Irish tweed jacket with elbow pads

Esquire, September 1938: “The Irish homespun tweed jacket that seems to be so much a thing of patches is really the latest trick at the smart Eastern universities. The alleged patches are buckskin elbow pads and gun pad, an idea copied from the shooting jacket. The elbow pads are supposed to absorb a lot of desk-leaning punishment but the shoulder pad has to get by solely by its decorative merits. The slacks are also new – of natural colour covert cloth, narrow in cut and worn short so that they don’t break at the cuff. Accessories include a tan pincheck shirt, Irish homespun tie, velour finish Tyrolean hat and blucher shoes.

The other suit is of Shetland in a broken herringbone pattern, worn with a soft flannel shirt, regimental striped tie, silk foulard handkerchief, the new small shape varsity tweed cap, brown wool cable-stitch hose with ‘lightning’ pattern and reverse calf ski front shoes with crepe soles and heels.”

Plenty to admire here. I love the scale of the pattern on both jackets and the cap sounds ideal – too many eight-piece caps are over large and drown the face. The description of the trousers sounds bang up to date, and looks good for it. Then there’s buckskin again.