Rogan Warms Up The Field Jacket

On those occasions when leather doesn't seem like the right choice (rarely), the best alternative is to find rugged field jackets that fall just short of the military moniker and more in line with the working class — harbor men, foundry workers and field hands. They are the kind of men who don't need anything pre-washed or worn because they wear it.

Rogan fits. It's the brand Rogan Gregory and Scott Mackinlay-Hahn built before Loomstate, the eco-friendly clothing line that focuses on organic cotton and yarns made from wood pulp. Although Rogan doesn't follow the same manufacturing requirements, some of its social responsibility has worn off.

In other works, you won't find as much denim washing to make clothes look vintage as you did ten years ago. Nowadays, Rogan works harder to fuse traditional, experimental, rural, and urban. They certainly did it in making one of the best field jacket designs this year.

The Telesto Field Jacket by Rogan buttons up nicely.

Although slightly lighter than winter wear, the shirt-cum-jacket design adds some warmth in the fall without adding too much bulk. This can be important for winter, when you can wear a heavier coat over it (whether that might be leather, wool or trench).

The jacket features ring snap closures down the front and to close the waist pockets. The patch chest pockets are different, set high enough to help them disappear into the design. Even better, the all-cotton, half-lined field jacket is washable. It also has an accessible pen pocket feature (although I couldn't care less).

When winter does roll around, Rogan also has one of the better looking coats. The Cygnus is a front button fully-lined wool coat (80 percent virgin wool and 20 percent polyamide). Like the jacket, it's a straight tailor fit and carries a classic look.

One subtle, but nice idea was to add a discreet chest zip pocket. The vertical zip disappears into the overall design. While most people don't use vertical zip pockets, especially with a coast that has three inner pockets, it's nice to have in a pinch when you don't want to unbutton. Sized right, it easily fits over the Telesto field jacket.

A couple alternatives to what Rogan put out this year. 

Although you won't find many as clean as Rogan, there a few alternatives. One of my favorites, despite  giving up the solid, is the Lodi jacket from Altamont. The rust and blue flannel hues harken back to my other life in Seattle, but the design is still incredibly smart.

It's made with 65 percent cotton and 35 percent acrylic. The designers consider the styling in line with military field jackets, but I think it falls more in line with the look I was taking about. It's one-off from a military jacket and warmed up with a sherpa lining. No surprise, I found this one at a U.K. retailer and the price is brilliant.

Finding an alternative coat was a little more challenging, until discovering the Carcoat from Paul Fredrick. It's heavier in construction, but carries the right look at a fair price. The fully-lined coat has a five button closure with a covered placket. Under the placket, the coat zips up for additional warmth.

Paul Fredrick tends to pay attention to details, which is why the wool coat features some suede trim in all the right places: behind the collar and under the the placket. The three outer pockets are fairly traditional. There are two at the waist and one just under the chest. There is another small zipped pocket on the inside.

The Telesto From Rogan Warms 7.6 On The Liquid Hip Richter Scale.  

Although Rogan looks different from the days they first founded it, Gregory and Mackinlay-Hahn deserve some additional props. When everyone started to wear their denim, they started to consider how wasteful the manufacturing process was in terms of water. So they set out to create other lines and some of their ideas seem to have come back full circle, impacting other creations.

That's pretty cool. You can find the Telesto Field Jacket at Bloomingdale's. For the alternative picks, visit Urban Industry for the Altamont Lodi Jacket and Paul Fredrick for the Carcoat. Bloomingdale's also carries other products from the Rogan line as well as many other fall fashions for both men and women. Men might also be interested in last year's jacket find, designed by Kuhl.