Corduroy - time for a revival? How to be a geography teacher of style

Corduroy has never quite shaken off its Victorian reputation as a working man's cloth; robust and far from crisp in appearance. It can have a somewhat fusty feel, with memories of baggy cord trousers worn with tweed jackets and brogues by geography teachers or country gentlemen. But things have changed.

Corduroy as it was (left) and in its modern form (right) - jacket Marks & Spencer, shirt Gieves & Hawkes

That combination of tweed, corduroy and chunky footwear may be old-fashioned, but, like much that has withstood the test of time, it has become a classic. But to make it look good you must lose the shapeless appearance by ensuring that everything fits and is well-cut. Here Richard James, the Savile Row tailor, shows how stylishly relaxed a well-tailored and shaped suit in dark green corduroy can look. How about a bespoke corduroy suit?

Image of Richard James (C) Grey Fox Blog

Being soft and durable, corduroy is one of the more comfortable fabrics to wear. Naturally pliant, it doesn't leave the wearer feeling they mustn't cross their legs (as a fine flannel can do) for fear of crushing the cloth and it needs none of the breaking in that a robust raw denim requires. Its little sibling, needlecord, finer than corduroy, makes shirts and lightweight suits.

Engineered Garments cord Norfolk jacket from Oi Polloi

For me, the images above of the Norfolk jacket, and below of the Nigel Cabourn Atkinson cord jacket (which can be matched to waistcoat and trousers), exemplify what corduroy is all about - casual, crumpled, comfort. 

It's time for a cord revival. But where can you find corduroy? Here I identify a few suppliers for you to try. The links are at the bottom of the post. Please get in touch if you have any corduroy favourites.

Nigel Cabourn Atkinson cord jacket/suit

SEH Kelly reversible shirt

Richard James

Richard James

Hackett

J Crew Ludlow cord suit

A riot of colour from Cordings

SUPPLIERS:

Richard James - Savile Row quality
Oi Polloi - plenty of well-curated menswear (including cord) from this Manchester company

SEH Kelly - genuine British-made small volume quality 

Marks & Spencer - who have a wide range of corduroy menswear

Gieves & Hawkes - more from Savile Row

Nigel Cabourn - military/country/expedition pedigree - again, British made

Hackett - a comprehensive destination for the gentleman of style

J Crew - a US import, but stylish with some British influences

Cordings - British country style, with parts of the range made in the UK

STOP PRESS - if on a budget, try this cord suit jacket from H&M.

Brook Taverner - lots of classic British-made fabrics tweeds

Brook Taverner hit my consciousness only relatively recently. Quite why, I'm not sure; they've been around for 100 years and have been selling online for seven years. They sell classic men's clothes, many made from British-made fabrics and tweeds. The brochure is full of well-known names like Harris tweed, Abraham Moon, Reid & Taylor of Scotland and Johnstons of Elgin. To add to the feeling of quality, merino, cashmere and the finest cotton are used for many of the garments.

My love of tweed is obvious to anyone who has browsed this blog. Brook Taverner use this fabric for a wide range of coats, jackets, waistcoats, luggage and a rather nice suit (we should all wear more tweed suits, and turn down the heating if necessary). Colours and patterns range from plain to checks which blend all the beautiful outdoor colours that we expect of tweed.

I would wear the tweed jackets with jeans, but a wide choice of trousers - cords, cotton and wool mix - are also on offer. Brogues and other footwear from Northamptonshire manufacturers have been carefully selected to match the other garments.

The cuts look fairly classic, so you won't find any Topman-style extremes of style here. Here are some of the items I would select. See their website for more. At present everything (except sale items) is 50% off.

Harris tweed jacket at John Lewis & Co - British manufacturing

In March I posted about a limited edition Harris tweed jacket I had bought from John Lewis. Recently browsing in my local branch, I found another successful interpretation of this classic, made from the famous tweed from the Outer Hebrides.

The John Lewis & Co range uses "British fabrics and manufacturers where possible, often making use of long-established techniques", according to their website. It's good to see the larger stores supporting British manufacturing, and selling the products for reasonable prices. With production costs rising in China, let's hope this is the start of a trend among larger suppliers.

The jacket has a contemporary slim cut, an attractive chambray lining and Corozo nut buttons (made from the very water-resistant tagua nut). Looking online, there are several versions, each varies slightly in details.

All photos John Lewis

While I love it and wear it frequently, I had a few minor concerns about the the jacket I previously reported on (here). Hopefully these problems have been sorted out with this range; I didn't notice anything amiss with the example I tried on. At prices around £225 these should be snapped up quickly. Available online (at the time of writing) [link removed as out of stock]