A well-fitted jacket can make you look powerful and elegant. Here are some to consider
Studies have shown that the optics of a man’s visual appearance is more powerful than what he says. Ignore your wardrobe at your own risk.
You can always count on Shakespeare for wry wisdom and a pithy quote, and in our image-obsessed times, this bit from Hamlet seems particularly resonant: Polonius is telling his son Laertes to dress well because “apparel oft proclaims the man”. Much later, the American author Mark Twain echoed this ironically: “Clothes maketh the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.” Though centuries old now, the statement remains true in the era of social media and Zoom meetings – clothes truly make the man, especially on Instagram. People will judge you on your first appearance, with a click.
There are many things that we can’t control — the economy, love scams, off-schedule fashion shows — but how we present ourselves to strangers and associates, however, is not one of them. First impressions are powerful because, until you speak, how you look is the only information you communicate for others to make a snap decision as to whether to swipe left and bolt for the hills.
The moral Holy Grail is not to judge but this is the age of judging ̶ of nanosecond likes, comments, follows and reviews. Careers have been made out of judging because human beings have and will continue to judge others based on the information presented to them — and in most situations this is how you look. Every day we process hundreds of people by making immediate decisions about trustworthiness and intentions, solely based on how they present themselves. Put on a jacket and see for yourself.
Jackets are essentials in a man's wardrobe for several reasons: They are versatile, functional, and add pizazz and polish to any old thing you could be wearing. A well-fitted jacket adds a touch of sophistication and elegance, even to the most unpromising of figures. In this age of “authenticity”, jackets are wily tools to express your personal style and tell the world just who you are. Wearing a jacket can make a man look better in quite a few ways. A well-shaped jacket covers a multitude of bulges and seafood buffets. A well-cut jacket works like a real-time, real-life filter that can instantly broaden your shoulders and widen a chest, giving you that enviable, youthful V-shape that is very flattering. Additionally, a well-chosen jacket signifies elegance and affluence, adding lustre to your image – what more can you ask of an item of clothing?
Of course choosing the right style of jacket can be fraught. You must pick from the various types of jackets to complement your different occasional needs and see how it fits your figure and wardrobe. Each type of jacket has its unique features and is meant to be worn for specific purposes, with differing degrees of formality. For example, a blazer is perfect for formal occasions, while a safari jacket is more rugged and should worn for more outdoors events. Here, we narrow down the choices to the three main styles.
THE NAVY BLAZER
Only one step down in formality from the suit jacket, you can think of the navy blazer as the male equivalent of the Little Black Dress. It is formal enough to cover just about any event on your schedule, from a work meeting to cocktails to dinner date, yet casual enough for weekend lunches and informal gatherings. It is all-purpose, and endlessly versatile for styling into myriad outfits. If you only want the one jacket, this is the one for you. You can build a great wardrobe around this this one essential item.
Historically, the word “blazer” comes from the flannel jackets that were worn by the rowers from the St John’s College in Cambridge, which were a bright blazing scarlet, hence blazer. While the graduates of St John’s felt proprietary toward the colour red, other sport coats became known as blazers as well, and the word now describes any-coloured jacket.
The navy blazer represents fashion at its classic best — its appeal is both iconic and immediate. It represents unimpeachable sartorial usefulness and practicality, while being flattering and stylish. A well-tailored navy blazer is the perfect garment to ease you gracefully through society, without the “look at me, look at me” desperation of most fashion-forward styles and yet is the very soul of sophistication and personality.
Wear it with jeans if you need to communicate ruggedness and youth (after all, the blazer has athletic pedigree); wear it with a silk scarf if you’re rebellious and “artistic”; wear it with roomy grey flannels if you share a kinship with Gary Cooper or Cary Grant. Thom Browne started the trend for wearing blazers with shorts. Hedi Slimane cuts his ultra-narrow. There’s navy blazer out there for you, whatever your inclinations or needs.
Beyond the strictly basic, note that the most formal of blazers is a navy blue double-breasted jacket with metal buttons, (King Charles is a devotee of this style), and this variant is a direct descendent of the Royal Navy Reefer Jacket, worn by British sailors in winter when they reefed the sails.
THE SMOKING JACKET
The Smoking Jacket, also known as a dinner jacket or a lounge jacket, is a glamourous descendant of the robes-de-chambre, once worn by owners of stately manors who wanted an extra layer of warmth made with fine fabrics such as silk and decorated with elaborate embroidery. The aristocratic fashion for smoking after dinner required this garment to be worn over dinner clothes to protect it from ash and the pall of smoke. This robe was originally designed in the 1800s and has a shawl collar, turn-up cuffs, and is closed by a sash, but over time, this has evolved to be closed by one button. In Victorian times, with the adoption of velvet as a fashionable fabric, the robe length was reduced to that of a jacket – and the Smoking Jacket of today was born.
The smoking jacket’s evolution into the dinner jacket, essentially a dressy jacket, was a trend set by Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII). Today, the smoking jacket is commonly worn when some formality is expected, without actually requiring a tuxedo. Think of a smoking jacket is a slightly more informal (and jaunty) style of dinner jacket in contrast to a tuxedo, which is a suit consisting of a dinner jacket with matching trousers, usually made of black or midnight blue, and worn with a white dress shirt (to black-tie events or state dinners). While both garments are worn for formal occasions, the smoking jacket and can be worn for any festive, celebratory occasions (fancy Christmas dinners, for example) and parties where some style and fashion flair is expected.
In our times, Tom Ford and Dolce & Gabbana are the masters of this style of jacket and make ever more sumptuous, and rakish, iterations with each season. A smoking jacket should be worn with traditional tuxedo trousers, if grave formality or great camp, is required (together with lashings of confidence and velvet slippers). Otherwise, dress down with your favourite jeans and any formal or trendy shoe and drink up.
THE SAFARI JACKET
The iconic safari jacket, also known as a bush jacket, or “shacket”, is a rugged garment that was originally designed for going on safari in the African bush. Of course any such politically-incorrect activity is today anathema, and so the shacket is now merely a functional fashion item to be worn where outdoors activity requires some style and romance. As with many an iconic fashion staple, the safari jacket has military origins. The earliest version of the safari jacket can be traced to the khaki drill uniforms of the British Army, which were first introduced in 1900, when troops were stationed in South Africa during the Second Boer Wars. These cotton jackets were tailored from lightweight cotton drill or poplin, and designed to be worn in the tropics, typically featuring epaulettes, pleated pockets, and self-belts.
The safari jacket is a practical and comfortable jacket to throw over anything you could be wearing, especially for travel and flights. Its many pockets work like a bag you can wear to stash all your necessities for outdoor activities and adventure.
No safari jacket can be worn today without at least a nod to the many that Ernest Hemingway wore in his illustrious career exploring Africa and the Atlantic, and which were designed and custom-made for him by Willis & Geiger Outfitters. In the 1930s Abercrombie & Fitch also made safari jackets in ‘coat shirt style,’ making its reputation for sports and leisure wear.
During the 1960s and 1970s, safari suits became fashionable thanks to designer versions for men and women by designers Ted Lapidus and Yves Saint Laurent, both of whom were credited with popularising this otherwise non-fashion look. Yves Saint Laurent, in particular introduced the safari jacket in his 1967 runway show and famously wore it obsessively himself, quickly turning it into a fashion classic.
The safari jacket has been a constant in popular culture, especially towards the later 20th century. You too can try the safari jacket, with the Big Daddy swagger of Teddy Roosevelt, who often wore one. Or wear it suave, as Roger Moore, who played James Bond in seven films, did. Contemporary with Hemingway, the actor Clark Gable famously wore a safari jacket in the 1953 film Mogambo.