BRANDS / SARTORIALEE SELECTS / LAST OF ENGLAND / TEBA JACKET

Count me in…

The Teba jacket can best be described as an anglo-hispanic sartorial fusion between a shirt, cardigan and blazer, originally created as a bespoke garment for King Alfonso XIII of Spain on London’s esteemed Savile Row. It is a lightweight, loose-fitting jacket, whose unlined, unrestricted design made it a great counter to the often-fierce Spanish climate and served the King well as he engaged in all manner of country pursuits back in the day.

King Alfonso XIII wearing his original Teba

One of the King’s closest shooting companions, the Count of Teba, (pictured above – he of the white-washed Andalucían mountain village near Málaga), became so enamored by it that the king handed him his. The Count wore it religiously and so the jacket was christened. The Teba took on added significance for me when I discovered it was produced in the Spanish city of Zaragoza. For it is a place that holds fond memories for me as I visited the capital of Aragon as a child, a chichi city dominated by the towering, majestic Basilica of El Pilar.

Basílica de Nuestra Señora del Pilar / Zaragoza Photo: Lee Osborne

My Europa blue Last of England Teba, brought in to the UK by owner Tom Heber Percy who spotted a gap in the market, is entirely hand-cut by Justo Gimeno, stalwart of Iberian tailoring. Steeped in tradition, its origins can be traced back to the late 1800s when the then 12-year old Justo Gimeno Pradilla emigrated to Argentina to learn the art of tailoring. He remained there for some time before returning to his native Spain to set up shop in Zaragoza’s Paseo de la Independencia where the store remained until moving in to new premises on Gran Via in 1957. The third generation of Gimeno’s are still going strong, despite Spain teetering on the
edge of economic catastrophe recently.

Above: the Justo Gimeno factory in Zaragoza / Photographs courtesy of Tom Heber Percy

Historically the Teba was only ever made in navy blue or green, but recent trends have seen the jacket milled in a variety of materials, patterns and weaves in different colours and weights dependent upon the climate and demand of the recipient markets. I’d read that the Teba was unlined and relaxed, unlike the majority of blazers in my wardrobe which have been tailored to fit with some shoulder padding – so with that in mind I ordered a size smaller than usual (I’m a 40” so ordered a 38”). For me it is the perfect jacket in which to travel. It won’t crease up like an equivalent linen counterpart would, and it’s as smart at the end of a long haul flight as it is when you depart – its merino wool knit means you can even sleep in it and keep warm on a drafty flight. Nowadays it’s as at home in an urban setting as it is on a shooting field.

HOW I WEAR MINE:

I layer my Teba up over a brushed cotton spread collar check shirt, knitted tie and chunky knit sweater in the winter months. The jacket has 4 buttons and 2 deep front pockets. The notchless lapel and collar look best turned up, nonchalently Eric Cantona-style. Team the ensemble with dark denim and tobacco suede monkstraps or Chelsea boots to complete a less formal but nonetheless smart weekend look.