That's, what Barbourism should look like!

l0fielectronic · Sep 1, 2016

I ordered a couple of jackets in a recent sale and even at 50% off returned them as they were very cheaply made and insubstantial. It seems to have largely gone the way of Clarks shoes and be about volume more than quality (while they've raised their prices substantially.)

I have had a recent Beaufort and that did seem pretty much just as well made as the very old Border I have, so maybe the 'classic' styles are still being made to a standard. Some of their collaborations seem to be better, I have a jacket they did along with Norton & Sons and that is very nicely made. But their own focus now seems to be more about the brand name than the products themselves.

Trenchfriend · Sep 1, 2016

Poly-fibre quilted jackets = cash-cow, year by year...

Massmarket-B-Series:
Burberry = 900 Euro
Belstaff = 500 Euro
Barbour = 150 Euro
Bexleys = 60 Euro storebrand

Edward · Sep 1, 2016

oneterrifichog said:
Perhaps he prefers to:

From an article in "A Continuous Lean"
FIX DON’T REPLACE | THE BARBOUR REPAIR SHOP
BY MICHAEL WILLIAMSPOSTED ON APRIL 24, 2013—FILED UNDER: FIX DON'T REPLACE, MADE IN ENGLAND, MENSWEAR

It's certainly a common philosophy among the landed gentry, and a good Barbour or similar style jacket is typically worth repairing (especially if using them for working on the land). Charles' jacket looks somewhat more of a statement piece to me, but then he has form for that, having once had a pair of John Lobb shoes repaired and, famously, specifying that the repair should be visible. I vaguely recall this came in the wake of some press critics suggesting he was an over-spender, and he wanted to make a point. Course, if he only uses that jacket for dirty conditions on farmland, I wouldn't 'waste' a new one like that either!

barnabus said:
I love a Barbour and own several, including an original International in olive wax cotton, complete with warm pile liner. I've had many over the years, but find the brand has more recently gone in a direction I don't want to follow - I suspect the Barbours I already own will last me out though!

I've always suspected that, since Belstaff was bought out by an Italian fashion house and trasitioned itself into a fashion brand, Barbour has been trying to do the same.

Trenchfriend said:
I really wouldn't wonder, if in the next years even storebrand-wax jackets would appear in our german clothing-chain stores in the streets! The Barbour-like poly-fibre quilted-jackets are for sure low-price stuff, often appearing in the seasonal fashion-sortiments. And the wax-jackets would probably appear in the premium storebrand-line.

Plausible.... I had a Barbour-style wax jacket as an overcoat for school when I was about sixteen, and it was great. Bought on a local market for £25 when the 'real thing' was about three times that. I recall wearing it until I grew out of it, though at that time the re-waxing cost seemed excessive, but still.

l0fielectronic said:
I ordered a couple of jackets in a recent sale and even at 50% off returned them as they were very cheaply made and insubstantial. It seems to have largely gone the way of Clarks shoes and be about volume more than quality (while they've raised their prices substantially.)

I have had a recent Beaufort and that did seem pretty much just as well made as the very old Border I have, so maybe the 'classic' styles are still being made to a standard. Some of their collaborations seem to be better, I have a jacket they did along with Norton & Sons and that is very nicely made. But their own focus now seems to be more about the brand name than the products themselves.

I get the impression that you have to know what you're looking at with Barbour - same as Belstaff, really. Both still do decent bits and pieces, but you need to know which versions you're looking for to filter out the fashion-flim-flammery and get the good, old-school motorcycling / country jackets. Increasingly, I think it's best to go looking for those, or similar products, from countrywear or motorcycle clothing suppliers, away from the generic fashion market. Typically you get a much better product much more cheaply than you'll find in any fasihon store.

Doctor Damage · Sep 1, 2016

l0fielectronic said:
I ordered a couple of jackets in a recent sale and even at 50% off returned them as they were very cheaply made and insubstantial. It seems to have largely gone the way of Clarks shoes and be about volume more than quality (while they've raised their prices substantially.)

I have had a recent Beaufort and that did seem pretty much just as well made as the very old Border I have, so maybe the 'classic' styles are still being made to a standard. Some of their collaborations seem to be better, I have a jacket they did along with Norton & Sons and that is very nicely made. But their own focus now seems to be more about the brand name than the products themselves.

Edward said:
I've always suspected that, since Belstaff was bought out by an Italian fashion house and trasitioned itself into a fashion brand, Barbour has been trying to do the same.

Looking at the Barbour website yesterday the only classic models I could find were the Beaufort and Bedale, neither of which I have ever considered the true classic country jackets. Even in ye olden dayes those were both "urban" jackets being too short for most rural activities or serious weather. The website doesn't say anything about "make in the UK", which makes me wonder if they only do repairs in the UK now.

Still, we can always look at old catalogues and photos of vintage jackets on e-Bay to get our kicks... ha ha

Trenchfriend · Sep 1, 2016

Doctor Damage said:
Looking at the Barbour website yesterday the only classic models I could find were the Beaufort and Bedale, neither of which I have ever considered the true classic country jackets.

Here, in Germany, the regular "Liddesdale"-jacket is the most popular actual cliché-rhombus quilted-jacket (Preppys or Poppers) , but I like the "Heritage Liddesdale" more.
But badly, storebrand made the deal, oops...

Edward · Sep 2, 2016

Doctor Damage said:
Looking at the Barbour website yesterday the only classic models I could find were the Beaufort and Bedale, neither of which I have ever considered the true classic country jackets. Even in ye olden dayes those were both "urban" jackets being too short for most rural activities or serious weather. The website doesn't say anything about "make in the UK", which makes me wonder if they only do repairs in the UK now.

Still, we can always look at old catalogues and photos of vintage jackets on e-Bay to get our kicks... ha ha

I think most of the country designs now go back to the eighties. It's certainly true that you have to be careful which one you buy if you want it to cover a jacket.

You may well be right about them shifting production overseas - I don't actually know where they manufacture now, though the fact that they're not trumpeting "made in Britain!" seems unusual, as the whole 'Brand Britain' thing does seem to matter to a lot of the market (moreso overseas, I think - we don't seem to have the same level of "buy local" thinking in the UK as the US, but we have so little manufacturing industry left here I don't thik that's often possible).

Lean'n'mean · Sep 2, 2016

Indeed Barbour does ' out source ' a lot of it's production now......I have seen a few 'made in Lithuania' labels on some Barbour jackets.
UK companies aren't the only one's who have shifted a lot of their production to foriegn countries though......the iconic American co. ' Carhartt' has relocated a lot of their manufacturing to Mexico.

l0fielectronic · Sep 5, 2016

Edward said:
What I like about the Barbour International is that they've retained the diagonal chest pocket on the left - something Belstaff have long since abandoned.

I just saw that Pike Brothers have their own copy of this design and seeing reminded me of this thread and another annoyance of the International I had briefly (I sold it as both the fit didn't really work for me and it was terrible in the rain for leaking at the seams) - That slanted pocket. It might be useful on a bike however whenever you lean far forward, or bend down, whatever you have in it gently slides out of the pocket onto the ground. Its both funny and increasingly annoying, when you forget and it happens for the nth time

Doctor Damage · Sep 5, 2016

l0fielectronic said:
I just saw that Pike Brothers have their own copy of this design and seeing reminded me of this thread and another annoyance of the International I had briefly (I sold it as both the fit didn't really work for me and it was terrible in the rain for leaking at the seams) - That slanted pocket. It might be useful on a bike however whenever you lean far forward, or bend down, whatever you have in it gently slides out of the pocket onto the ground. Its both funny and increasingly annoying, when you forget and it happens for the nth time

Great observations... that pocket does seem a bit dodgy, now that I look at it. One thing I don't like is that it's so long that the belt overlaps and rubs on the bottom corner of it.

barnabus · Sep 6, 2016

I think that's a size-dependent issue: I have an International in a 38, and the belt meets the drunken pocket as you say. I also have a 36, and on that the pocket is well clear. There seems to be much more than one size difference between the two jackets however, which I put down to another example of Barbour's cockamamie sizing.

Trenchfriend · Oct 4, 2016

Edward said:
Plausible.... I had a Barbour-style wax jacket as an overcoat for school when I was about sixteen, and it was great. Bought on a local market for £25 when the 'real thing' was about three times that. I recall wearing it until I grew out of it, though at that time the re-waxing cost seemed excessive, but still.

What did I tell you, people?

Actually, storebrand-waxed-cotton jacket in german chain-store, priced 129,99 EUR. Black fieldjacket-type.

I will have a look on it, but I don't think, that it's polyurethane-coating, instead of waxing.

xmr · Oct 4, 2016

Well, you can find these every f/w season in a lot of clothing stores - Barbour International lookalikes can be found at every motorcycle store all the time.

carl1000 · Oct 9, 2016

I have owned 2 of their jackets. On both the buttons that were sewn on literally fell of within a month. I found the quality was NOT that good. They looked cool, but the sewing in general was pretty bad for that price. These were bought in 2013-2014.

Trenchfriend · Oct 9, 2016

Typical for today, that priceworth storebrand-stuff is often better, than the classic regular brand-stuff.

Gav · Oct 9, 2016

Just sent my circa 15 year old Northumberland for reproofing and zipper restitch.
Have had a few others over the years but sold them on.
All mine have been made in England, they do good repairs too. Agree that they have become over priced now.

Monitor · Oct 9, 2016

Trenchfriend said:
Typical for today, that priceworth storebrand-stuff is often better, than the classic regular brand-stuff.

lol what's the difference between storebrand and brand stuff?

Superfluous · Oct 9, 2016

Monitor said:
lol what's the difference between storebrand and brand stuff?

Did you really just ask that question and open that door?

Monitor · Oct 9, 2016

Superfluous said:
Did you really just ask that question and open that door?

You're right - I retract my question. No question has been asked. Everyone, carry on with barbourism. :3

Lean'n'mean · Oct 9, 2016

Monitor said:
lol what's the difference between storebrand and brand stuff?

Well, on the one hand you have the major brands & on the other you have retail outlets, chain stores & supermarkets that have their own brands.

xmr · Oct 9, 2016

Trenchfriend said:
Typical for today, that priceworth storebrand-stuff is often better, than the classic regular brand-stuff.

Yeah, cheap stuff from chain stores is the knee's bees [emoji6] oh no, what did I say [emoji87][emoji51] I opened the gates of hell [emoji28]

That's, what Barbourism should look like!

l0fielectronic

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Edward

Doctor Damage

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Trenchfriend

Edward

Lean'n'mean

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That's, what Barbourism should look like!

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