Horsehide in the Rain: Keeping a Leather Jacket Through Winter

Can a leather jacket get wet? Josh Sirlin on what horsehide wants in the wet months: slow drying away from heat, a wide hanger, a light hand with conditioner, and a brush for roughout commander jackets.

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The Cold Is Here and So Is the Tweed

Every length of Harris Tweed is woven by hand in somebody's own house on an island in the North Atlantic. Seven of our tweed jackets and coats are on the rack right now, and the Moss Fire Tartan zip coat lands in December. Plus the 15oz button fly Cowboy jeans back November 10 and the holiday jacket preorders.

What Makes a Great Peacoat

The best men's wool peacoat comes down to the cloth, the cut, the buttons and the lining. Josh Sirlin on every detail of the Black Bear Brand peacoat, 14.7oz wool from Aichi-Ichinomiya, made entirely in Japan.

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The Winter Coat Worth Owning for the Next Ten Years

Which men's winter coat is worth investing in for the next ten years? Josh Sirlin on dense wool, honest weight, the lining and the sewing room, and the Black Bear Brand coats made to last that long.

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Cold Is Coming

Fall is here, winter is next, and the holidays are around the corner. A walk through the jackets. Harris Tweed, melton wool, the peacoats, the ONE jean jacket, roughout COMMANDER Horween leather, the Northern Dream, the reversible vests, and the sweaters.

Five Centuries of the Jacket

The word is French and more than five hundred years old, and fall is when it matters most. Josh Sirlin on the jacket, and the jackets of Black Bear Brand.

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The Northern Dream Vest Turns Inside Out

Horsehide one way, long curl lambskin the other, and a zipper that works from both sides. Josh Sirlin on the Northern Dream reversible vest.

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The Northern Dream Jacket Starts With the Hide

Before the lambskin, the quilting and the snaps, there is the hide. Josh Sirlin on Horween horsehide and where the Northern Dream jacket begins.

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Leadership Is Standing Next to the Best

Shackleton brought every man home. A chain stitch artist has given twenty five years to one craft. Josh Sirlin on leadership, craftsmanship, and the ART Edition varsity jacket.

Midnight Glen

The glen check came out of one Scottish valley in the 1840s and never left. Josh Sirlin on the pattern, and on the Midnight Glen Tartan Harris Tweed coming to Black Bear Brand.

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The Engineer Stripe

A striped cloth that belonged to this company and to no one else, on a garment that is about a hundred and ten years old. Josh Sirlin on the archive, and on what is coming with TCB.

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Woven at Home

The loom is pedalled like a bicycle, in the weaver's own house, on an island in the North Atlantic. Josh Sirlin on what hand woven actually means on a Harris Tweed.

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One Pocket

The name is not a boast. It is a count. Josh Sirlin on the ONE Jean Jacket, on warp density, and on the years spent looking for denim worth cutting.

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Midnight Glen, Wildflower, Moss Fire

Three new Harris Tweeds are woven for Black Bear Brand in Scotland every year, and Josh Sirlin makes three jackets from them. Here are this fall's three, starting with the Midnight Glen Tartan.

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The Art of Chainstitching

One thread, one needle, one hand turning a crank under the table. Josh Sirlin on the 1865 machine that still cannot be improved on, and on four days of stitching one jacket.

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The Roughout Commander Jacket

Roughout Horween horsehide with the raw side out, no lining, and vintage snaps. Josh Sirlin on the commander jacket, on roughout leather, and on the friends who have put real miles on theirs.

Why Wool Owns the Fall

Wool works wet, holds a shape for decades, and gets better looking as it goes. Josh Sirlin on the fall jacket, on tweed, and on the three that get woven for us each year in Scotland.

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The Lining Nobody Sees

Cupro is made from the fuzz left on a cotton seed. Josh Sirlin on the quietest luxury in a coat and why ours is made in Japan.

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The Western Jacket, and the Chicago Tannery That Makes the Leather

Five generations of tanners on the Chicago River, and a jacket cut in Seattle. Josh Sirlin on horsehide, the rough-out finish, and a very limited run of the westerns.

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Seattle Is a Coat Town

Less rain than New York, spread over twice as many days. Josh Sirlin on what Seattle weather does to a wardrobe, and why our coats are made here.

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