Brand Spotlight: Barbour - Topic of the day 10/7/25
From its founding in 1894 to now, Barbour could be seen as a quintessential "British" clothing company. Whether its their famed wax cotton jackets or their collabs with brands like Engineered Garments, BAPE and others, Barbour has amassed a global impact.
But what do you think of Barbour? Are the waxed jackets great or goofy? Are they worth some of the downsides (cost, maintenance, potential political associations)? Is there anything other than a Bedale worth buying?
17 Replies
not my style but i have tried on the jackets they do feel very nice in person, waxed cotton is a fun fabric
barbour cat will always be one of my favorite photos on the internet
I bought a used one and came to dislike it…
it was not great as a raincoat for my climate. the days it rains, the coat is just too damn stuffy and hot.
when its cold and raining, its not raining its snowing, and id much rather have a proper cold weather coat
all that aside, the thing just had zero visual versatility. was very hard to get fun with it. its such a recognizable piece i found it just sorta took over every fit. maybe a skissue and maybe i should have anticipated this
im sure its a great piece of utility for its climates of origins
their collabs and edgier stuff seem super fun
The James Bond Barbour from Skyfall had a hold on early 2010s MFA
Barbour cat would definitely telepathically project the words "Greetings Traveler" into my mind before leading me down a cobblestone path to fight a boss battle against a 15 foot tall knight in plate armor
The Brut Archives Barbour Jackets
There are toooons of cool barbour and waxed cotton jackets. I'm personally fond of the ones designed for wade fishing. They're cropped and often have cool pockets.
I also kinda want to DIY one at some point. Buy a super beat up jacket for donor fabric and pockets and make something like what Brut did in the 2nd and 3rd photos.
I find the jackets really cool and the fabric wonderful. But I've never put the legwork in to find one at a price I'm comfortable with. Plus I live in Colorado where is basically never rains so the technical aspects of the jacket only benefits me like 3-4 days/year
I like the old collab margaret howell did with the milsurp styling
I fell deep down the barbour rabbit hole last year and have since acquired 2 bedales (black and a shockingly greenish blue) plus a beaufort. I adore them for my climate, but my god the beaufort will give your shoulders a workout
Separate thoughts:
Once again the old obsession with finding a slim-fitting version isn't the play. The waxed cotton has an interesting texture and drape to it and the wider cuts are more interesting than the attempts at slim jackets. The cropped and longer jackets I think are cool and aren't ground breaking silhouettes but still fun for the kinda house-style of this server.
I also really like the various colors of barbour fabric that are out there. The kinda milsurp green, the more blueish tone and the brown fabric is also really cool. I particularly like Frankenstein's monster jackets with different colors of the fabric all patched together on a well-worn jacket.
I really like Barbour. The company is pretty significant in terms of Newcastle’s (technically South Shields) regional heritage and also make some pretty cool jackets. I’ve got their mod collection Bedale which makes for a pretty good rain coat and hopefully gonna get a transporter jacket at some point
There’s quite a fun little local anecdote that because the factory was in South Shields you’d see a lot of generally pretty poor men fishing in brand new barbour jackets . Same went for Blyth another town nearby where there used to be (might still be?) a Burberry factory so you’d see a bunch of again, relatively poor people fishing in Burberry trench coats
First photo is me in 2012 (lmao) when i bought my first bedale (secondhand) from money i earned during my campus job. I sold it because it became too small for me. The olive beaufort was my second one that i purchased in 2015. Soon after i went back to the rust and noah collab bedale. The classic versions are my go-to and i still have those 3 in my jacket rotation
That’s all to say that my style has changed quite a bit since my first barbour purchase but they’re great pieces to hold onto. The noah colorways are cool but spendy, go for the vintage three or two crown ones (made in england) and rewax them every season.
A Barbour coat is something I always think might be worth getting at least secondhand if I can find it for cheap but I also just don’t know if I’d know how to style it
Could always buy one new and try outfits and return it but I don’t want to get in trouble with the store best for that bc I already return a lot there and they sign my paycheck
But I think they’re definitely a cool piece
My Barbour Beaufort is probably my most worn jacket overall though I do wish it was a little less clammy tbh. Where I’m at it’s a good 3-season piece if you’re playing around with layers and liners a little.
I prefer it in the intended potato-sack fit, sized for sleeve length. Gives you all the space you need (and more!) for all kinds of layering shenanigans.
They do tend to get a little fucked up if you don’t rewax them every few years and develop little holes and such, because the actual cotton isn’t really very heavy. Just something to keep in mind.
I’ve owned a Barbour Bedale in the past and I didn’t like the way the wax felt on it. That said, Barbour makes some cool jackets, but I generally find the collabs to be the most fun, for instance the To Ki To collab
