from the very stores you remember.
I've never been to Petoskey and its environs, but I have clients who summer in Harbor Point and I understand that it is lovely.
The scallops are such a kick, and of course the tailoring looks killer. One reason I spend way too much time on CoutureAllure's vintage clothing blog because of such detail-focused posts...ah the linings, seaming, etc!
Funny timing on your post, as I just bought some gorgeously-draping spruce-green-with-blue-flecks tweed and am having it made into a pencil skirt. Colder weather does have its pluses! Regrettably, there will be no horn buttons in sight, ha.
I looked at so-called "duffelcoats" at the LLBean and LandsEnd sites - alas there are no toggles on either, not even in fake horn. Think the LLBean one just has snaps over the zipper - yecch. And the LandsEnd fabric is only 65% woollen.
I did find a "Lambswool 3/4 length Polo Coat (whatever a Polo Coat is?) at LLBean that says it is in soft Italian wool and comes in a Vintage Red colour which is sort of the red counterpart to your depicted jacket's beautiful green. No idea how their coats fit though.
I don't think I've ever been to that side of Michigan.; it looks very pretty. All I know of Lake Michigan is Chicago.
Vix: What a refined and subtle mix. Do you have a regular dressmaker?
lagatta: As I have come to know you, you are far more discriminating than that Lands End description warrants. Maybe the Bean- but I am dubious. Have you searched Gloverall?
Maggie: I often called it the Newport of the Midwest.
s.: Welcome back! How was your trip to Paris?
Maggie and Duchesse --I have high hopes for the green tweed skirt, thanks. This is my first from-scratch item from H., who is the go-to seamstress for a local vintage shop. She refashioned the torso of a 40s LBD for me (along with doing minor alterations to my regular boring clothes) so I'm pretty confident about the skirt.
I know most areas have plenty of local seamstresses who work from home and I wonder why we have moved so far from that? It actually seems so much more efficient for busy women--especially those with fit issues.
I do miss the instant gratification I get when browsing-to-buy, that's true. And it's a bit nerve-wracking for a control freak such as myself.
Luckily, in my area, we actually have several local shops that mix their own ready-to-wear items with custom/customized designs. Buying from them supports a lot of my values but mostly it just gives me what I want! Having "corrupted" a few friends into doing more of the same type of shopping, it's helping change their relationship with their bodies and clothes.
For context, price points are usually at or under Nordstrom's house line. [Which is why my entire wardrobe isn't from the small businesses.]
/novel!