Products With Personality
Products with Personality: Academic Scarves
Academic scarves, also known as rowing scarves, have their origins in the annual boat race between Oxford and Cambridge Universities. Beginning in the 19th Century, both schools competed heavily to develop a superior rowing team, sending their boats out in all weather. Rowers bundled up against the cold in scarves, and soon each school developed its own pattern of knit stripes to differentiate its rowers on and off the water.
Products with Personality: Baracuta Jacket
Before the 1930s, athletic wear often consisted of an unstructured sport coat or a sleeveless sweater, which would allow freedom of movement while keeping the wearer relatively warm. In colder, windier weather though, athletes needed a layer that would protect them from the elements while allowing their bodies to move and breathe. Some early windbreaker designs included button-front unlined leather jackets or canvas pullovers, each of which had their own drawbacks, but with the invention of the zipper a new windbreaker was developed which would become a menswear mainstay: the Baracuta jacket.
Timeless Traditions: Donegal Tweed
As we’ve discussed in a previous blog post, the wool cloth collectively known as tweed was developed as a hard-wearing material for country wear in Scotland and Ireland. Using locally produced wool, regional tweeds evolved to suit the needs of the outdoorsmen who would wear them, resulting in variations that would come to represent the style of entire regions of the British Isles.
Products With Personality: Chrysalis Field Jacket
Centuries of hunting and fishing in rural Britain have led to the evolution of a hardy, practical, and stylish piece of outerwear that is useful in all kinds of settings and weather. Often called the shooting jacket or the field coat, it is a roomy, weatherproof garment with large pockets intended for shotgun shells or other gear, and a wide collar to shield the wearer’s neck. In 1985, Chrysalis England began producing its own version of this iconic jacket, which the Andover Shop is proud to provide to you.
Products with Personality: The Chrysalis Alpaca-lined Overcoat
Chrysalis England has been producing high-quality outerwear in the UK since 1985. They are particularly well-known for their warm, casual Field Coat designs, which The Andover Shop has carried for years. This year however, Chrysalis looked back at the history of men’s outerwear and forward to what may be a very cold winter, producing a classically-styled coat that will guard against the roughest weather.
Timeless Traditions: Camel Hair
The cornerstone of menswear in spring and summer is a pair of khaki chinos, which are a hard-wearing piece in a neutral color which goes with everything. But when the weather shifts towards fall and winter temperatures and our standard trousers become grey wool or dark corduroy, that provides a chance to wear that neutral shade in other styles and materials, and there is no better example than camel hair.
