In many parts of the world autumn has arrived. While it may still be too early to break out your winter parka, there is a definite nip to the air, which has a lot of men thinking about outerwear. For guys who have to wear suits every day, this is a great time of year; but for business-casual men and fellows just who want to cover up in style, what can they wear when the temps turn mild? No, not hoodies and track jackets. The real answer: sports coats and blazers.
Contrary to popular belief, blazers and sports jackets are actually two different kinds of coats – or, to be more accurate, the blazer is a kind of sport jacket – which probably won’t matter too much to most modern guys upon comparison.
The sport coat was invented as a less restrictive version of the suit jacket to be worn during such gentlemanly (and unathletic) sports as shooting and horseback riding; as such sport coats were usually made of thick, rugged wools and tweeds with textured or patterned surfaces. Blazers, on the other hand, came a long a while later and were meant to be a more fashion-forward alternative to the sport coat. In the olden days (your grandpa’s time and earlier), blazers generally featured brass or metal buttons, embroidered club crests and came only in solid colors.
Today though, blazers and sports coats have become more versatile and most of these differences are gone or have been rendered largely unimportant (blazers rarely feature metal buttons these days and sport coats are not always made of tweed). For the sake of clarity we’ll refer to them separately throughout the rest of this article when necessary; but, we’ll also go ahead and make the bold claim that despite some small differences in construction they’re more or less the same thing: suit-style jackets meant to be worn without a suit.
But, we’re sure you’re asking yourself now, if you can’t wear a blazer or sport coat with a suit, what can you wear it with? Well, fortunately the answer is: quite a lot. When it comes to pairing your jacket with a shirt, you can’t go wrong with a button-down oxford. Bolder checks and ginghams can also look great, provided your jacket isn’t too loud or colorful already. For jackets that happen to be richly textured or brightly patterned, we recommend going with solid light colors – few ensembles look smarter than a tan corduroy sport coat paired with a solid white shirt.
Things get a bit trickier when it comes to matching jackets, especially dark ones, with pants. Probably the worst thing you could do is try to combine a black or navy blazer with a pair of black or navy trousers. This combination is guaranteed to flop as it looks likes like you’re wearing a mismatched suit. Even if you get the colors exactly right, which is a long shot, the casual cut of the jacket will make your outfit look strange at best or sloppy at worst.
For darker coats, khaki pants are usually a safe bet although a little on the preppy side. Also, while some might disagree, faded or light washed jeans look fine with almost any color coat, dark or otherwise.
While no mature male can consider his wardrobe complete without a blazer or sport coat, it’s also important to know how to incorporate them into an outfit. Once you know how to pull off these sophisticated forms of light outerwear, you’re ready to brave the crispness of autumn like a true gentleman.
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