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Affordable Men's Style

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The Tweed Suit Half Dozen

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Tweed can be wardrobe Kevlar against fall and winter weather.  It’s durable, it’s warm, and the rough texture is right in line with the temperature drop and the lack of sunshine.  Plus, wearing a tweed suit is as close as it gets to wearing a set of pajamas and/or a suit of armor in public.   As long as you keep the cut tailored and you avoid hyper-traditional accessories (bow ties, uh… pipes…) you won’t look like you fell out of the Cleveland administration.  The full price range follows:
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H&M Tweed Blazer & Matching Pant – $89.90 (not sold online)
Left: 38. Right: 42.

Short and cheap.  Realllll short and very cheap.  Maybe a good bet for the guys on the vertically challenged side, but if you’re of average height or more, you best really like the chopped jacket trend.  Looks like you’ll want to size up on the pants and maybe even the jacket.  50% wool, 45% poly, 5% acrylic.  Hat tip to Derric for snapping the pics and sending in the style tip.  For a fit perspective, he’s 5’9″ 180 and usually wears a 40R jacket.

 

Lands’ End Tailored Fit Donnegal Jacket & Trouser – $278.99 (even less with sales)
Mount thy velocipede and head to the pub.

Tailored Fit from Lands’ End might not be as tailored as some would like, so be prepared to pop for some extra alterations.  Jacket is down from $300 to $179.99, and the pants are sticking at their regular price of $99.00.  Hang out for an extra % off sale and this could drop into the very affordable category.  It’s a very traditional brown donnegal tweed with flecks of orange and even some blueish purple thrown in.  So while you’ll be warm and cut a good look this winter, you won’t look all that modern.  85% wool, 15% nylon.  Nice touches with the slimmer lapels and ticket pocket though.  (Meanwhile, there’s a 30% off LEC Sale promo going on today.  Use code TOUCHDOWN and pin 2210)

 

L.L. Bean Signature Searsport Flannel Blazer & Pant – $320.00
Pre-tailoring. Sides are decently sculpted.

It’s back.  Sure it’s labeled as flannel, but this is no thinner suiting flannel.  These suit separates are made from a thick wool/nylon blend that has just enough scratch to it.  Incredibly warm and does a very nice job of blocking biting winter wind.  A warning:  Last year’s model, while excellent, ran long in the arms and had functioning sleeve buttons.  It’s something you’ll have to just accept if you’re short armed, or, not accept and not order.  Also offered in a Navy, but like their cotton suit separates  there are reports in the comments of the pant and blazer not matching exactly.  Had no trouble with the grey shown above.

 

BR Tailored Dark Grey Tweed Suit Blazer and Pant – $535 ($374.50 when 30% off)
And BR jumps on board.

The key of course is to wait for a 30% off code that  applies to men’s suiting (yesterday’s 30/35/40 “surprise” offers sent out via email didn’t apply).  Instead of blending the wool with nylon like the L.L. Bean and Lands’ End suits, Banana Republic opted for cotton.  Actually a three button with a rolled/pressed lapel.  Word from the ratings is that it looks a little darker in person.  Looks like it could be a much cleaner, more modern tweed suit without getting trendy.

 

Suitsupply Washington Fit 3 Piece – $569
Jude Law’s Watson approves.

Won’t miss this walking down the street.  Three piece, larger (but not this large) peak lapels, and a wool silk blend sourced from an Italian mill.  There’s a lot going on here.  Obviously not for everyone.  Has that really defined speckled look, but with it being a wool & silk blend, will it be as rough?

 

J. Crew: 2-Button Bird’s Eye – $646 | 3-Button Fielding – $1125
Hunting style that’s hunting for your savings account.

$646 gets you a two button in Moon Mills Bird’s-eye tweed.  For almost double the price you’d be in a more “sporting” patch pocket equipped 3/2 button jacket made of flannel from the mill that is credited with coming up with… flannel.  Good on you if you’ve got that kind of cash to spend on a suit, and head off to the range to shoot trap in it.

Got an eye on any other tweed suits for the coldest months?  Don’t forget about the thrift store.  Might get incredibly lucky there.  And the opposite end of the price scale would be the Brooks Brothers Milano three piece.  Happy hunting.

Comments

  1. I am wearing the BR tweed today. The color is darker, leaning on the side of dark gray. The decision to use cotton was a good move by BR. It makes a suit lighter weight and more breathable than traditional tweed blazers/suits. It be worn in temperatures in the high 60’s with no problem. Much like the rest BR’s tailored fit line, it is slimmer fitting with high armholes and minimal shoulder padding. If you are going to buy a tweed suit or blazer this year, this is the one to get.

  2. why oh why won’t lands end or ll bean offer more of their suits in short lengths. just another downfall of being short.

  3. With some tailoring the LE donnegal can look quite nice. I was able to pick it up with sales for under $170 total for pants and jacket.

  5. I think you nailed it – that’s the one that pops out to me. Maybe more a traditional tweed, but tailor it to fit right, and I think it’d work with everything. I’m thinking of springing just for the jacket.

  7. That LE donnegal looks great. Never thought I’d be in the market for a brown suit, but if that drops a bit with a promo code – I’m in.

  8. J Crew has a tweed charcoat sport coat for sale that should be on this page. At $328 it’s a little pricey, but I’m wondering if it will go with jeans or make me look like a professor.

  10. The way too skinny lapels unfortunately are a deal breaker, other than that looks great.

  12. Ah, but this is just for the suits. As far as that sportcoat goes, it’s really nice but like you said, a load on the pricetag. Moon Mills tweed. Budget option would of course be the new jcp blazer. Which if you get lucky, you can size down and it might work through the sides. A medium on me in the jcp was awfully boxy.

  13. I just got the blue tweed suit from Indochino.

    I’ll post up a review when it comes in a few weeks.

    It’s oddly missing from their website, but looked awesome when I saw it in person at the traveling tailor in NYC yesterday, and I had to bite.

  14. Fair enough. I checked out the sport coats/blazers JCP had, was disappointed with the quality. I think I might just have to hope there’s a JCrew sale sometime in the near future (Christmas anyone?) and hop on it then. I need something to wear with jeans and the dark charcoal color is very nice. I wasn’t looking for tweed and have never worn it before, but like I said, as long as it doesn’t come off too much like something I borrowed from a college professor I’m fine.

  15. Purchased this last year at a comparable price point. Really wanted to like it, but the jacket just didn’t measure up. Fabric was surprisingly thin, seemed to be quite loosely stitched in places, and the shoulders were off somehow. Maybe the slope or the expression or some other sartorial term I don’t fully understand, but it hung awkwardly and looked a bit cheap. A crying shame, because I’m quite enamored with donnegal. Thank you Joe for reminding me of this painful episode.

  16. I purchased the tweed pants from H&M while in London the other week. I’ve gotten numerous compliments of them, being dressy yet very slim, my style. Slight alterations are needed- letting out the crotch and major hemming, but off the rack it’s a moderately good fit. Now for the blazer. (Don’t worry I’m a 38s)

  18. really like the color appearance of the H&M pants

    Any suggestions on where to find something like these closer to 100% wool and better quality?

  20. I don’t think I have owned wool pants with so much synthetic in them (some pairs are like 10% that I have.

    Does that change the feel of these?