Barbour – Dept (B) Commander Jacket/Beacon Sports Wax Jacket
The Barbour coat in Skyfall is a modified “X to Ki To” Beacon Heritage Sports coat. This included a zipped hood, which was removed and the zip taken off the jacket.
The Dept (B) Commander Jacket that was launched a year after the film and was essentially a recreation of a screen version seen in Skyfall. Making it easier for those who wanted a more screen accurate version.
Model: Dept (B) Commander Jacket/Beacon Sports Wax Jacket. Purchased in October 2013 for £399
Limited Run
The “X To Ki To” was a limited run jacket, so would have been very difficult to get hold of, at the time, but it does look like Barbour have reintroduced this with their new “Barbour Gold Standard” label calling it the Supa-Commander.
I can protect you!
This is a very good coat for the colder points of the year. I’ve worn it in wet weather, getting soaked head to toe by a passing Land Rover in the Cotswolds. Although I was wet, I was still protected by the jacket, and nice and warm.
Click image to shop the book on Amazon
Read more about how costume designer Jany Temime introduced the casual elements to James Bond in the book From Tailors Love: An Evolution of Menswear Through the Bond Films.
Colour: Olive
Storms coming
The jacket comes with a triangular through flap. This has been useful on those rainy walks in the country, to keep the rain out of your coat. For those slightly fewer wet days in the Autumn (Fall) you can put the collar down and smarten the jacket up as a Blazer.
Hardly Christmas is it
When this version of the coat was released it was under Barbour’s “Dept (B)” range. It later included versions of this jacket in Navy. One waxed and a quilted version, the latter I was given as a Christmas present.
There are few differences between the Waxed and the Quilted versions. The lining on the waxed jacket has the Barbour tartan inside, whereas the linen is plain in the quilted version.
It’s getting redder
The Waxed version is a heaver jacket, and most times I wear it I can get hot, and the inside of the jacket gets damp from the heat produced. The quilted version feels more light weight, and I tend to wear it more in pleasant weather. I don’t sweat in it as I do in the waxed version.
First place they’d look
The final difference is with the buttons, the waxed jacket has standard Barbour buttons, but the quilted has the Dept (B) variant.
I love both jackets, for different reasons. The navy quilted resides in the boot of my car, it’s great to take with you and can work with any outfit, casual with the collar up, or as a quilted blazer with the collar down.
It’s nice and cool in the mountains
The waxed jacket is my go-to when my wife and I go on long walks in the country, especially in wet or cold weather. I tend not to wear this in casual settings as I get too hot in it. Even when only wearing one layer under the jacket.
You can do that
The waxed jacket needs some maintenance to it. It will need rewaxing depending on how often you use it, I’ve rewaxed it once, by going to a Barbour store and requesting it be sent for rewaxing.
This service is available from Barbour stores, online and some concessions that sell Barbour products. The current cost for this is £35 plus shipping cost (cleaning not included, you’ll need to do that yourself before sending it). The other option is to wax it yourself, you can get a tin of Thornproof Wax for £11, with tutorials on how to do that online.
It’s not finished
I’ve also had to have a button replaced. It had snapped in two, no idea when and where. I was able to do this at the same time as having the jacket waxed for free, due to a slight cock up in the store (they forgot to send the jacket for waxing, so 6 weeks later when I went to collect it, they very embarrassingly told me that they had forgotten and would wax and repair for free!) .
Dept (B) is no longer a range Barbour provide, but the Commander Jacket has been rebranded as part of their “Beacon” range, the only noticeable difference is the left-hand pocket saying “Barbour” instead of “Barbour Dept (B)”.
Barbour coat in Skyfall
All in all pretty stocked
The surprising thing for me is that in 7 years the price of this jacket has remained the same. It was £399 when I bought it, and it still is today! There are no other versions than the waxed olive. However, this is a piece that will last you for a long time and a quality item to boot!
Complete the look:
- Blue Wave jumper by N.Peal
- Iggy Chords by AllSaints
- Crockett & Jones Islay boots in dark brown
- TOM FORD scarf (original, cut in half, reinterpreted by N.Peal in dark brown herringbone).
Current Price: £399
Further Reading
- A complete comparison of the differences between the original “X to Ki To” and Commander jacket is explained by Remmert on the James Bond Lifestyle website here.
- Buy the Barbour coat from Skyfall here.
- Follow Daniel Gaster on Instagram and check out further product reviews here.
