The Bespoke Experience: Three Piece Donegal Tweed

As those who follow me on Twitter will know, I’m getting married in December!

It’s all very exciting and there’s lots of odd jobs still left to do, but recently I got to tick off a big part of my personal to-do list.

Donegal tweed swatch.

The other week I collected my three piece Donegal tweed suit from my tailor in Lincoln. I originally visited Andrew J Musson Bespoke in March to choose my fabric and order the suit which is a very generous wedding present from my Dad and his wife.

My first visit was rather daunting as I only had a vague idea of the sort of thing I wanted. Originally I’d planned for a Blackwatch tartan suit in a much more classical style but, upon talking to Andrew, my fiancé, and my Dad I opted for something a bit more appropriate for a winter wedding in the country.

My partner and I looked through about seven different books of fabric samples before narrowing it down to three (very different!) fabrics, one was a heavyweight wool in navy with a classic chalk stripe, the second was a brown and beige herringbone, and the third was the beautiful Donegal tweed I eventually chose.

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The Doctor as a Fashion Icon

Today I’m wearing an outfit that, to fans of Doctor Who, will look overtly inspired by Peter Capaldi’s interpretation of the title character. To non-Whovians it’ll look, perhaps, quite dandy and fashion forward – more at home in London, Paris, or New York than on the rainy streets of a rural town in Lincolnshire.

Interestingly, my obsession with Doctor Who fashion started with my introduction to the show. The first episode I watched was David Tennant’s first ‘proper’ outing as the 10th Doctor, 2006’s ‘New Earth’, the start of series two of the revived Doctor Who.

Time Differential: Doctor McFly

First of all, allow me to apologise for the somewhat sporadic nature of my posts recently – due to work and other personal factors, I’ve been struggling to find the time to post lately. I’m doing my best to address this and will try to be as consistent as possible, if, however, I don’t post every week, I apologise.

That said, let’s move on to the newest look-book! This time we have a mashup of two hugely influential pop-culture icons. Both are quirky, stylish time travellers with huge cult followings. Marty McFly & The Doctor have been mentioned in the same sentence multiple times before, but here we have a unique combination of their styles which seems to be bang on trend.

The gilet/bodywarmer/vest has become a staple for many men in recent months and has been featured countless times in television, film, and fashion magazines. The current trend is to pair it with more formal tailoring for a cool dressed-down sense of classic tailoring.

Time Differential: Five to Eleven

Something a little different for you guys this week. Time Differential is a new type of look book where we mash up various combinations of the Doctors’ looks and see what comes out!

This time we’re mixing up two of my personal favourite Doctors. Both the fifth Doctor and the eleventh Doctor have a preppy, heritage inspired look which works well on gents of any age. The younger Doctor Who fan will suit either of these looks in the youthful, collegiate sense, and the older amongst you will pull out the classical, more gentlemanly nature of the look.

While initially this look can seem like a hodge-podge of styles, it’s actually a really comfortable and interesting look. The cooler weather that has finally struck the UK (and to an even greater extent, parts of the US) the use of layering will be a much welcomed wardrobe staple. The structured and heavier shirt underneath a cable-knit cricket jumper will lend a casual yet quirky warmth the whole look.

The “Fashion Journalist” Eleven

Matt Smith’s original, less considered look was something of an anti-fashion statement when the first images of the then new Time Lord were released.

Featuring a vintage tweed jacket, bow tie, braces, and a punk-ish pairing of big boots with turned up jeans, his look was a mixture of youthful reverence and elderly tradition. What Smith’s incarnation of the Time Lord did for both bow ties and the tweed industry has been well documented and rightly so. The eleventh Doctor almost single-handedly changed the face of men’s fashion (especially in the UK) over night.

The look mixes elements of classic tailoring with modern, slimmer styling. The use of matching elements and heritage fabrics creates the air of consideration and stylishness which often goes hand in hand with a certain degree of fashion-mindedness.

Smith wore two jackets in series five, both of which have proven elusive to replicate so many casual fans and cosplayers alike simply find close-enough weaves in vintage jackets and modify the fit and details accordingly.

The “University Student” Eleven

Matt Smith’s wardrobe as the Doctor was one which was constantly changing and evolving throughout his time on the show.

Smith stated early on in his Doctor Who days that he intended for his costume to shift and develop with time – and indeed it did! From his early days where his look was described as being something akin to Indiana Jones’ younger brother, to his later costumes which saw a more Edwardian silhouette take shape, Smith wore many costume variations.

Each fan has his or her favourite look for the eleventh Doctor, so there are plenty of Matt Smith inspired looks to be had. His series 7B look, which consisted of a purple tweed frock coat, black G-star jeans, various waistcoats, bow ties, braces, and shirts, and a pair of custom brown and purple boots, is often considered to be the definitive look of the eleventh Doctor. This is when he truly found his stride and matured as a character (not to mention Smith as an actor!) so it makes sense that his costume became more refined in order to reflect that.