It’s a shame how many classic styles of tailored clothing disappear as time moves on. Topcoats and overcoats, especially. With fewer and fewer men wearing suits and sport coats nowadays, retailers have little incentive to sell the kind of outerwear that traditionally accompanied them. We have a hundred companies at this point offering designer versions of the Army M-65 jacket, but perhaps a quarter of that number selling classic overcoats.

Some styles have fared better than others, however. The generic, single-breasted topcoat is sold everywhere, and many American stores still offer the polo. Tweedy Ulsters and wool Loden coats, on the other hand, are near impossible to find.

One coat that seems to hang by a thread is the Balmacaan – a long, loose-fitting style made with a fly front and raglan sleeves. Since it was designed to keep the rain and wind out, the collar can be buttoned all the way up to the neck, and the coat’s shell is typically made from a densely woven gabardine (like you’d expect for a trench) or heavy tweed. Supposedly, those raglan sleeves are also better at keeping the water out than set-in sleeves, but I’ve always thought that was marketing speak.  

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Denim and leather go together like flannel and tweed. This past holiday weekend, I’ve been wearing leather jackets a lot with jeans, often with a textured sweater underneath and just the tiniest bit of t-shirt peeking out from beneath the hem. Nothing overly long, like what seems to be in fashion nowadays, but enough to make the look feel more relaxed and casual. Shoes also tend to be minimalistic, such as Chelsea boots, side zips, or plain white sneakers. 

In the above, I have a tan, suede Harrington with a navy Donegal sweater, pair of beat-up jeans, some white high-tops, a checked gray scarf, and a brown saddle leather belt. Harrington jackets are tricky things. Once part of the uniform of British working-class youth – such as mid-century mods, skins, and soul boys, all the way up to the Britpop scene of the 1990s – they feel a lot tamer in recent years. More aligned with their Ivy Style roots than the British streetwear scene that gave them their edge. I’d like to think mine looks a little less dad-ish than the ones made by Baracuta, but it’s still a conservative jacket. 

The other is less conservative. A black leather piece by Maison Martin Margiela, it riffs off the classic cafe racer by placing two large diagonal zippers across the front body. I’ve been surprised by how easy this is to wear with jeans, t-shirts, and knits. In the photo below, I’ve paired it with a textured wool-mohair sweater, which plays off of the more minimalistic leather jacket, jeans, belt, and side zip boots. I’ve liked this piece so much that I’ve been hoping to get another at some point – preferably in navy. If I do, it’ll of course be worn with jeans. Denim and leather is an unbeatable combo.

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Today’s Black Friday, the biggest sale season of the year. I’ve compiled a list of every Black Friday sale over at Put This On, but for a more condensed version, here are some of my favorites. 

• Self Edge: 14% off with the code LetsDrink2014. I’ve been wearing this Stevenson flight jacket a lot lately with 3sixteen jeans. (incidentally, 3sixteen is offering 10% off with the code BF2014).
• East Dane: Take up to 25% off your order with the code GOBIG14. The key is to stack the promotion with their sale items, where you can find stuff from brands such as Aspesi, SNS Herning, and Patrik Ervell. Narrow their stock by using the search filter for brands. 
• Ralph Lauren: Spend more, save more event (use the code CYBER14). Stack this promotion with their sale items, which are already discounted by up to 60%. I just picked up these RRL jeans. 
• Brooks Brothers: Up to 25% off, depending on how you pay. Again, the key is to stack the promotion with their sale items. I like some of the shirts and accessories in the Black Fleece section. 
• End: Take 25% off with the code BLACKFRIDAY25. Lots of great casualwear here, such as stuff from Nigel Cabourn, Engineered Garments, Common Projects, Stutterheim, and Nanamica. You can use this list I recently compiled for a quick roundup of notable items.
• Skoaktiebolaget: 10% off all items with the code BLK2014. The discount isn’t big, but their retail prices are already very competitive. Their Edward Green shoes, for example, start around $800 once you discount for VAT.
• Margiela’s 5-zip leather jacket: My favorite leather jacket as of late. SSENSE has it in dark grey, The Corner has them in blue, and Oki-Ni has it black. Use the code CYBER14 to get a 20% discount at The Corner and BLACKFRIDAY to get a 30% discount at Oki-Ni. You can pair the jacket with jeans and minimalist looking shoes. 
• Mr. Porter: And of course, Mr. Porter has select times available at 30% off. You can check out some of the finds I listed here.

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Mr. Porter’s end-of-the-season sale just started. 30% off most items, which is automatically taken off at checkout. Some notable finds:

• Outerwear: Tons of great outerwear. Check out this shearling lined 5-zip leather jacket from Maison Martin Margiela, indigo sashiko coat from Blue Blue Japan, leather A-2 bomber jacket from Polo Ralph Lauren, field jacket and quilted bomber from Aspesi, tan bomber jacket and navy topcoat from AMI, navy Donegal bomber jacket from Private White VC, blue suede A-1 from Todd Snyder, and belted motorcycle jacket from Belstaff. Also worth checking out are these Mackintosh jackets and this J. Crew bomber. Judging from my experience with J. Crew’s other Wallace & Barnes products, the last one is probably a great value.
• Shoes: A few shoe brands are included in the sale, such as Quoddy, Heschung, Margiela, Yuketen, Car Shoe, and Common Projects. I also like these APC side zips and Raf Simons derbies.
• Knitwear: In the knitwear section, there’s a blue waffle knit from Blue Blue Japan, handsome burnt ochre sweater from Hardy Amies, chunky shawl collar cardigan from Ovadia & Sons, slouchy rollneck from Margaret Howell, and chunky navy crewneck from Our Legacy. Also not to be missed are the cashmere pieces from William Lockie and textured bubble-knit sweaters from SNS Herning.
• Shirts: Neat patchwork shirt by Neighborhood, red flannel shirts by Saturdays NYC and Ovadia & Sons, and a boiled wool overshirt you can use as a lightweight outerwear piece. Also, check out of some of the shirts by Ralph Lauren, Aspesi, Gitman Vintage, Alex Mill, Emma Willis, and J. Crew. The last has stuff for as little as $45.
• Jeans: Although Mr. Porter isn’t know for their denim, they do have some great jeans on sale. Check out the sections for APC, Levis Made & Crafted, Levis Vintage Clothing, and Jean Shop.
• Accessories: Lastly, there are some Lock & Co. caps, Drake’s ties and pocket squares, Bresciani socks, Anderson belts, Filson bags, and Trianon cufflinks.
  

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Just as we have comfort foods, we have comfort clothes – the soft feel of heavy flannel trousers; the familiarity of a button-down collar shirt; and the scratchiness of tweed that can make us feel protected. Last month, my friend David wrote an interesting history on Donegal tweed at No Man Walk’s Alone’s blog. 

As David put it, Donegal tweed is the product of Irish self-efficacy and survivalism. Ireland has always been a major exporter of linen, but for most of its history, its wool production has lagged – thanks in part to British tariffs against foreign wool. As a result, the production of Donegal tweed maintained its labor-intensive methods well into the 20th century since there was no need for mass production. And when England established a trade board to help increase Irish linen production by distributing linen spinning wheels, the residents of Donegal – who lived in a climate too cold for growing flax – took those wheels and ingeniously made them spin wool.

Of course, tweed in Donegal is now woven on modern machines, but its production remains fairly small and artisanal (at least when compared to other mills). Molloy & Sons, for example, is just a two-man operation (literally a Molloy and his son) that weaves in a small building next to the family’s home. Most of what they produce nowadays is for fashion labels in the US, Western Europe, and Japan (this season's Eidos’ field jacket and topcoat was made from their cloth). My friend and colleague Jesse at Put This On made a great video about them here.

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Funny how good shoes can make you welcome bad weather. It’s been drizzly here in the Bay Area, with heavier showers predicted for the not-to-distant future. Shell cordovan boots used to be my go-to rain shoes, but shell tends to spot with water, which requires some annoying upkeep (you can quickly brush them out with a horsehair brush, but it’s work). So instead, I’ve been wearing rubbers lately.

LL Bean’s duck boots are some of the best when it comes to rubber rain shoes. Excellently built and relatively low-priced, they’re backed by a lifetime satisfaction guarantee and – surprisingly – go well with a number of casual outfits. For more serious rain shoes, there are Wellington boots. Based off of leather Hessian boots, which come high and fit trim, these rubber boots are designed to keep the water out when you’re wading through bogs, going through tall grass, or walking across muddy ground.

Of course, few of us do farm work or hunt, so these are a bit overkill for city use. However, if you’re in heavier rain, a tall boot can help keep water from soaking up your hem and migrating to your calf. They’re also good for keeping debris and water from splashing onto your pants. Plus, I think they just look awesome. Arguably better with certain styles of raincoats than the more casual duck boot – and it’s always nice to have options.

Among wellies, I really like Le Chameau – a French brand that seems to spare no effort in reminding you that their boots are handmade (to the degree rubber boots can be handmade) and the preferred choice of European royalty. I don’t know if any of that matters to me, but they are handsome and come with more secure feeling treads. Their flagship model is the Chasseur, which comes lined in a variety of materials. The ones with Neoprene or shearling are insulating and warm, which is nice if you suffer from cold feet. The leather-lined one isn’t as warm, but it’s a bit more comfortable, which is great for long walks. 

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I love old clothing catalogs. For the kind of damp, cold weather we’ve been having, here’s a throwback Barbour catalog from the autumn of 1962 – printed back when the company still offered country suits and shoes. Those shoes used to be made by John White, a Northampton firm that has sadly gone into steep decline (I don’t believe they’re actually even made in the UK anymore). Those, of course, have been discontinued from Barbour’s line, but what remains is what Barbour has always been most known for: outerwear. 

Here you’ll find Barbour’s Thornproof coats for hunting and fishing; iconic belted International jackets (which back then was sold as part of a suit), and rubberproof riding coats. I actually spent a bit of time last week searching for a riding coat online, after having read this post at A Suitable Wardrobe. One seller I found described it as “something great for historical re-enactment.” That admittedly gave me some pause, but probably won’t stop me from eventually buying one. I’ll wear it to costume parties. 

Another favorite is the anorak you see in the second-to-last photo below. Made from a densely woven, light fawn Gabardine, this piece featured an attached hood, a single Kangaroo pocket, and two flapped hip pockets. Internal wind cuffs helped keep the chill out and a drawcord waist helped give the garment some shape. If it were made today, I’d mostly certainly buy one.

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Old LL Bean catalogs can be really fun to flip through this time of year. To be sure, they print and mail out catalogs year-round, but it’s their rubber duck boots, handsewn moccasins, and heavy field coats that feel so representative of the company – and so quintessentially fall.

I’ve collected some of their catalogs throughout the years. Here’s one from 1959, which was printed just a short while after they first introduced their women’s wear collection. Like with most mail order catalogs (at those dealing with clothing), the women’s stuff is put at the front of the book, while menswear is placed at the back. Included in this one is also LL Bean’s outdoor gear spread throughout. I’ve skipped the women’s wear and outdoor supplies for the sake of brevity, but there are still plenty of menswear things to keep one amused. And impressively, fifty-five years later, also plenty of things I’d happily buy. 

The whole Americana trend seems to have passed, as fewer and fewer menswear blogs talk about brands such as LL Bean. However, as the writer behind Heavy Tweed Jacket once wrote about this stuff (when he was still writing), they feel forever appealing because they have a sense of “genuineness” to them. Perhaps a little hokey, but also hard to deny. 

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Despite ever-climbing prices in fashion, there are still some things that remain both good and affordable. For the kind of rugged belts you might want to wear with jeans, Scott Willis over at Don’t Mourn Organize makes some of the best around. His company’s name comes from the old pro-labor rallying cry of Joe Hill. A miner and labor organizer, Hill was framed for murder and sentenced to death in the early 20th century. In the days leading up to his execution, he sent a message to his friend Bill Haywood (co-founder of the IWW), where he wrote: “Goodbye, Bill, I die like a true blue rebel. Don’t waste any time mourning. Organize!” Those would be memorable last words, except Hill later followed with another telegram. It was a much more pragmatic message that read: “Could you arrange to have my body hauled to the state line to be buried? I don’t want to be found dead in Utah.”

Scott says he started his company around the ideals of the labor movement – honest prices for honest labor. It sounds hokey in today’s glut of pseudo-heritage marketing, but I find that he does indeed offer great value. Much of what he makes suits the kind of rugged jackets and boots one might wear with raw denim. All over-the-top in terms of durability, and appreciable in how they age over time. 

Most of his belts, for example, are made from skirting leather, which is a kind of thick, vegetable tanned cowhide. When it’s been left “raw,” it’s called saddle leather. When it has some oils and waxes to it, it becomes harness leather. When it has even more oils and waxes added, it becomes bridle. All three are called so because of they’re typically used for – to make horse saddles, harnesses, and bridle reins. They’re incredibly durable and strong materials (as they need to be for horse riding), but they differ in terms of their finishing. The less finishing, the more character a leather will develop as it ages. 

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What is it about vintage clothes that make them so fun to look at? Photographer Jin Hidaka shot these vintage shoes and posted them on Flickr earlier this year. Many of them are in surprisingly good condition, given their age, which suggests maybe they were owned by a collector or just recently recrafted. 

Seen here are a bunch of John Lobb shoes from the 1980s and ‘90s; a pair of Poulsen Skone formal pumps, made for Alan Flusser’s label; some custom, limited edition, suede derbies from Alden, with a unique punch detailing around the quarters; 1980s espadrilles from Barney’s NY; and a pair of New & Lingwood’s butterfly loafers, which I’ve been thinking about commissioning a version of through Foster & Son. 

Some of my favorites, naturally, come from Ralph Lauren. The double buckle boots you see above, for example, is Ralph Lauren’s take on the M-1943 service boot, which was worn by American servicemen in the Second World War. I recently bought a pair of boots that look very similar. I also really want these alligator penny loafers, which apparently were sold at Ralph Lauren’s flagship store in 1983, and these Russell Moccasin boots from the late '70s. 

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