Barbour Jackets Showdown: Made In England VS Made Elsewhere!

Comparing two identical jackets, the Quilted Classic Tartan Eskdale, after realizing one was made in England and the other was made in Indonesia! Both authentic Barbour products where the Made In England version retailed for around $120 and the Made In Indonesia version currently retails at around $250!

[DrawnInk]

It’s not just the quality, it’s the very idea that an English Barbour jacket actually comes from England. It’s the same as when I buy Champagne it comes from Champagne, France. The Indonesian one looked like a sack of potatoes.

[michaelhoppe]

There is a notable difference between the UK version and the Indonesian one. Shame on Barbour. And, great point; that they moved production overseas not for better skilled labor but for cheaper labor. Shame, again, on Barbour.

[kevinhughes]

After watching this I'm positive mine is a fake no Barbour name on studs (button) no tag inside pocket. But it looks really good.

[ovn]

Lucky to find this video, I am just about to buy a Barbour jacket I could not believe that manufacturing was moved from the UK. So the best to go to the shop and check personally every details that you have highlighted here. Thanks for that, it is really useful.

[mattimorottaja]

in earlier video you said the lining was higher quality in older(dress gordon) ones than new made in england ones. is that still so?

[ChrisCarries_EDC]

I've just sent an email to Barbour customer service, asking whether their Ashby jackets are made in England. Hoping for a yes!

[ExploringHabit]

Slow day at the office 😂😂 Great incite to the differences, i bought a secondhand Barbour jacket off vinted. At the time i didn't know there were fakes out there. Anyway i researched about fake Barbour jackets.

1 Barbour always has the name Barbour on their buttons
2 The zip was designed to open bottles of beer you can see it online to verify.
3 The Barbour ticket by the hanging hook should be stitched in. With the three royal crests. ( Some have only 2 crests )
4. There should be 1 Barbour ticket in at least 1 pocket
5 Very neat stitching and matching fabrics.

Anyway my fake coat only had the crest but the stitching was wonky and it wasn't even square 😂 plus no buttons had the name Barbour engraved on them.
Managed to buy a new one in the sale plus it's a version made in England were I'm from.

I love my Barbour jacket !!!!

[davidcooper]

We have trouble here in the UK sourcing UK made Barbour jackets and yes the quality has declined. As soon as an item becomes fashionable that's what happens but sadly very little is made in the UK now. By the way, it not and EKSDALE as you pronounce it - It is an ESKDALE. Eskdale is a glacial valley and civil parish in the western Lake District National Park in Cumbria, England.

[MegaMikeArnold]

One thing to consider.. one of them is prefaced by "New" in the title; it's the imported model. Barbour has revamped and expanded their brand offerings over the last 15+ years to include Dept. B and International lines, both of which are not made in the UK (my understanding). Could be that very intentionally, your two Eskdales are different indeed.

[jeremykeller]

Excellent presentation. I had known that Barbour had shipped much production overseas, but I had not heard about the disparity in quality. I had assumed that the quality control people at Barbour would have imposed their standards on the foreign manufacturers. Per OLAF this is not the case.

I think Barbour fans (I am one) should make the case to Barbour that its brand quality is worth protecting. In terms of labor cost, Barbour has the upper hand. I doubt that it would be a big jump in expense for the company to train its foreign workers to achieve higher production standards.

[jussit]

Like others have pointed out as well, you made a very good point in 2:15. I'm sure that the people in poor countries could make great quality clothes if they were given enough time to make them properly. But many of the companies want them to work fast, despite the salaries being very low already. Funny thing it hardly ever shows in the price of the product when it is sold to the custome. But the companies sure have a lot of answers for that. Another thing is that they often try to save money in materials by using lesser grade fabrics and cheaper and thinner metal parts that just aren't durable.
I bought a jacket a few years ago that I thought was made in Sweden. I was so wrong! But these days it has become ridiculously difficult to find out where the products are made in. They might be finished in England, Sweden etc. (any expensive western country) but the cloth and the materials and bulk of the work has been done in poor countries. So frustrating...

[msato]

Selfridges is one of the high end store here in UK, same as Harvey Nichols.

[HeADSHTs]

Good comparison! Quick question- do these jackets ever go on sale?

[gezzly]

I have a Barbour sapper jacket which was made in Eastern Europe with shoddy interior stitching. So annoying finding out as I assumed all Barbour wax jackets were made in England. It’s a fake as far as I’m concerned 😡

[tn_onyoutube]

Selfridges is high end, not mid. Roughly on par with Harrods and Harvey Nichols.

Nice video, liking your channel.

[larry]

I've got a Bedale and a Border that are made in the UK and 2 Ashbys, 2 Dukes, an International, a Corbridge and Northpass that are made elsewhere.
I prefer to buy British if I can but have to say in this case there is no difference between UK and foreign made.

[TheDeadRabbits]

I was sad to see Barbour is only making 3 coats now in UK. The Beaufort, Bedale, and Beadnell. That’s it. Everything else is overseas now. I recently bought a Beaufort and the quality and finish on it is still excellent is was $400. However, I cannot recommend a Barbour to anyone that’s overseas made. You make a great point, that these people in Indonesia may be skilled, but they aren’t there for their skill. They are there to move as fast as possible to get it done.

The good thing is, as far as I can tell, any repairs, or tailoring is still done in the UK .

[ianian]

Hi can I tell you that not all Barbour are made in england. I think 99% of what Barbour makes are not made in england. If you what one made in uk you have to look in side.

[gaeleus]

Enjoyed your video and your comments are spot on. Unfortunately, industry is moving in the direction of outsourcing local skilled labor (from America/ Western Europe to emerging markets where labour is cheap). This "cheap" labour allows companies to keep a larger profit. Quality has been known to diminish across the board not only in the garment industry but also electronics, etc. Those good defenitely feel less quality and "more disposable". I would argue that it is quite challenging these days to find products not manufactured in the Far East or Eastern Europe. Signs of changing times i guess. Really sad! If you can find Barbour UK made garments, grab them while you still can.

[kerrythomas]

100F+. Thank God for a/c. There is a world of difference between the English made Barbours and those made in Asia, you are correct sir. I own both.