The Barbour Beaufort Jacket, men's stuff part one

If you’re an ex-military guy, you probably had an old comfortable field jacket or parka that you miss. The good news is that you can get that feeling back with a Barbour Beaufort Jacket. A Barbour is comfortable, durable, and good layering against the cold.

In the U.S., unless you’re a dog person or a horse person, chances are you haven’t been exposed to Barbour. At most you may have read an online reference to Barbour by someone trying to ape English style or behavior.

For the untutored, Barbour is a Brit clothing outfit best known for its wax jackets, in particular the Beaufort Jacket. (Think Jaeger LeCoultre and how it’s synonymous for its Reverso Watch.) The company has a history dating back to the 1890s and had a surge in popularity in the 1980s when prep hit its heyday. Thanks to the internet and its availability through Orvis, Barbour is also now going through a resurgence of sorts.

The Barbour Beaufort is a good field jacket and casual overcoat. Most men will take an instant love to it. What it is not, regardless of what some people on the internet tell you, is an entrance to high society or some other lofty perch. I have had maitre d’s and hotel clerks sniff down at my trusty Sylkoil Beaufort, completely unaware they were supposed to have been impressed at my good taste and breeding.

The claim to the Barbour fashionable-elite-standing comes from the fact that it holds three Royal Warrants (Her Majesty the Queen, The Duke of Edinburgh, & The Prince of Wales). The present CEO family member, Margaret Barbour, has also been named a Dame Commander of the order of the British Empire. So if you’re an anglophile, there you go.

Sylkoil vs. Egyptian Cotton

The Barbour Beaufort Jacket comes in several materials, but I will limit my discussion to the two waxed finish materials: Sylkoil (the Classic Beaufort Jacket)& Waxed Egyptian cotton (the Beaufort Original Jacket).

My old Barbour is a Sylkoil Classic Beaufort Jacket -pictured right. It is the darker (green) color of the two (almost brown), and is supposed to have been the original material used by John Barbour at the turn of the century. It reminds me of an Army Parka or one of the old Army OD Green field jackets. Since I intended it for my yearly visits to New England, I deliberately bought it too big. This allowed for comfortable movement while wearing heavy layering, such as a liner and a heavy sweater. After breaking it in, I sent the jacket to Barbour (in New Hampshire), and had the sleeves taken in by 3 centimeters. At the same time I had leather lining put on the cuffs, pockets and bottom of the coat to prevent fraying.

A word of caution on sending in your jacket to Barbour, expect a long delay. These guys aren’t quick. I sent it in during late spring of that year, and got it back in September but only after I had the Orvis clerk contact her Barbour rep about it. When I got it back, it had a “Rush” tag on it. I’m sure the tag was an attempt at humor.

As I had already worn the jacket for a season, I also had Barbour re-wax it, which brings me to the next item: it is a waxed jacket.

Some people, quite understandably, may not care for the idea of wearing an article of clothing that has wax on it. A waxed jacket also has its own distinctive smell which people may not care for. For those reasons the waxed Beaufort will never replace the LL Bean Parka with the U.S. population.

The wax also causes permanent creases in the material which will eventually become stress tears; and the wax wears out with time. As a result the jacket has to be re-waxed periodically. Barbour recommends the entire jacket be re-waxed once a year, however admits each individual may differ. They also recommend that touch ups be applied as dry spots appear.

If you’re going to have your jacket altered, make sure you wear it for a season before having the work done. The wax creases will shorten the length of the sleeves and alter the drape of the jacket.

In addition to having the factory do it, I have also re-waxed the jacket myself. The key is to it is: a) not make a mess – clean as you go, and b) allow plenty of time for the jacket to dry. Barbour sells its own wax tins for this purpose, and provides step by step instructions for the process.

Obviously not everyone will want to bother with a jacket needing this type of maintenance. (Some owners never bother with re-waxing and are content to lose the proofing. You can identify them by the faded appearance of the jacket and the lack of a wax shine.)

I originally chose the Sylkoil version of the jacket because it looked more like a field jacket. It felt more broken in from the start and draped better. I also found the darker color more masculine.

This year, I bought a second Beaufort, this time in waxed Egyptian cotton-pictured left. The "Beaufort Original" version is a brighter green and appears shinier from the start. It has a more “dressy” and modern (urban) appearance. It looks like a green raincoat. It also feels stiffer than the sylkoil version when new.

I intend to use it for business casual dress. I did not buy it over-sized, but I did buy the matching hood and liner.

This version is what most people think of when they think of a Barbour Beaufort.

In closing, the Barbour Beaufort may come with a small Barbour lapel-badge-pin in the pocket. This is a nod for people who need legible clothing. Owners with this need can remove the lapel-badge from the pocket and pin it to the corduroy lapel. This announces to the world that they are indeed wearing a Barbour Jacket.

Don’t wear the pin.

(For related content read "How to Wax your Barbour Beaufort Jacket," post dated November 15, 2007. It gives step by step insructions on how to wax your jacket, along with helpful tips.)


JP

Breaking in my second Beaufort

by a geyser at Yellowstone

Photo credit, The Little Woman