Given my experience with "regular weight" harris tweeds, I imagine lightweight will allow one to wear the tweed other than just outside when it is below 50 degrees.

Even in Michigan winters I have a hard time putting my tweeds to use as I am sweating in them shortly after entering a building. I'm looking to add some lighter weight tweeds even for winter use so I can leave them on and still be comfortable. My two cents from my personal experience... I'm sure somebody else will have a more educated answer on the weights.

 

I don't even see the point of regular tweed, central heating has been a thing for a while, and most buildings are usually overheated if anything.

 

Tweed was always meant for wearing outdoors and in big draughty houses rather than in offices.

 

I agree, if one desires the death of winter, Florida is a more permanent solution!

Excepting that, lightweight tweed is pretty much what the individual using the term intends it to be. A rough consensus might be 12oz, or less.

 

I rather have the sense that while tweeds lighter than 12 ounces exist, they are somewhat wanting in durability.

 

There are 8 oz. tweeds made from raw silk, among other materials, that are excellent for summer. A proper tweed is loosely woven and at that weight has very good porosity for letting the cooling breeze through. I have 2.75 yds. on order from Die Workwear that I will be sending to Hemrajani for next spring's wearing. Not easy to find, though.

 

There are 8 oz. tweeds made from raw silk, among other materials, that are excellent for summer. A proper tweed is loosely woven and at that weight has very good porosity for letting the cooling breeze through. I have 2.75 yds. on order from Die Workwear that I will be sending to Hemrajani for next spring's wearing. Not easy to find, though.

Some tweeds - a lot - are indeed loosely woven, such as Harris, but some are quite tightly woven, such as Porter & Harding thornproof tweed. I realise the thread is about lightweight tweed, but in some more temperate climates and at certain times of the year, tweed may be worn to keep the cooling breeze out.

 

Besides the lightweight tweeds Old Sarge mentions, there are a lot of "faux tweeds" now where it's a lightweight wool with a tweedlike pattern.

 

Absolutely. When the winds blow down the Columbia Gorge, the tighter the tweed the better!

 

Thanks for all the thoughts!
Just wondering if the suit will serve me well as the weather turns colder or if it's more of a spring/summer tweed.

 

I don't thing it's possible to say without knowing more about the cloth and how it will be worn. Loosely woven tweed also has the potential for poor wear, and lighter weight would just tend to cause it to wear even quicker. But some tweed also is very sturdy. It all depends on the wool used, and the spinning and weaving. So it's also possible to make lighter weight tweed that will offer decent performance.

But if one of the main appeals of this cloth is price, I'd be wary of its durability.

 

If it's any help to the OP, I have a few tweed jackets which I believe are 'medium weight' - around 16-18 oz - which are (I find) easily wearable almost throughout the year, even on cool summer days (up to 70 degrees). Beyond 70 I would forgo tweed. I have one jacket in 35 oz tweed, which must count as heavyweight, and that is wearable for at least six months - in a cool temperate climate, of course.

 

1000 gram tweed! My god how do you move in that?

I consider my 450 gm. coats to be substantial. I received a 600 gm. jacket from the Harris Tweed Shop a few years ago and returned it, as I felt like I was wearing a couch.

 

:amazing::amazing::amazing:

:beer:

 

For some reason that steed looks like a mule.
What did the tailor use for cutting the 35 oz. Tweed? A huge knife or an axe.

Well, so much for the humor. Looks like you have enjoyable rides. And, a warm coat. Seems like you would have a matching pair of pants. The picture has me wishing I was out riding.

 

NOT a mule...

Seriously, 35 oz cloth is nothing out of the ordinary and I doubt whether it is particularly difficult to cut and sew, though that was not my chief concern when ordering the coat. I've had overcoats in heavier cloth still.

 

My personal view on it, if it fits the season i'll wear it. The benefit of always naturally being cold I can get away with heavier tweeds upwards of mid 70s in the afternoons, which makes them comfortable in the evenings - even down here in SC. I enjoy odd tweed trousers and is a large portion of the tweed I own, so with a sweater-vest & buttondown even warmer* weather is tolerable. I would love to see some "warm" weather, light tweeds and how that would be worked into a warmer season outfit.