How to choose sports jackets for men

Sartorial Guy

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Jackets
Mens sports jackets

With the demise of the suit as the default business outfit for men, the jacket (or sports jacket) has become much more prominent in a man’s sartorial repertoire. Whereas the suit often required very little thought, getting a sports jacket right for work requires a bit more effort. The positive side is that there is more room to be creative in the choice of outfits. An outfit involving a sports jacket, or blazer, can be almost as formal as a suit these days and you can dress better than the vast majority of men by utilising them in a thoughtful way. These jackets also have more applications in social settings so it’s worth taking the time to get these right to benefit from this versatility. This article will consider the main ways to build a sports jacket wardrobe for maximum value in the professional and smart casual setting. 

Navy wool / silk / linen blend jacket

What fabrics for sports jackets?

There is a bit more leeway for types of fabrics with sports jackets compared to suits. The key thing is to ensure that the jacket does not look like it is part of a suit. There are a number of aspects of fabric that relate to this. Firstly, the formality of the fabric. A formal suit usually has a smooth sheen with a plain appearance or a pinstripe. With a sports jacket we usually need to have something a bit different so that it doesn’t look like a suit jacket. This means that you probably don’t want to go for a plain worsted wool. Some of the main options to consider are:

  • A silk / wool / linen blend: this is the classic smart casual fabric for sports jackets. It is typically associated with summer as they tend to be fairly lightweight. The different components provide different attributes which make it perform well for warmer climates. The percentages between the components varies but they will broadly fulfil a similar function.
  • Linen: again this is usually for summer sports jackets. It is more informal than the silk / wool / linen blend as it crumples and creases more. See examples here and here.
  • Wool: for colder seasons, wool is a classic fabric to use. For these, we tend to use a thicker wool which has some texture rather than a wool that would be used for a suit. There are many different variants of wool that can be used, with different patterns, weaves and textures. As an example, tweed is a rough, woollen fabric that is often used for warm casual jackets. 
  • Cashmere: this is a more luxurious feeling wool. It has good insulation properties so is preferred for colder climates. As it tends to be smoother in appearance and feel, it tends toward a smarter garment. 
Brown wool / silk / linen jacket
Brown wool jacket
Smart casual jacket with a peak lapel

What colours for sports jackets?

We can also be more adventurous with the choice of colour for a sports jacket. The classic is still going to be navy blue and will probably be your first port of call. This will cover you for any smart casual occasion and can be a default choice for your office outfits. It will go well with grey and beige trousers. It can also be worn with a tie if you want to elevate the smartness a notch.

While it is almost essential to have a navy sports jacket, there are a range of other colours you can expand your wardrobe to include. Firstly there are different shades of blue that can work. You go with lighter shades which will bring down the formality and also give you added versatility for other occasions.

The next most versatile option is brown. This is because it will pair with your grey and cream coloured trousers. It will also work with white and blue shirts. To further add to the versatility, this type of jacket will also work with blue denim if you get the fabric, styling and cut right too. Brown encompasses a wide range of shades, from a beige / khaki to a dark coffee colour. Anything in between will be easy to wear. One of the advantages of brown is that we often wear brown shoes in smart casual outfits and this will align with that and reduce the number of colours on show in the outfit as a whole (we want to try not to be wearing more than 3 or 4 colours at any one time). 

The next colour to consider is green. This takes us further from typical office attire but it’s more acceptable these days and makes a nice option for social occasions. It has the advantage that it is obvious that it isn’t part of suit (in most cases). 

Other colour options include cream (more showy) and grey. Grey can be difficult for smart or smart casual outfits as we are often wearing grey trousers and it can look too similar. They can work well with blue denim, though, in more casual outfits. 

A navy hopsack jacket
A taupe / brown jacket with generous lapels
A green linen jacket

How to structure a sports jackets?

The design of the jacket is where it’s good to add some aspects that differentiate it from a suit jacket. The basics of fit are the same for the fit of a suit jacket though: to fit snugly around the collar, to cover the seat, to match the end of the shoulder etc (see our suit article). You can go a touch shorter on the jacket length with a sports jacket compared to a suit jacket but not too much. As long as these are broadly correct there are a few other things you can incorporate. Firstly, it’s good to have patch pockets, at least for the waist pockets and potentially for the breast pocket. Secondly, you can have less padding in the shoulder and less roping at the shoulder end. This will give it a more relaxed look which helps it harmonise with more casual trousers such as jeans. Thirdly, you can play around with the amount of buttons and the colours. The buttons can be more of a contrasting colour such as brown on navy jacket. You can also have a 3 roll 2 button jacket where the top button is hidden. One further option is to only have 1 wrist button which gives it more of a casual Neapolitan feel. 

There is also the opportunity to have different linings in the jacket. For autumn / winter jackets you are probably going to want the jacket to be fully lined. This means that there is a silk or bomberg lining all the way around the inside of the jacket. This will help with insulation and the shape. You can also have a half (or quarter-lined) jacket where there is no lining in the back and lower sides. This helps the jacket keep cooler as there is less material involved. It may affect the drape for lighter weight fabrics so bear this in mind, but it is a good choice for warm weather jackets. 

How to wear a sports jacket?

Basically you can wear a sports jacket in all but the most formal situations. At the more formal end of the scale, you can wear a navy sports jacket with grey trousers, a cotton shirt and maybe a tie to dress it up. You can then go further down the formality scale by pairing one with tailored wool, cotton and linen trousers in various colours. Then further down the scale you can wear one with denim jeans. You probably wouldn’t want to wear one with tracksuit bottoms but that must be a fashion statement somewhere! 

As regards the shirt, you can wear it with your formal cotton poplin shirts but you can also wear more casual shirt fabrics such as Oxford cotton, chambray and denim. There are a multitude of other options such as cotton polo shirts, wool polo shirts, and roll necks that are possibilities here as well. It’s best to start with cotton shirts though and then experiment with other options. You’ll need to make sure that jacket, shirt, trousers and shoes all broadly match up in terms of formality. 

As we mentioned in the article on trousers, when selecting the jacket and trousers try to choose colours that aren’t too similar (as it will look like an unmatched suit) or too different (as it will be too contrasting, like black and white).

A nice touch for sports jackets is to incorporate a pocket square. Don’t match it exactly with anything else in the outfit but try to pick something which includes a colour from elsewhere in the outfit. If in doubt, a white linen or cotton pocket square will usually look good.

Key tips:

  • Make sports jackets a key part of your professional wardrobe. You’ll also be able to use them in social situations. 
  • Start with a navy wool jacket, maybe with some surface interest in the weave such as a herringbone. You can then expand out to other colours such as brown and green.
  • Look for jackets that are designed in such a way that they are obviously not part of a suit. Something more casual about them such as 3 patch pockets.
  • Summer sports jackets are incredibly useful as they can be constructed from lightweight fabrics such as wool / silk / linen blends and pure linen. 
  • You can create outfits that are very formal (with wool trousers) down to quite casual (denim jeans).

159 thoughts on “How to choose sports jackets for men”

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