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.
Bespoke customers can get Donegal tweed from a number of places. Molloy & Sons carries a permanent stock, which you can view on their Flickr page. They can send out swatches upon request and you can order cloths directly from them. W. Bill and Porter & Harding are also worth a look. Both are now managed by Harrisons (who bought W. Bill earlier this year). You can get swatches through Harrisons, but the purchasing of cloth goes through their distributors (which here in the US would be Isles Textile Group).
For me, I just ordered two jacket lengths – a light brown tweed from Molloy & Sons, and a dark brown tweed from W. Bill (fabric number 34579). Both will be made into sport coats for next fall. Single breasted, patch pocketed, with a 3/2 front. They’ll be worn with other comfort clothes, such as suede boots and Shetland sweaters.
