Diesen Beitrag gibt es auch auf Deutsch. Auf Deutsch lesen →
I probably first walked into the shoe house Ed. Meier Munich in 1992. It was still on Residenzstraße 33 then, directly opposite the opera house and a few steps from Max Dietl. I had read that a bespoke shoemaker was giving a demonstration, and used a stay with my parents to visit Germany’s oldest shoe house. I was wearing brown Chetwynds by Church’s that I had bought in Hanover, my Barbour Moorland jacket from Smith Traditional in Hamburg, and a Harris tweed jacket from Ladage & Oelke, so I felt equipped for the venerable shop. Of the visit itself I can hardly remember a thing.
Two or three years later I was at Ed. Meier again, and bought a dark grey covert coat in the sale, cut so close that you had to think about every extra note in your wallet. At some point I found an Ed. Meier madder tie in a second-hand shop, which I kept for years but never wore because it was excessively long. I did not know the Albert knot back then. In 2001 I tried the house’s shoes for the first time and have been an enthusiastic wearer of the Peduform lasts ever since. I got to know their ready-to-wear that same year, and a number of pieces have accumulated with me. Trousers, loden jackets, coats, tweed jackets, socks, ties. This year the favourite shown here joined them, the blue cotton jacket with action pleats behind the sleeves, a collar that buttons up, and a centre vent.
I was in Munich in early summer looking for a light jacket. The sun was stronger than at home in the north, so I was glad to reach for the blue jacket in its fairly heavy cotton. When I took it out and turned it round, I hesitated at first. I do not like a centre vent. I tried it anyway, because the slightly lighter blue appealed to me. The comfort pleased me straight away, and the fit was excellent, as I could then see in the three-way mirror. There are off-the-peg pieces a tailor simply could not do better. This jacket is one of them. Everything is right. The length, the balance, the comfort, the look. The details are typically Eduard Meier. Roomy and very deep pockets, with a zip inside. Sturdy cloth and good buttons. And an enormous amount of freedom of movement thanks to the action pleats. On top of that the jacket buttons all the way up, which is very useful on cooler days, in wind, and when travelling.
After buying it I first wore the jacket with mid-grey trousers in a light wool fresco, made to measure for me at Cove & Co. and taken along on that trip. Those trousers made the blue cotton jacket look a little more formal but still relaxed. Later I mostly wore it with light cotton trousers or with light corduroy. Stylistically the piece recalls the Spanish Teba jacket a little, or distantly the Forestière by Arnys. Some friends also saw echoes of summer Trachten jackets, and Americans saw a touch of preppy in the soft shoulders. The cuffs have one button each, so the sleeves can be turned back like a shirt’s. This cut is available, depending on the season, in hunting linen, in tweed, and in a soft, light blend of new wool and cashmere as well.
