If you subscribe to what Wm. Lamb & Son is all about or look at our Instagram feed you will see I like the old stuff….the classics. From cars to clothing, it was all made better and simpler back in the day before the “disposable age” came along. When I went off to school 30 years ago, geez!!!!, I bought a brand new Barbour coat that was rare to find back in the day. There were only a couple of stores in the entire southeast that carried them, and fortunatly for me there was one just up the road in Thomasville, Georgia.
That jacket took me to class, to church, to the duck pond, quail hunting and around Europe. Aside from its obvious versility and good looks, I love the fact I could load a six-pack in the rear game bag and make my way to the frat party across campus. Not to mention the front deep bellow pockets to hold shotgun shells or cold bottles beer. I have so many fond memories in that old jacket that the patina and holes created from years of wear and abuse have made it one of my cherished possessions.
Just the other weekend I ripped a twelve hole in the front of it, that to most would have been the death nail and the end of an era. I took it to my seamstress and asked here to patch it up as best she could along with the other holes and tattered seams that needed to be addressed. She called it an “antique” and asked why not just get a new one. Ha! Yes it is…. and NO WAY!
Will is off to college at Sewanee in Tennessee in six months, hard to believe, so we gave him a Barbour jacket just like mine this past Christmas. It’s shiny, brand new, and needs to wear to say the least but there's hunts, frat parties, travel and church that can help break it in. Now that you can get these jackets just about anywhere, the exclusivity and uniqueness is long gone, but Will can make his own memories and create his own patina, and that, is what it's all about. In the meantime, mine is ready for a much needed rest now that Spring has arrived and will be ready to head up to visit The Boy up The Mountain next fall.
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