SB3 jacket in tropical worsted hopsack in lead grey

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£370.00 — ex VAT

Unstructured three-button jacket, made in London, with a sturdy (12oz) yet eminently breathable worsted from Yorkshire, and with dark horn buttons from the West Midlands.

Sizing

This version of the SB3 fits true to size. The wooden gentleman here, for instance, is a standard 38 chest, and is wearing a size S.

XS S M L XL
To fit chest 36 38 40 42 44
Pit-to-pit 20 21 22 23 24
Shoulder 17 17½ 18 18½ 19
Back length 28½ 28¾ 29 29¼ 29½
Sleeve from centre-back 33 33½ 34 34½ 35
The SB3 is a three-button jacket — that's SB as in single-breasted, and 3 as in three. Funny thing is that despite the three buttons at the front, the break — where the lapel finishes — falls to the middle of those buttons. A "three-roll-two" this is called in tailoring circles, and it makes for an unusual but elegant enterprise.
The buttons on the jacket are horn, and are dark matte tortoiseshell in colour. Being as they are an entirely natural thing, each looks different to the next, varying in tone and hue and striatic markings. There are three such buttons at the cuff, also — which is a cuff of the working variety.
At the front of the jacket, there are two large patch pockets — strengthened with bar-tacks at the corners (below-right) — and above one of them, on the right-side as worn, is a smaller glove pocket. There's a pocket of similar size at the chest, too (below-left).
Some hand-sewing here. The chain-stitch below the button-hole helps hold in place a boutonnière (a flower, for instance). The criss-cross ("duck") stitch, meanwhile, holds together the lapel and the collar so that, over time, one doesn't flap around independently of the other. Helpful little hidden handiwork.
There is a single jet pocket on the inside of the jacket, on the left-hand side as worn. Best not to over-complicate things.
The jacket has a buggy lining, across the upper back, of the same cloth. The sleeves, meanwhile, are lined with a smooth satin, which makes it very easy to slide it on and off.
The lower region of the body is unlined. This is a lightweight, unstructured, travel-friendly jacket, after all. The seams, meanwhile, are finished cleanly and carefully with mid-grey cotton binding.
The cloth — made with the wool of British sheep — is a high-twist worsted, ergo springy, and with an open weave, ergo breathable. It is crisp and dry, and more coarse in texture than a bog-standard suiting cloth. Great for travelling, too, being as it has excellent fibre strength and doesn't much crease.

As worn

Him, here, is as standard a 38 as ever there was. He is thus wearing a size S.

Makers of

The jacket is made at an outerwear factory in London: the best, many agree, in the capital. The jacket is cut by the hands of a cutter with some 30 years in the trade, and sewn by one of four seamsters whose meticulousness and pursuit of perfection would be caricature were the end results not always so good.
Local production — this cloth is an exemplar of it. The wool which goes into the worsted comes from the backs of white-face Cheviot sheep in North Yorkshire, and is spun, washed, and woven at textile facilities, all within a small radius around the boundary North and West Yorkshire.
The horn buttons were cut, shaped, and polished by the last such factory in Britain (now defunct). It was part of a tradition in the Midlands first linked to the meat industry of the 18th century. "It is no easy task," said William Hutton in 1780, "to enumerate the infinite diversity of buttons made in Birmingham."

So they say

I received the SB package in perfect order, and can't say how much I love the jacket. It fits perfectly. I like the cut and drape a lot. And it is gladly and surprisingly short. But, because of the the full cut, it can be worn with a bulky sweater underneath, which is just what I had hoped for.

So confided a gentleman about the Donegal tweed SB in May 2016.

Just wanted to let you know the SB in twill has arrived, and it is absolutely dashing — in an understated way.

Another acquire of an SB in Donegal tweed — defying seasonal norms in November of 2015.

I received my SB yesterday, and it by far exceeds my expectations. It's truly a fantastic piece of clothing.

Kind words from a gentleman who bought a cotton-drill version of the SB back in 2014.

I am very happy with the SB jacket. A somewhat "obscure object of desire" for me, perhaps, but I just had to have it. This desire now satisfied, I may not need to buy any new threads for a while, but when I do I'll look to you folks first.

His "object of desire" was the SB in a blue herringbone linen, acquired in May 2015.

Very pleased with my SB and thinking of buying another.

Encouraging words from a chap who bought a woollen SB in February of 2017.