2.07.2012

foundations: timeless essentials

Susie Bubble in her Barbour via

i've set up a new essentials feature in my blog tabs menu. this will allow me to periodically assess what is working in my wardrobe. i've also organized accordingly some of my relevant older posts and reviews, so hopefully it will be helpful as well!

incidentally, i found this rather charming article on the storied Barbour jacket.

for instance, did you know that
Today Barbour remains entirely family-owned, and run solely by women: Dame Margaret and her daughter Helen, now 45, who is the vice-president.
another fun snippet:

The oldest jacket that Barbour is aware of dates back to 1911 and is fondly known as Uncle Harry. It belonged to three generations of the Macpherson-Fletcher family before they donated it to Barbour's private archive collection, still in good condition. Dame Margaret's oldest jacket is the Durham. 'My husband designed it just before he died. It was based on a New Zealand jacket. We still make it but we call it something else. I've had mine since 1970 and still wear it.'
here's the official line on how to care for your Barbour to make it last a lifetime:
Barbour recommends that jackets are re-waxed once a year for optimum lifespan, and the South Shields factory alone receives 13,000 per year to be repaired, re-proofed or altered. 
and finally,
The brand has created a new jacket lining and weekend bag using a photograph of all the miscellany found in pockets and linings over the years, including £120 in cash, sheeps' tails, foxes' teeth, a phial of monkey blood, love letters and the keys to St James's Palace.

ha! certainly makes the odd packet of tissues and cab receipts in my Barbour pockets seem even more mundane by comparison!

 
vintage blog photo (per Pret a Porter P's request!): wearing my Barbour bedale in 2010. with saint james shirt, vintage necklace, j brand jeans, loeffler randall boots

read the rest of the article from the Telegraph here.

P.S.: now i'm curious...what's in your coat pockets??

32 comments:

  1. Do you still like/recommend the Virginia Johnson shawl? I'm considering getting one and would love to know you thoughts. Please excuse if this is a duplicate comment. Computer issues.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yes i do! thanks for reminding me - i just updated my essentials list as well and with a link to my review :)

      Delete
  2. hah, i just found a half-eaten granola bar in my Bedale pocket!

    i highly recommend re-waxing at least once, if not twice a year. the cotton fabric is very delicate without the wax and will tear easily. it doesn't take much time to do it, and one tin of thorn-proof dressing has lasted me nearly 4 waxing jobs.

    i love that the Queen has to pay for her Barbours!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. hehe! thanks for the re-waxing tip, erica! have you just done it yourself at home, or taken it in to the shop?

      i love that Barbour makes everyone buy their own too!

      Delete
  3. Such an interesting article! It makes me wish I had grabbed a Barbour jacket I had seen on sale.

    My pockets are pretty mundane as well. Right now my jacket pockets contain: Blackberry, bike keys, and a cough drop wrapper. Nowhere near as exciting as a phial of monkey blood unfortunately.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. as far as i know the classic Barbour styles never go on sale. but it's one of the few items that i will gladly pay full retail for.

      hehehe i also want to know whose Barbour pockets had the keys to St. James Palace!!

      Delete
  4. Very cool! Chipotle receipts, lint, and coins in mine haha...

    objectslog.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  5. Is that Susie Bubble? I love my Barbour jacket to bits. Let's see, I always have receipts, tissues, lip balm and bobby pins in my coat pockets. I would like to think I'd be pretty good about cleaning out my coat pockets before sending them in for repairs!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. yep! but it's just so interesting the stuff that's in pockets...especially pockets that have a history! like, what does Karl Lagerfeld keep in his pockets?

      Delete
  6. I always make sure not to leave money in my coat pockets haha when i find it i'm not happy, im angry that i couldve lost the money forever!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. you know i am terribly fussy about keeping all my cash in my wallet at all times. the CdG wallet is great for that ;)

      Delete
    2. i always think its a great surprise to "discover" $5/$10 now and then.

      Delete
    3. hehe! orrrr to "redeem" a giant bag of change at the Coinstar... :D

      Delete
  7. I'm embarassed to say that each time I go to put on my coat I first need to empty its pockets of rubbish, such as used tissues, receipts and wrappers. I never find any money :(

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ahh yes. i think we've all been guilty of that! but rubbish tells a story too, no?

      Delete
  8. just updated my post :) sadly i think you're totally right about the unfortunate swing of things in a lot of established companies...

    i always bring a small pack of tissues with me. you just never know when you may need one!

    ReplyDelete
  9. Kinda cracking up over this little "pocket" game! Mine would contain dog treats, no doubt.

    I have been debating one forever and you are so cute in yours that I've decided this is my year-- I've always worried that I would look a bit stodgy or frumpy but you look anything but!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. oh i hope you get one! there are so many pockets in the Barbour to stash dog treats, and you'll surely be warm and chic for many seasons to come! :)

      Delete
  10. it's such a beautiful jacket. I WANT THIS SO MUCH!!! you look fantastic with it.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks Joy! i cannot recommend it enough :) and if it makes you feel any better, even the queen has to buy her Barbours! no swag even for royalty!

      Delete
  11. I've only had my Bedale for about a year, but I know that I'm going to have to wax it this summer. Dang... not really looking forward to that. My pockets always contain my Blackberry, my keys and lots of tissues!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. ahh, are you planning on re-waxing it yourself? let me know how that goes! i think it's kinda cool to send it in to the factory for 'repairs' myself :)

      Delete
  12. That's a cool feature to add to your blog...sometimes we take our best essentials for granted and forget what workhorses they are.

    I just have crumpled, used tissues in my pockets, and the odd sweet wrapper. I know it's gross. On the upside, I also often find money!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. thanks! hopefully it will help make my blog a bit more organized as well.

      my curiosity has been piqued though by the article - i really wonder 1) whose barbour had the phial of monkey blood and 2) how did they surmise it to be monkey blood??? so many questions!

      Delete
  13. I prefer the cut of the mens' barbour jackets opposed to the women's ones. I was looking to get one but I dislike the sewn-in drawstring in their latest collection.
    While I don't have a Barbour (yet!), my vest pockets are full of hair pins and some change. Shall make note of stuffing love letters in there soon. :P

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. haha! indeed...the classic barbour coats with the vaunted quality are all men's styles anyway, i've not tried their women's styles.

      Delete
  14. My MIL just gave my partner a vintage hunting jacket and in it I found an old metal compass that springs open.

    In my own pockets, I have my wallet, gloves, and phone. I just walked to the grocery store with the baby in a front pack. So I only wanted to carry one bag, and that was full of groceries.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. what a cool find! does the compass still work? :)

      Delete
  15. It's crazy everytime I want to write a comment on your blog I seem to have a posting issue. Tried to comment here three times already :) I love the idea of essentials. My goal is to minimize my wardrobe to good quality essentials. Barbour is definitely on the wish list. I love the men's cut so much. I almost bought one in Paris two weeks ago, but I have so many jackets and living in Hong Kong it never gets properly cold for more than a month. I love the idea of creating something of the bits in people's pockets. Mine have reciepts, random business cards (from plumbers to photographers) hairpins, coins, notes, pens, and pages from notebooks and magazine cut outs. Baisically a creative mess of randomness :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. i think i'd need to live somewhere with properly cold fall/winter for this very reason! don't know what i'd do if i couldn't really have a good stretch of fall and winter every year given that they're my favorite seasons style-wise. :)

      Delete
  16. Very cool! Chipotle receipts, lint, and coins in mine ...

    ReplyDelete

feel free to join in on the conversation! :-) FYI, comment moderation is ON, so it may take a little while before yours appears. house rules: comments that are spam, rude, or otherwise unrelated to the post will be deleted.