Read: Tom Beckbe Makes an All-American Addition to Your Waxed Jacket Collection
As much as I love a C.S. Lewis quote and a lukewarm pint, I’ve been itching for a good, home-grown American alternative to Barbour. That’s where Tom Beckbe comes in.
Tom Beckbe started in Alabama as a quest for the great American jacket (East of Eden already fulfilling the promise of the great American novel). The company is not eponymous—the founder’s name is the fictional-sounding Radcliff Menge—but takes its name from a twist on the pronunciation of the southern river, the Tombigbee. That’s not the only thing Alabama inspired in the line.
The brand’s flagship jacket, the Tensaw, is cut and sewn in the USA with an interior liner reflecting the color of Alabama’s red clay. It’s a good jacket—heavy enough for the field, handsome enough to wear over a sports coat. The Tensaw is packed with functionality inspired by Menge’s hours hunting and fishing the land around the Tombigbee: hearty 8oz waxed cotton, set-in sleeves, gusseted underarms, a bi-swing back, all mean this is a jacket you can move and fish and hunt in. The pocket placement is intuitive, the silhouette is burly, but flattering. Like I said, it's a great jacket, and I’ve worn mine for over a year. I didn’t think it could be improved on, until menswear writer and Esquire contributor David Coggins stepped in.
Beckbe’s new Coggins jacket is the brand’s pièce de résistance. First, the color: it’s a rich Racing Green waxed finish from Halley Stevensons in Scotland. (I’ll cede that the Scots make the best waxed cotton on earth and bow to their particular expertise there.) It’s an ideal green, the kind that feels like it comes from crushed emerald beetles but probably doesn’t, like when Campari got its red tinge from prickly pear cactus insects. An 11-wale corduroy wrist lining and storm-latching collar add both comfort and some elevated sartorial flair to the outdoor staple. The Coggins jacket also sits two inches longer than the flagship Tensaw, letting it drape over a sports jacket. I’ve worn it both to my Grandfather’s 91st birthday and to a rowdy sports bar during March Madness. When Michigan trout season starts, I’ll wear it on the river too.