Tweed And Pearls, My Way

tweed jacket with jeans

So yes, I’m sneaking in another outfit post before the end of the year, mainly because I wanted to show you this jacket while it was still available online. I still want to play with the styling a bit, and will share updated efforts later.

sunglasses | earrings | top (similar) | necklace | jacket |
jeans | ring | bag (similar) | boots (similar)

Ever since the aughts, when the Fashion People discovered the High-Low Mix and started wearing their Chanel jackets and pearls with jeans, I’ve liked that look and have been trying to find a bouclé tweed jacket. But almost everything I tried skewed too fusty, staid, matronly. Either the cut wasn’t right for me, or the fabric wasn’t to my liking. When I was in Paris earlier this month, I spied this cheeky, in-your-face bouclé fabric on the rack at Le Bon Marché. The jacket was from IRO, and the last one in stock. I tried it on and loved the style (both the longer length and the fact that it was unlined, so light enough to wear half the year in our LA climate), but felt the size 34 was just borderline too small. Besides, I’d just purchased the leopard coat right before my trip. I hemmed and hawed and wandered around the store for a while, and ultimately decided to pass on it. On the flight home, my “non-buyer’s remorse” kicked in.

Chanel caviar flap, French Kande ring

Then on Monday, we happened to walk by the IRO boutique in Beverly Hills. I looked on the racks and saw a shorter jacket in the same fabric, but not this one. I asked the Sales Associate if they had the longer version, and she said they had one left in the back. It was a size 36 (one size up from what I’d tried in Paris) AND was 50% off! This time I didn’t walk away without it.

Sandro cutout ankle boots

I bought these Sandro boots in Paris this summer, discounted during les soldes. We’ve had a few warmer days this week, so it was fun to break them out again.

IRO tweed jacket and a visit from Lars...

While I was snapping away, Lars and his little buddy decided to investigate.

saying hello to Lars the cat

I tried to cajole Lars to pose with me, but he decided to be coy.

Do you have a tweed jacket in your wardrobe? How do you like to style it?

The Need For Tweed…

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24 Comments

  1. Oh I just love that look, the tweed and casual mix, and I have tried and tried. I even have a tweed jacket in my closet. Do I wear it? No. Every time I try, I feel like a linebacker. Tweed is just too much on my shoulders and bust line. But I think if I ever come across a drapier tweed look with out the construction and lining, I will give it another shot! Yours looks beautiful and I can tell from your photos it has a softer drape than anything I have ever found!

  2. What a great shopping success story! The same piece, the right size, and 50% off!

    I also yearn for that high-low Coco look. Given how strongly Chanel pushed against the conventions of her time, I think she’d have loved wearing her jackets and pearls with denim. But like others, I find it very hard to find a tweed jacket that doesn’t look matronly. Still looking. And still have yards of (mostly fake) pearls I’m waiting to wear when I find it.

  3. I bought a tweed jacket in Rome – a sort of oversized blazer. Mine is unlined, but I’m going to have a lining put into it so the friction between the jacket itself and what I wear under it is diminished; I’ve found that the tweed is really abrasive against a sweater! I’d been looking for just the right “oversized blazer” kind of look for quite a while, and found it in a little shop in Trastevere, when I wasn’t even looking deliberately for anything for myself. It happens that way….

    Happy happy new year to you and your family,
    with lots of love,
    Janice

  4. Love the coat, Sue. I looked for months for a tweed coat and then posted way too much about it on my blog. I love that it can pretty much BE the outfit. Alas it’s stored away now in favour of wool or puffer coats…sigh.
    Happy New Year to you and your family:)

  5. I am a huge fan of tweed styled casually like this. What an amazing find! Glad you grabbed it! The fit is beautiful. I love your pup and his name!!! Too cute!

  6. Loving Lars!
    What a great look and what a bargain too. My only tweed jacket (pink) is in my long-term archive (the attic); keep meaning to hook it out to try it with jeans. Anyway, Happy New Year, Susan, loved your posts in 2016, looking forward to reading your post-Paris travel analysis soon!

  7. Looks great on you with your hair and the sunnies! Very chic. Iro still has most sizes available on its French website and the “soldes d’hiver” are coming up in a few days. Might be tempted! Love Lars and his pal. Haven’t seen him for a while on your photos and was wondering what had become of him.

  8. You look great and that is a nice shopping success story!
    When you are buying jackets, do you size some of them to be left open, e.g. a little snug to close up? I have a few jackets that I wear “unbuttoned” and sometimes I wonder if I should figure that out when purchasing because on my frame, 5’1″, the extra fabric that allows it to fit buttoned makes it voluminous when it is left open.
    Thank you for a wonderful blog. All the best for the New Year!
    Suz from Vancouver

    1. Hi Suz, thank you! It really depends on the jacket. With this one, I went up in size to be able to wear a sweater underneath if needed. I mostly needed more room in the shoulders and upper back. (I’m a bit broad-shouldered.) I usually wear my jackets open, but don’t like for them to look as if they’d be impossible to close.

  9. Love this jacket! I love the length of it and how you styled it with denim. What a great way to do tweed!

      1. Hi Jennifer, thanks! I think mine’s a medium. Thought that was the size I was linking to, but will double check. The jumbo is just too big and heavy for me.

  10. That jacket was meant to be yours! I have 2 tweed jackets. Both are from Talbots. One is a blazer, all blue…dark to medium. The other is a dressier suit jacket in blue, cream and black…very Chanel-looking. Both are versatile. I wear them with everything from jeans to dresses.

  11. Ah, now I know why you didn’t buy a coat in Paris haha. Well, weren’t you a lucky so and so. The right size and 50% off. Congratulations. Fab buy. This outfit looks so good.
    And I know what you mean about the boucle jacket being difficult to get the right one. It is the same with me and pearls with jeans. Very hard to get it right.
    Greetje

  12. It’s great when you find an elusive something you’ve been searching for…. Love the boots too!! I’m a new blogger just finding my way….. taking inspiration and learning points from great blogs like yours!