Made in England, Organic Cotton T’shirt £29 TweedVixen Boutique
Made in England, Tweed Mini Skirt £145 TweedVixen Boutique
It’s common knowledge that there is a difference between fashion and style. Fashion is something that people are interested in right now but may not be interested in when we skip forward in time. It might be 10 years before a fashion dies out, it might only be a matter of weeks or months but nevertheless fashion is to put it bluntly, a fad. Style, on the other hand, is something that will always be popular. A good example of this is the Mini Cooper and another good example is a well-tailored Harris tweed jacket. People will want something stylish for the rest of time.
I’m Harry Bakewell, head of graphics, photography and social media at retweed. I’m part of a three man team who have recently started a website selling vintage tweed jackets at affordable prices. We are all students and one Saturday afternoon, while socialising, we got onto the topic of vintage clothing. We all liked the tweed jackets, brogues and other vintage clothing because it could be worn by people of all ages and would always be stylish. The problem for us was that it was so expensive to buy. Any high street retailer sells replicas for £60-£80 and many of the vintage shops or those selling the originals were charging £40-£60 for a Harris tweed jacket which for a student isn’t affordable. We didn’t think any more of the subject and forgot about it. Well, the rest of us had forgotten about it, Nathan Marshall & Carl Willimott hadn’t though. They had both thought about it significantly after our conversation and decided that they could source some vintage clothing and then sell it to me and our friends, who couldn’t afford the shops prices. This went well and the whole of our friend group ended up wearing tweed jackets to almost every occasion. After the success of this venture they did some research into how popular this clothing was on a countrywide scale and the results were unanimous. People liked vintage.
I was then added to the team to take photos and do any design work, I then offered to do the social media side of the business. Between us, we had a good skill set to go out and make a business to help get vintage clothing out to the people who loved it but just couldn’t afford it. retweed was born.
Our mission is to find out what vintage clothing people want, source this clothing and then sell it to them for a price that is affordable. So if you are reading this and there is something missing from your wardrobe then let us know and we will try to help.
Check out our website www.retweed.co.uk and let us know what you think. We are due to be adding more Harris tweed, Levi jeans, Levi’s womens shorts, Barbour jackets and more as soon as possible so follow us @retweed_cnk to get the latest updates. Thanks for reading.
Pippa Middleton attended Cheltenham races this afternoon sporting a rather fluffy hat. We love it at TweedVixen and stock a similar hat ourselves, our Alpaca Hat.
Pictures Source Daily Mail
What do you think of her hat?
When Lalydo, blogger from Brittany, left the above map with the tartans of Brittany on my Facebook page, telling me that she had thought about me when she had seen it, I was really happy. I have to admit that I had only been interested in Scottish tartans beforehand. So today, I would like to tell you more about tartans of Brittany.
You will certainly know that Brittany shares celtic origins with Scotland, Ireland and Wales. In order to celebrate this common heritage, an interceltic festival has been organised every year in August in Lorient since 1971.
So it’s no real surprise to find kilt wearers in Brittany. But what comes more as a surprise perhaps is the fact that Brittany has had its own tartans only since 2002. If a Breton wanted to wear a kilt before that date, he had to pick one from the Scottish or Irish tartans.
Richard Duclos wearing a kilt source: Blog Breizh
In 1999, Richard Duclos who was born in Brittany and who is the owner of the Maison du kilt (House of kilts) in Paris had the idea to create Brittany’s’ first own tartan. It is called Brittany National and was registered in the Official Scottish Register of Tartan in 2002.
Brittany National
The colours of the tartan have all symbolic value: black and white stand for the colours of Brittany’s flag, green stands for the land, blue for the sea, and the nine squares stand for Brittany’s nine counties.
Once the tartan went into production, some associations of kilt wearers formed like the Amis en kilt (friends in kilt) and the Breizhlanders (Breizh= Brittany and landers from Highlanders) and they were all so enthusiastic about tartans and kilts that another nine tartans were registered, one for each county. The colours for the tartans were chosen from the colours present in each flag.
Source: Flaviuspub
Nowadays, Brittany has 16 tartans. The Brittany National now exists in another two colours: the Brittany Walking and the Brittany Grey:
Le Brittany Walking (Randonnée bretonne
Le Brittany National Grey
The Knight Breton honours Brittany’s knights
Le tartan du Pays Bigouden
Le tartan Mont d’Arée
Le tartan de l’île d’Ouessant
For more information about tartans of Brittany, go to:
TartanGirl Alba writes for Tartangirl’s Wardrobe, the first french blog dedicated to tartan and tweed. She is a lover of Scotland and British style.
I grew up in rural Norfolk so in my head British fashion to me means Tweed caps, Knitwear jumpers, wellies and gilets – A typically British, country look. More and more iconic British looks are progressing on to our high streets and catwalks.
Knitwear
We Brits love our Knitwear, and rightly so with the winter have just had. What is better than throwing on your favourite chunky knitwear sweater or cardigan and curling up in front of a log fire, reading a good book? British Knitwear became well known when Henry Poole & Co opened up shop in 1806 to clothe the armed forces for the battle of Waterloo. However it wasn’t until after World War One that wool really came into its own in the UK with women’s fashion changing to a more androgynous style. Since then Wool has been a staple in the British fashion world and is often featured on catwalks worldwide.
Tweed
Tweed has to be one of my favourite materials. Everything from the way it’s made to its debonair look. Tweed adds a bit of country infused glamour to any outfit. It has been modernised by many a Brand and there are literally hundreds of styles out there and more than enough colours to fit to any outfit. Tweed originated in Scotland in the 18th century as a heavier, warmer material for the chilly Scottish weather. Its use became synonymous throughout the 19th century with outerwear for the privileged while hunting. Tweed is a typically British, from its colour to its thickness it breathes British into every outfit.
British fashion is about the way something is created not just the style. Many of our fashion choices were made through the necessity for hard wearing and warm materials but it is through impeccable workmanship that these old school beauties have been able to take pride of place in our ever growing British fashion portfolios.
Tweed making video
<p><a href=”http://vimeo.com/59717582″>Behind The Tweed – Jigsaw Spring Summer 2013</a> from <a href=”http://vimeo.com/insidejigsaw”>Jigsaw</a> on <a href=”http://vimeo.com”>Vimeo</a>.</p>
Author Bio:
Written by Leslie Harding on behalf of Jigsaw who create and sell beautifully British knitwear and tweed items. All images provided by Jigsaw.
Hooded Top with matching camisole, available in Teal or Purple Was £30 Now £20. Designed and made in England.
Available at TweedVixen Boutique
I love the classic style of Dave Griffiths outfit for this video. He is definitely a TweedVixen Pin Up! What do you think?
The TweedVixen Boutique has it covered if you want to stay cosy and stylish in this freezing weather…
Beautiful brooches hand-made in Britain using the stunning feathers of the Guinea Fowl www.tweedvixen.co.uk
GET THE LOOK
100% Lambswool Sweater Red Spice. Made in Scotland Was £65 now £45
Wax Quilt Gilet Black. Made in England Was £49.50 now £35
Tweedvixen's Blog 