{"product_id":"40-s-british-vintage-houndstooth-sports-jacket","title":"[~40’s] British Vintage Houndstooth Sports Jacket","description":"\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA ‘Houndstooth Sports Jacket’ made in Britain, estimated to date from around the 1940s.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWell, this really is an elegant thing.\u003cbr\u003eA piece of this age surviving in a pattern this composed is, honestly, not something one comes across often.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSome may take the name ‘sports jacket’ to mean a garment for athletics.\u003cbr\u003eIt refers, originally, to a coat tailored for British country life — that is, for outdoor pursuits such as shooting and the hunt.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLess formal than the coat of a suit, and yet keeping up a gentleman's appearance.\u003cbr\u003eThis kind of garment was born to fill that middle ground.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn time, after the war, it settled into place as a casual coat that could be worn in town as well.\u003cbr\u003eThis piece stands at that point of transition — a genuinely interesting position to occupy.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe clue to its period lies in the front zip.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe slider is stamped \"LIGHTNING\", from the old fastener maker based in Birmingham.\u003cbr\u003eWhat is more, the zip on this piece is of the single-prong type, a construction of a very early period.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt differs from later mass-produced zips in the very way the metal catches the light, and the weight under the finger when drawn is something else entirely.\u003cbr\u003eThis point alone tells us that this is a considerably early example.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThat the buttonholes at the cuffs have been worked by hand is proof of the same period.\u003cbr\u003eThe edge of a hole turned and whipped one stitch at a time has an expression quite unlike the uniform work of a machine.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLet us look, in turn, at the details that define the model.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWhat first draws the eye is the arched seam crossing the chest.\u003cbr\u003eKnown as an umbrella yoke, it is a make devised to shed rain outwards from the shoulders, as an umbrella does.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIt is a design possible only in a coat intended to be worn outdoors, yet the mere presence of that curve brings dimension to the chest and tightens the whole bearing considerably.\u003cbr\u003eA fine example of a form born of function turning out, in the end, to be beautiful.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAt either side of the waist sit hand-warmer pockets cut vertically.\u003cbr\u003eThe pattern has been matched exactly across the seam, so at a glance one scarcely notices the pockets are there.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cuffs fasten with shell-effect buttons.\u003cbr\u003eThey hold a lustre that shifts through the spectrum as the light turns — a depth plastic could never produce.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what took hold of me most in this jacket is the lining.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAgainst a composed black-and-white houndstooth outside, the inside is a buffalo check in \"red × navy\".\u003cbr\u003eBy any ordinary reckoning the two ought to quarrel, and yet, curiously, they are in accord.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWorn open, a glimpse of red shows at the turn of the lapel.\u003cbr\u003eThe charm of that moment is, I think, difficult to convey fully in a photograph.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no composition label, so I cannot state it with certainty, but I take it to be a wool cloth with rayon blended in.\u003cbr\u003eTaken in the hand it has a fluid fall, and for all its rugged appearance it is surprisingly light.\u003cbr\u003eThat distinctive handle shared with the American rayon jackets of the day.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe colour is a small-scale houndstooth woven in black and white.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOver it is laid a windowpane check, and looking closely one finds a pale green drawn into those lines.\u003cbr\u003eFrom a distance it appears entirely monotone; step nearer and the colour suddenly rises.\u003cbr\u003eThis hidden note is thoroughly British, and when I first noticed it I could only sigh with admiration.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe base being monotone, it is a patterned piece that nonetheless refuses no colour.\u003cbr\u003eFor anyone who would like to bring pattern into their wardrobe while avoiding anything loud, it may be the ideal choice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTake it monotone throughout with a black roll-neck, or break it down casually over denim.\u003cbr\u003eIn either case, the red glimpsed at the open lapel will do good work.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere is no size marking, but judging from the measurements I should think it corresponds to a Japanese \"S ~ M\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eShort in length and compactly composed — the balance of its day.\u003cbr\u003eThe armholes are cut rather narrow, however, so it is a piece I would particularly recommend to those of slighter build.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThere are signs of use — soiling, abrasion, fraying, small holes and tears — but no significant damage that would affect wear, so there is plenty of life left in it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThis cloth could perhaps still be woven today.\u003cbr\u003eBut a single-prong zip, and buttonholes turned by hand one stitch at a time, no longer hold together within modern production.\u003cbr\u003eThe labour does not answer to the price.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eA jacket someone in Britain slipped on for their day off, eighty years ago.\u003cbr\u003eThat quiet sense of style remains exactly as it was.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThrown over a shirt on a slightly cold autumn morning, on the way out.\u003cbr\u003eA piece that makes such an unremarkable day a little richer, I think.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"VIEUX ET NOUVEAU","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47982182826162,"sku":"J01096","price":74800.0,"currency_code":"JPY","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0554\/2140\/3314\/files\/J01096-1_925b4d69-4380-4acb-af39-8f8dc6026986.jpg?v=1788334394","url":"https:\/\/vieuxetnouveau-shop.com\/en\/products\/40-s-british-vintage-houndstooth-sports-jacket","provider":"VIEUX ET NOUVEAU","version":"1.0","type":"link"}