Woolrich Dorrington Jacket, western class!

By Rick Shandley

As fall sweeps into our collective souls, consider this Woolrich Dorrington jacket for its warmth and classic style. To us, this is a perfect ranch jacket that is rugged enough to work in, but classic enough to head into town for a day of errands. Even as summer fades away, we can tell you there were more than a few very cool evenings along the coast of California. Up here at the ranch, this Dorrington jacket is so well suited for taking the edge off the evening chill.

Right now as the U.S. experiences the late-summer to fall and winter transition, the Woolrich Dorrington doesn’t simply hang in the closet. Instead, it’s on 24-hour standby one corner of a four-post bed. It gets worn in the morning and evening, as temperatures start to level out around 55 to 60-degrees. Put on the jacket over a t-shirt or other light shirt, and it provides enough warmth to water and feed the donkeys out in the paddock, and literally hang outside for the evening.

As the weather gets cooler, the Dorrington’s warmth is merely bolstered with under-layering that bumps up its comfort range. The

polyester Sherpa pile jacket lining is soft, cozy, and provides a secure measure of warmth no matter if you’re working, resting, or goofing off. Because it’s really a hip-length ranch jacket, not unlike our beloved Carhartt ranch jackets, the Woolrich Dorrington doesn’t require you to baby it or treat it like it is fragile and easily damaged. The Dorrington’s 100-percent cotton shell is rugged and will take the abrasions, scuffing, and dirt that a working jacket needs to endure.

The boulder-washed cotton exterior color of our test-jacket is called Saddle. It seems more like olive drab or forest green to us. But it’s our favorite. Other colors available are Dark Shale (gray) and Dark Wheat (tan). The jacket length is 28 inches, so it’s not so long that it gets in the way while you are active or working, yet it’s long enough to cover your hip tops while allowing for plenty of room to swing an ax, grab a bale of hay, or hug a baby donkey.

When this Dorrington finally got so dirty with alfalfa dust, donkey hairs, (oh you can’t believe the shedding hairs that comes from my fresh new donkey, a one-year old named Monk) and embedded dirt from every possible source. We threw it in the washing machine and it dried out just as fresh as the first day it was worn. After washing and air-drying, the forest green color is still vivid with just the slightest hint of faded wear.

No, no, let us be clear, this Dorrington jacket is aging like a fine bottle of scotch. It’s heading down that same road like a comfortable pair of worn jeans.  Someday, it will wear out or wear through, but that takes decades. So at an MSRP of $139, we can certainly attest to the potential for this jacket to last far beyond its purchase price.

The sleeves are lined with diamond-quilted  60-gram Arctic Insulation. On bare skin the sleeve liners are comfortable and well suited for year-round cool weather conditions. It’s hard to believe if you live way inland, how cool the afternoon coastal trade winds and marine layer can chill a person even in the middle of summer.

During a week up in Palo Alto, CA waiting on a loved one going through heart surgery up at Stanford Medical Center, the day time temperatures where ideal, and much maligned, California perfection. But in the mornings and evening hours, the marine layer (coastal fog) put tempts into the high forties and low 50’s at night. This was the only jacket on the trip, and it was worn out to dinner at some fancy restaurants, as well as to pre-op, post-op treatments, and just waiting around at the hospital. Thing is, the Dorrington jacket is such a classic design that it fits in so many daily-life scenarios. This jacket is not a fashion statement by any means; it is a functional icon. That’s it.

Hand warmer pockets on either side are roomy and lined with black fleece. An inside security pocket on the upper right chest of the

Dorrington is nylon-lined, zippered, and good for storing your wallet or a nicely shaped whiskey flask. Down on the lower left interior of the jacket is a larger storage pocket for your gloves. And the main front zipper is antiqued brass, with large teeth and pull tab. The front zipper works flawlessly, and it’s sturdy enough that it should last a lifetime.

Antiqued brass button and sewn-in button holes allow you to adjust the wrist cuffs and waist according to your comfort and activity. We never fiddled with these adjustments because the jacket just fits and wears like it was tailor made in XL for this writer. Sizes range from small to XXL, so unless you are a Wall Street tycoon who prefers to live life in a fish bowl and wouldn’t be caught dead in anything less than custom wool suits to bring life to his pasty flesh tone, you are assured of finding this jacket in your size.

Overall, this Woolrich Dorrington jacket is what we expected. It is very much like the stalwart Carhartt gear we are familiar with. It is classically designed with very rugged construction. Insulation values can be added or subtracted to make this jacket good for a wide range of comfort and warmth potential. It’s a jacket you can work in because it’s roomy and not restrictive in any sense. But it’s also a jacket you can wear to town and is stylish enough to wear …often.