Navy Travel Blazer - Zegna vs Samuelsohn - Page 2

The travel line is aimed at people traveling. They tend to come with features like this. If you're on a plane for hours the fact the pack of gum in one of your outside pockets is screwing up the line isn't a big issue.

One of my overcoats is travel line. It's made lightweight. Minimal lining. Great if you're going from a colder area to a warmer one.

The other thing is if you can't use your inside pockets at all the thing might be too small for you. Just saying.

If I'm on a plane the jacket is hanging in the coat closet at the front of the plane - not on my back. I don't want to be bothered with 'unloading' my jacket before I'm seated - so personally I carry very little in the jacket, period.

I've never used an outside pocket in a jacket for anything. I often find they are still tacked down after years of wear. (excluding pocket squares in breast pockets)

Overcoats - sure I completely get it. Load it up. At least it won't look unsightly. But you are still going to have to retrieve items from the pockets that you might want on the plane.

I agree that the fit is probably pretty tight if one can't put a little item or two in the inside breast pocket. When travelling my inside breast pocket usually contains my passport and boarding pass - period. But something as rigid as a smart phone isn't going to work in a breast pocket on a smallish guy like me regardless. For me this is the one use of a 'special pocket that might make sense - a pocket inside the lining down in the skirt for the phone - the rest of them just seem a bit much for me.

Besides all of this - who travels without a briefcase or other sort of bag? Isn't that where all this stuff should be going? Putting all those pockets in a blazer is just asking for trouble if you ask me.

SOunds about right.

I visited Harry Rosen in Toronto over the Christmas holidays and happened to mention that I would like a functional and stylish navy blazer. The sales guy was very helpful and suggested the very blazer of which the OP speaks of (JP Tilford made by Samuelsohn using Loro Piana Storm System fabric). They didn't have my exact size 42R and so I tried on a 42L. Well that was pretty much game over for me. Without even knowing the price I asked the salesman if he had my size at any other store; as it turned out, my size had sold out everywhere except in some of their western Canadian stores. I ended-up ordering the jacket over the phone from their Calgary store which had to have it shipped in from one of their Vancouver locations. My son who had been on a snowboarding trip to Lake Louise picked it up for me on his drive home.

I have to admit, this is the most expensive blazer I have ever purchased and it is going to have to last as I can't really afford to replace $1000 blazers on a whim (much unlike how I acquired it!) I travel extensively for work and always have my passport, phone wallet, etc in my jacket. The fit of the jacket is not too adversely disrupted when I have these items in my pockets, however they are all fairly slim to begin with; if you're still carrying your Motorola flip phone from 1995 then you might be setting yourself up for failure.

Overall the blazer is really amazing.

Oh, and another thing....I was in LA this past week on business. We were attending a large trade show and had a 10min walk from our hotel to the convention center. One morning we awoke to an early morning rain storm. Although we all used umbrellas for he walk, the rain still made our jackets and pants damp. When I arrived at our destination I simply brushed the water - which had beaded, not soaked in - off my jacket and I was good to go.

True, the fit is better with Zegna.

I mostly fly economy class, so my coat typically does not get to ride in the front of the plane and has to stay on me in the back.

This means that whatever goes in the pockets before the flight stays in the pockets unless needed. I don't put critical things like my passport, phone, or wallet in my bag because it can be a PITA to access them when the tray tables are down or I cannot otherwise get up to retrieve things from an overhead bin.

Then there is the seldom-discussed fact that things do go missing from bags on airplanes.

Doesn't sitting there with your seatbelt on crumple up your jacket terribly?

thebrand is irrelevant, make sure it feels good on you when you wear it

Not really. The coats I wear for air travel are generally high twist suitings that don't hold wrinkles, and I wear side vented coats that let me run the lap belt below the front of the coat.

I also have a throw-down travel suit--a Rohan travel suit that I wear on trips when I have to travel very light and know I won't have access to a hotel with decent laundry service. It is a junky feeling suit but I had it altered to fit well, it looks reasonably presentable no matter what you throw at it, and it has zippered cash and passport pockets that keep everything secure.

Gotcha,

I used to wear non iron dress shirts for precisely the same reason. Even though I sent them out to be laundered and pressed.

They were great for those days when I left the house at 4 am to catch a plane to a meeting and then back the same night. Nothing worse than showing up at an 11 am meeting looking completely rumpled.

I have some suits with high twist fabrics and all of my suits are side vented. But I still can't imagine sitting in an airplane seat with the jacket on. Although I must admit I've never thought of running the belt through the vents and under the jacket. Another lesson learned from Style Forum!

To each, their own!