J Keydge, many may not know the name, Its Slack jacket is listed in Graham Marsh and J.P. Gaul’ book <The Ivy Look> as one of the ‘must have’ Ivy Staple items.
If you are into the Ivy style, You would probably know that John Simon’s stocked them, I believe they were the one that actually brought them to the UK market, from France, not America surprisingly.
J Keydge Slack Jacket was introduced in 1994, but What exactly is a J Keydge Slack Jacket? François Ferdinand, the foundeer and designer of J Keydge, in his own words during an interview:
” The ‘morphological’ shoulder, fully natural, without any padding is hard to get right. The Neapolitans were the masters of this cut for bespoke. With the help of an excellent pattern maker, I managed to get the shoulder just right.
Contrary to my predecessors, I did not want a formal jacket. I wanted mine to make another kind of statement: to the give the impression that the jacket was built like a pair of jeans. Hence, I used double stitching, underlined edges, lapels, pocket and flap frames.
For the pattern, I was inspired by the sack style made famous by Brooks Brothers and J Press. Such jackets are comfortable in the chest and waist. Although, the classic sack is a two-button affair, I opted for the more serious three-button design.Apart from that, I simply used the concept of patch pockets with flap and one back vent. If you examine the Preppy style, you will see this signature as a style statement.”
Frankly speaking I did not know about J Keydge, until I came across them last year in a charity shop in Wimbledon, South west London.
As per my usual routine, I jumped on the train on my 1 hour lunch break, to the nearest station, which is Wimbledon, where there are 5 charity shops all within a minute walk from each other.
Time is absolute essence when it comes to lunchtime thrifting,because surprisingly I have to take lunch into consideration, what a drag! To save time I usually grab a sausage roll outside the station and just devours it as I walk to the first shop. I have trained myself to browse through things at a high speed, which is the only way I could cover 5 shops within an hour, taken account of the commute.
I usually browse through by labels, I find it to be the quickest way to determine if a garment is worth further consideration. I don’t boast to know all labels, but I do know most well received labels, which is most important and relevant knowledge to have, when thrifting. I have written a separate article on “how to thrift quality, not junk”, in that article I explained the important criterias I set myself to follow, and the reasons why thrift by labels are important.
Back to the story of how I found my first J Keydge Slack jacket, correction, actuary my first two jackets. That’s right, I was lucky enough to find two! One beige, one navy, just hanging there, waiting for the right owner to take them home, and there comes me, an obsessed menswear nerd, a thrifting addict, browsing through the rail of clothing in the speed of light, and boom! I saw the J Keydge label. I had absolute no clue about the brand, my first thought was “must be some random unknown brand”.
I had a quick glance at the jacket, what was my first impression?one article from The ivy blog<The Weejuns>http://www.theweejun.com/j-keydge-slack-jackets-get-them-whilst-you-still-can/ sums up really well :
“The first time I saw the J Keydge jackets at John Simons old store I wasn’t that impressed. The reason is quite easy to understand. A totally unconstructed, uncomplicated jacket that looks like a wet rag when not doing it what it should – i.e. being draped over a suitable sized body.
Compared with countless other jackets that look great on the hanger, but perhaps not so great on the wearer (at least on me), they just seemed a bit too Dad style. And I don’t mean that in the post modern ironic Japanese sense either. More in the German businessman with washed out jeans and Crockett & Jones loafers with a crumpled linen jacket style”.
The jackets were not much to look at, but one thing really caught my eye, ” the 3 roll 2″ buttons stances. It is a very rare sartorial detail, in England anyway, almost not found in mainstream high street fashions, it is a symbol element of Ivy style.
I knew immediately the jackets were not just a “random unknown brand”.So I quickly checked other details:
Fabrics: cotton and linen blend, 100% natual material, tick! Constructions: complete unlined, not fused, tick!
Condition: no tear and wear, no moth holes, 9/10, tick!
Sartorial details: Working sleeve cuff buttons, 3 roll2, patch pockets, tick!
Price: 8 pounds each, tick!
Size: 52, UK size 42, um… Not tick, I am a 38 so it’s too big for me!
Extremely disappointed , “What can I do? Just give them up like that?” I thought to myself, reluctant to give them up, I decided to try them on even knowing they are 2 size bigger for me. To my pleasant surprise, they actually fit me! Granted It is not my usual definition of fit, which is on the slimmer(not tight) side, but who need a slim fitting Ivy jacket? the Ivy look is supposed to be relaxed and studied sloppiness. There is enough room to wear a jumper under it, but the shoulder is perfect which is in my opinion the most important. The jacket drapes so well it’s hard to imagine it is completely unstructured.
I was really over the moon and without further hesitation, went to the counter and paid for them.
Since I had these 2 slack jackets I can honestly say they have been the most worn items in my wardrobe.Why do I wear them so much? Here are the reasons:
1) They are really comfortable to wear, I think partly due to the fact that they are completely unlined and unconstructed, no shoulder paddings, no fusings, and partly due to the brilliant cut.
2) They drape very well, look like you have worn them for years. I think the fabric plays a big part in this. Linen gives the weight to the jacket and contribute to the drape, cotton washes fantastically well, the more wash the better they look.
3)The Sartorial details mentioned earlier, gives this wonderful debonair, nonchant ivy look/vibe.
4) It is RARE, hard to come by. I know that John Simons used to store them, now I cant find them on their website anymore, instead they have similar jackets under their own label, possiblly made by J Keydge, possibly not. There were talks amongst menswear enthuest a few years back about K Keydge may be going out of business,2 years ago I could still find their “amatuer ” looking website, but it’s no where to be found on google now. It is worth to mention that their latest post on the Facebook page was from 2017. Call me a hipster, but I just like it when it is a rare piece and much saught after. I would’t perhaps treasure them so much if they were mass produced.
4) It is machine washable! just roll it and chuck in the washing machine, easy maintanence.
5) Now, this is the most important reason of them all, It is just so super versatile! You can pair it with almost anything! From turtle neck to Button down shirts, from T shirt to cardigans, from jeans to chinos, the possibility is endless. I find myself going back to it over and over again. Whenever I don’t know what to wear, whenever I can’t be bothered to think about what jacket goes with the rest of my outfit.The jacket seems to have this magical power to transform your look: if you want to dress down a notch from your usual business suit, simply replace your suit jacket with the Slack jacket, and lose your tie. If you want to dress up a bit from your usually jeans and T shirt, simply put the jacket on. The jacket transforms your look without clashing with other part of your outfit.
The ‘Ivy Look’-OCBD shirt by BB, Cord trousers by Ralph Lauren Going ‘Dandy’with a pair of yellow brogues and fun socks Going up a notch in formality, with velvet trousers by Favourbrook, and vintage fur felt fedora hat by Christy’s Going down a notch to a slightly ‘chic’ look, with sakura Japanese shirt and vintage high waisted white chinos by DAKS Inspired by the Americana look, stripped T-shirt by Derek Rose, Jeans by Ralph Lauren Button Down Shirt by Brooks Brothers Black Fleece, with the ‘proper roll’, elevated by the Johnston of Elgin cashmere scarf
Is the J Keydge Slack Jacket the most versatile jacket ever made? Those who has ever owned one would put both hands up, and for those who haven’t had the privilege to try one, You may still have a chance, start hunting for them now, Ebay is a good place to start from, I saw a few last time I checked.
Good luck!