The brown tweed jacket is a classic garment – it offers incredible versatility, it pairs easily with almost everything, and it has so much functionality.
In short, it’s one of our favourite pieces and it’s an absolute cornerstone in the autumn/winter wardrobe. Especially if you live in the countryside or in any small-to-medium sized town with a cold, challenging climate.
But tweed is not without issues:
- It’s too warm for some climates
- It’s often too warm for inside venues with heating
- A lighter jacket could be better for layering
- Tweed is not always suitable for city and night use
- Some people don’t like the touch of tweed
- It has certain associations that you may not identify with
So if you love the idea of a smart and versatile brown jacket, but you don’t want it to be made from tweed, we’d like to share some alternatives.
A brown cashmere jacket
The best way to urbanise the classic brown tweed jacket look is to get a brown cashmere jacket.
Cashmere is obvious a premium fabric that has a slightly hairy texture. It’s very soft to touch, and it’s warmer than regular wool.
That means you can reduce the cloth weight a bit. 300-350 gsm would be ideal for a cashmere autumn jacket, while many tweed jackets are in the heavier range of 450-800 gsm. Obviously, you will lose a bit of drape, but a lighter jacket will feel a bit more comfortable to wear.
A cashmere jacket usually looks ‘smarter’ than a tweed jacket. That makes it ideal for city use. So if you love the idea of going to a cultural venue in a brown jacket, a light blue shirt, grey flannels and brown loafers, cashmere is probably a better choice than tweed.
The brown colour makes it casual enough to be used in smaller towns and perhaps even in the countryside as well (when the weather is clear). So it’s a very versatile piece.
Downsides: A cashmere jacket won’t hold up as well in the rain, and it generally won’t last as many years as a tweed jacket. But it’ll still be very durable compared to almost everything else!
Checkered wool/cashmere jacket
Wool/cashmere forms an excellent mix. The wool makes the jacket more robust, while the cashmere gives some much needed softness.
Considering how smart a pure cashmere jacket looks, the mixed option is better if you want a step down in formality. A subtle pattern such as a glen check or windowpane is another step down in formality and could be considered. It’s an excellent alternative to a checkered tweed jacket if you still want something robust, but perhaps a bit lighter in terms of weight and texture.
This kind of jacket could be in the 340-400 gsm range and most people would probably perceive it as a tweed jacket. It would essentially have a similar look, but a very different feel, and it would be usable in some warmer climates as well as artificially heated places like most restaurants, cafes, etc.
Brown flannel jacket
Flannel is often used for suits and especially trousers. But it can also be used for jacketings, and brown flannel generally tends to look beautiful.
It’s another solid alternative to tweed. Some people just prefer the texture of flannel. The only problem is that it has to be pressed more regularly. On the positive side, you could have an entire brown flannel suit made, and use the jacket as a separate piece whenever you like (it’s certainly casual and textured enough for that).
A brown flannel jacket is just about smart enough to be used in the city, and just about casual enough to be used in smaller towns without standing out too much. So it’s yet another versatile piece that you can consider, although we do tend to prefer the two previous options more.