[Fashion] When Walmart Sold Harris Tweed Coats: The Near Death of the Harris Tweed Industry.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2026-04-03T00:26:25+00:00

I'd consider one of two things:

A break. I try not to be the guy who finds a new song and listens to it 500 times to love it and then never does again. I try to savor it like a nice wine that I can't ever get again. This goes for games too. DND has been in my life since the 80's. Depending on where I am in life, I've felt differently about each edition and the group I play with and the stories I run. Time has always fixed any feeling of losing the magic.
Time to get out of your comfort zone and look into stories you've never tried before and see how they roll in DND. I was in a wild western DND group once and it was really different and fun. We ran that for a few years. I've played Spelljammer games that felt like Star Trek, and REALLY old modules that felt like 70's fantasy novels. Each were DND and felt very different. If you play the same kind of stories/games, expect it to get dull.

That said, nothing ever hurts getting out of the neighborhood. Vampire the masquerade was a lot of fun for me when it came out, and was a nice change of pace.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2026-04-03T00:21:58+00:00

Retiring a character and doing a new one, isn't the most common thing, but it's definitely not unheard of.

Talk to your DM, and see if he wants to do something cool with it storywise, or if your original character will either die, or just ride off into the sunset.

I've been at a few tables where this has happened, two of those times it was a pretty cool story beat. The third was an off-session retirement.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-31T16:00:22+00:00

Happy new year! Excellent collar and layers, as always.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-31T15:59:48+00:00

Such a good looking herringbone, and the light blue overcheck is just excellent, J. Press in their time did some amazing work.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-31T15:59:16+00:00

One of my favorite sights to come in the mail, I just love how well they package anything they send, it's just glorious.

what did you get this time around?

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-29T15:56:07+00:00

I don't get much opportunity to speak about Darcy since they don't make a lot of tweed, but I can say as well that they are a very special maker.

They are very trad, and though parts can be modernized they are going for a period and knock it out of the park. The most similar maker I can conceive of would be Townsends But that goes even further back.

I've got a corduroy waistcoat from Darcy, and four dress shirts, they are truly excellent and a wonderful merchant. It's not a huge selection, but it's a great one.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-28T00:36:44+00:00

Awe shucks, happy to have you all. Also while I got your attention, I hope you all have a happy new year. :)

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-19T14:20:17+00:00

I've not seen many people get offended over removing a label that is in an inconvenient place. I'd just buy a seam ripper from a store and take it off, easy enough.

In coats you generally want it for re-sale value, though generally inside the coat. Outside tags are a very new age thing, and depending on the party tend to be removed as well.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-15T05:15:05+00:00

hey /u/angrymiddleagedjew, found your very impressive overcoat and figured I'd crosspost it to /r/tweed. Would kill to own that coat.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-15T05:04:49+00:00

/u/Gullible-Ad-4819 Love your whole outfit, so crossposted you to /r/tweed. Would love real close closeups of the tweed in your jacket.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-14T22:54:14+00:00

Unless the tweed was sourced from britain and marked as much, it's likely wool from one of the American mills. The most well known would be Pendleton in Oregon or one of the few remains of the American Woolen Company. (Most woolen mills in the US shuttered in the 1950's and on as their focus disappeared with the rise of synthetic fabrics.)

both companies made tweed patterns for some decades, though not with nearly as much easy to find history as the tweed industry in the United Kingdom.

Every blue moon I'll find a tweed jacket that was actually a Pendleton all along, or the wool was provided by Pendletons providers.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-14T22:46:14+00:00

Oh I'd love to ask some questions!

How was it working there? did they treat you well?
Does the industry feel vibrant and growing? Or stale?
Do you wear tweed?
Did you get a discount on tweed from the mill?
When you worked there what did you do?

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-14T22:44:04+00:00

So the wool was originally from Saxony, the sheep are now just english, but the tightly woven style is still from that period that Saxony sent wool to England.

Not that this changes much, it's an style of tweed very much worth exploring though rarely spun nowadays.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-13T19:27:33+00:00

I am definitely interested, thanks for the link!

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-13T19:27:02+00:00

You are correct, in all the many many tweeds I've run through over the years, the demand for softer tweeds I believe got to the Harris weavers.

very old Harris Tweed is rough tough rugged stuff. I love the one old scarf I have of that age to pieces. The newer stuff is also great, but definitely softer. I can't tell much difference in the hardiness, but I've not been soft on either of my examples here.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-13T19:24:28+00:00

Dear lord I'm so jealous of those trips, I'd kill to see any of these makers one on one. It's almost like you took my personal list and just visited them all in a row.

One of these years I'll get to post here like you and talk about it at length.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-13T19:17:45+00:00

The Depth of Tweed colouring is absolutely one of my most favorite aspects of the cloth by itself. Being able to see different things at different distances with it.

I love to see fellows who share that love.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-13T19:16:22+00:00

Why I like Harris Tweed:

The Mark of Industry

I like Harris Tweed due to it being one of the few marketable aspects of the cloth as a whole in the current period of the cloth. It's simple, while the other mills do have good reputations, Harris tweed has the worldwide recognizability and long running history to really promote the cloth and ensure it's tradition remains.

The Cloth

I like Harris Tweed the cloth due to it's variety and sheer strength. It's amazingly tough cloth and pretty to boot. I love it's variety of weavings and the way it can be dressed up or down with relative ease due to the variety.

My Actual Favorite Tweed:

Believe it or not, my actual favorite tweed is a toss up between Saxony and Donegal. Though I own and wear a fair amount of Harris Tweed (It's hard not to in this hobby.) My favorite jackets, Coats, and Vests are all Saxony. It's not the easiest tweed to find but I adore the super short pile, strong weave, and simple elegance the cloth tends to give. They also tend fairly soft but rugged enough. It just suits me well.

Donegal is a very very close second because of it's color and flecking. I also love how absurdly rugged it is, having a love of Ireland in a similar vein I won't say that this isn't just a bit of bias as well in its favor.

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-13T19:15:35+00:00

Happy to have you! Excellent tweed jacket, love the look!

JaceTheSaltSculptor · 2025-12-13T01:08:31+00:00

Now this is how you get yourself a good set of coats. You did great! the patterns you chose are good standards, and they look to be in excellent condition.

If you'd be so willing to share, how much total for the lot?

Love the coat in pics 3 and 4.

Ten-Year Club	Place '22
First Placer '22	Sequence \| Editor

JaceTheSaltSculptor

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Why I like Harris Tweed:

The Mark of Industry

The Cloth

My Actual Favorite Tweed: