The work the jacket is named for: Bill Stagg, homesteader, in front of his barn in Pie Town, New Mexico, October 1940. Photo Russell Lee (Library of Congress), public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. No early barn jacket turned up with a free licence, so none is pictured.
Barn jackets
What it took directly
- statedJ.Crew's first Barn Jacket took from details picked from about five vintage hunting and field jackets"Between a host of vintage hunting and field jackets, I picked my favorite details from about five different ones." Sid Marshburn, its designer, to Maggie Bullock for The Kingdom of Prep, quoted by Refinery29 (2024)
- documentedThe barn coat took from L.L. Bean's Field Coat of 1924, renamed the Adirondack Barn Coat in 2003"L.L. Bean launched its Field Coat back in 1924. (In 2003, it revamped the design and released it as the Adirondack Barn Coat.)" Refinery29 (2024)
- documentedBarbour's Bedale, the barn coat's British cousin took from Dame Margaret Barbour's design for riders, in waxed cotton"It was first designed by Dame Margaret Barbour as an equestrian jacket — made of waxed cotton to offer resistance from the wind and rain" Refinery29 (2024), with Barbour's Gary Janes
What it learned to do
- statedL.L. Bean's Field Coat learned from L.L. Bean's own duck hunting and what he and his friends needed in the field"For L.L. himself, who was a big duck hunter, he created products that he and his friends needed to keep them comfortable in the field" Anne Smith, L.L. Bean's vice president of merchandising, to Refinery29 (2024) — the company telling its own story
The tradition it sits in
- inferredThe barn jacket comes from hunting coats more than barn chores"(In 2003, it revamped the design and released it as the Adirondack Barn Coat.)" inferred — the two earliest designs on record here are hunting gear (L.L. Bean's Field Coat, made by a duck hunter; J.Crew's jacket, built from vintage hunting and field jackets), and L.L. Bean gave its coat the Barn name only in 2003; L.L. Bean itself says the coat was made for field and barn work
- documentedThe barn jacket's corduroy collar comes from Carhartt's chore coat, first made in 1917"American workwear label Carhartt leading the way. The brand introduced its first version in 1917 and, in time, added its own flair with corduroy lining on the collar, triple-stitched seams, and pockets reinforced with copper rivets." Isiah Magsino, Town & Country (2024)
- documentedThe barn jacket comes from the chore jacket (its other name), which Town & Country traces to 19th-century France"Also known as the chore jacket, it was a product of 19th-century France." Isiah Magsino, Town & Country (2024)
- documentedThe French chore jacket comes from the daily wear of farmers, craftsmen and railway workers"The most favoured colour was blue as this was generally worn by farmers, craftsman, auto workers and railway workers." Ian Johnstone of the London shop Shopkeeper, to Ed Cumming, The Guardian (2016)
Where the whole form comes from
- documentedThe chore jacket comes from the indigo bleu de travail of 19th-century France"Thought to have originated in 19th-Century France, the jacket had a loose fit and wide pockets, made for carrying tools, and was indigo in colour, referred to as bleu de travail." BBC Culture (2024)
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