What is Tweed?

It's believed that tweed first originated in Scotland and Ireland as a working man's cloth, it was rough, thick, felted and featured muted and earthy tones inspired by the surrounding landscapes. The cloth was used by farmers to battle the harsh conditions they were working in and soon became the cloth of choice for many outdoor pursuits.

The term “Tweed” was actually coined accidentally in 1826 as the result of a misread label on a shipment of woven wool “Tweels” – the Scots dialect word for twill – from weaver William Watson & Sons of Commercial Road, Hawick, to a London cloth merchant. The word “Tweel” may not have been written clearly on the label but to the merchant “Tweed” made complete sense as these fabrics were mainly used in those days by gentlemen for shooting and fishing, with the nearby river Tweed being a popular destination for such pursuits. With the misunderstanding then being reinforced by the customer ordering another consignment of “Tweeds”, William Watson chose not to correct the mistake. Realising he had a fantastic name for his product, and recognising the branding opportunity, he promptly adopted the term as a description for his mill’s high-quality sporting cloths. Today William Watson would have been well advised to register copyright on this new product but 200 years ago this wasn't considered and use of the word soon spread all over Scotland and, ultimately, throughout the World.

Now that we know the origins of tweed lie in the word Twill (or in Scots, Tweel) let's take a moment to explore what this actually means. Well, to weave fabric yarns have to be interlaced to allow them to form cloth, there are many ways that the yarns can be interlaced with two of the most common types of weave being a Plain Weave and a Twill Weave.

In a Plain Weave, each weft (horizontal) yarn passes over and under the warp (vertical) yarns, with the order then being reversed in the next row. If you've ever triedpaper weaving, this is most likely the method you started off with.

Twill weaves are known for their distinctive diagonal lines, created with a step or offset between rows. Above we've shown a 2/2 twill which means that the weft passes over two warp yarns and then under the next two. There are lots of variations on this and in denim, it's common for a 3/1 twill to be used. When you use an unbalanced will like this it means that instead of an equal amount of warp and weft threads being shown on either side of the cloth a more distinctive front and back can be seen. If you have a look at the inside of your favourite jeans it's likely you'll see a much lighter fabric as a result of this.

Enough about Denim, let's get back to Tweed...

The River Tweed or Watter o Tweid, flows for 97 miles east across the Scottish Borders and northern England before opening out into the North Sea in the aptly named town of Berwick-upon-Tweed. As well as Berwick, the Tweed flows through the Border towns of Innerleithen, Peebles, Galashiels, Melrose, Kelso & Coldstream, and at its closest point is only 5 miles from ScotlandShop HQ! The tweed is renowned as one of the best salmon rivers in Scotland, attracting anglers far and wide.

To find out all about salmon on the tweed, Anna recently spoke to Stewart from Alba Game Fishing who explained why fishing on the River Tweed is just so special.

You may know all about Clan tartans being used as a way to identify members of the same family, but did you know that Estate Tweeds were and in some cases may still be used to identify people who live and work within the same estate? Estate owners were drawn to the practicality of tweed and given that the fabric was used to provide camouflage for hunting, estates needed their own distinctive patterns, suited to the land on the estate itself. The book Scottish Estate Tweeds (pictured above) lists Glenfeshie as the first estate tweed, commissioned around 1835 for the estate’s ghillies and keepers. The huge variety of tweed patterns and colours seen today originate from these 19th-century estates and although in the past specific designs may have been restricted to an estate, today anyone can wear their tweed of choice.

Cheviot Tweeds are named after a breed of sheep originally found in the Cheviot Hills here in the Scottish Borders. Cheviot Yarns are usually slightly thicker and coarser and are generally woven quite tightly meaning it's well suited for the country given its durability and for the city as not only does it drape well but it also holds an excellent crease.

Unsurprisingly, Donegal Tweeds come from County Donegal, Ireland and are known to feature contrasting flecks of colour. Although Donegal tweed has been manufactured for centuries it took on its modern form in the 1880s, largely due to the pioneering work of English philanthropist Alice Rowland Hart.

The most famous brand named Tweed is of course Harris. First made popular by Lady Dunmore in the 1840s when she introduced the cloth to British aristocracy. Due to its popularity and to regulate and protect the fabric against imitations, the Harris Tweed Orb certification mark was created in 1909, the oldest British mark of its kind stating, “only tweeds woven in the Outer Hebrides would be eligible.”

As well as these popular types of Scottish & Irish Tweeds, there are also Saxony, Welsh & Yorkshire Tweeds each with their own patterns & variations. So which tweeds do we sell here at ScotlandShop? Well, we love all tweeds but have chosen to support our local mills by sticking to cheviot tweeds which can also be referred to as Border or Lowland Tweed. With collections named after the Cheviots, Cairngorms, River Teviot(The largest tributary of the River Tweed) and Kirkton, a small village within the Scottish Borders.

Tweed first emerged in fashion in the 1820s thanks to Sir Walter Scott & Lord Brougham, style icons of the time who were both partial to a pair of bold tweed trousers. Tweed was also a popular choice when it came to shooting jackets, coats, and cloaks, harking back to its origins as the working man's fabric. It was in the 1860s that tweed was then adopted as part of the modern business suits of the time. Towards the end of the century, tweed gained huge popularity as cycling wear, particularly for women who were looking to adopt a more masculine style during their pursuit for equality.

At the beginning of the 1900's Tweed became less of a political statement and returned to being used most commonly within men's suiting. The Prince of Wales became renowned for wearing his namesake Prince of Wales Check, first adopted by his grandfather King Edward VII (former Prince of Wales) following a visit to Glenurquhart Estate. Having seen the check being used within local fashion and by members of estate staff, the prince chose to wear the design so frequently that today it's more commonly known as the Prince of Wales Check than the Glen Check, Glen Plaid or Glen Urquhart Plaid.

The Duke of Westminster was also partial to a tweed suit and inspired Coco Chanel during their time as a couple to incorporate Scottish tweeds into what became known as the signature Chanel look. Not many fashion items have withstood the test of time quite like this iconic two-piece tweed suit. If you want to recreate Coco's style with a Scottish twist, our Women's Tweed 2 Button Jacket and a matching Tweed Mini Kilt would be a great option.

As the century progressed tweed became more radical with bolder tweed patterns like a houndstooth suiting mini-skirts and flared trousers during the swinging sixties. Rebellious fashion designer, Vivienne Westwood then used tweeds within her 1987 historical / punk-inspired catwalk collection. Shortly after this tweed fell out of fashion and was considered to be too traditional and old-fashioned.

I'm glad to say that by the mid-2000s tweed once again made its catwalk comeback, being used by designers in more innovative ways and even leading to it being used within modern streetwear. My personal favourite will come as no surprise to my friends and colleagues, as a massive trainerfan, I completely fell in love when Nike created a collection in 2004 combining tweed & leather.

Now that we've explored tweeds journey through fashion history, I've enlisted the help of our in house Scottish style expert Monja to talk us through the best ways to incorporate a tweed jacket into your wardrobe.

First established in 2009 at the top of London's Saville Row when 300 tweed-clad cyclists gathered to celebrate the fabric in all its glory, the Tweed Run has been credited as bringing tweed back into popularity even being dubbed as a “reinvention of the catwalk.”

National Tweed Day is celebrated annually on the 3rd April, but the origins of the celebration are unclear. Some say the day began as a commemoration of the senator turned crook, William "Boss" Tweed. Tweed was born on the 3rd April 1823 and is widely regarded as one of the more notorious politicians in American History, stealing millions of dollars worth of public money.

We like to believe that National Tweed day simply originated as a day to celebrate the beautiful fabric that it Tweed, and whether this is true or not, today people are now known to combine both celebrations by wearing tweed, be it a suit, cap or skirt as they learn all about William, whether that's watching Jim Broadbent play "Boss" in the film Gangs of New York or reading the book, Boss Tweed’s New York.

I should also mention that National Tartan Day is celebrated just three days later on April 6th and National Unicorn Day (Scotland's National Animal) is on the 9th April so it really is a week with many an opportunity to celebrate your Scottish roots, not that we ever needed an excuse! New York City Tartan Week is my favourite week of the year and is the perfect opportunity to get involved in celebrating all three of these dates so join us in the Big Apple next year to get involved.