What kind of jacket to wear to walk around within school building?

Hello, gentlemen:

Just wondering what kind of jacket is nice to wear around the within school building. I spent fair amount of time walking between classes, etc. Unfortunately, blazer or cord jacket is not the norm on campus. Could you suggest something less formal than that but still looks good.

I usually match shirt with jeans/chino. But the maintenance here sets the A/C very strong, so it is freezing inside the building. I'm thinking this AE jacket, but not sure if its style is too trendy or of dubious quality .... Thanks!

http://www.ae.com/web/browse/product.jsp?productId=2101_9382_073&catId=cat380145





This blazer is WAY too formal to wear inside the b-school. Even professors don't dress like this...




This is definitely more casual that the last one. It could be acceptable, but still too "perfect" and thus not "low-key" profile.

EDIT: I'm talking about college campus in midwest region like Chicago, say for example, University of Chicago. I don't know about schools in New England, but here people dress casual (not as casual as in California). I can wear a blazer or cord jacket to classes, but usually only European international students would dress like that. Otherwise, people are going to ask one of the following four questions:

1) Hey, why you are so dressed up, man?
2) Are you going to a club tonight?
3) Are you going for a date?
4) Are you going for a pre-interview dinner tonight? (I'm in a b-school)

Sorry that I didn't specify my specific circumstances... My goal is too sharp like you gentlemen, but with less high profile (more subtle). Any suggestions? Thanks!

looks fine.. I would get it in the barnyard or olive color..

What kind of school building? Eton, Harrow, UK comprehensive, kindergarten, US senior high, Chinese middle school, Ivy league Preppy?

MikeDT said:

What kind of school building? Eton, Harrow, UK comprehensive, kindergarten, US senior high, Chinese middle school, Ivy league Preppy?

Click to expand...

Less formal then a cord jacket?



There can be only one

E build quality is decent. The problem is, their styling has never been more atrocious. BUT to my surprise this is quite a handsome jacket in 'barnyard', so for $100 I say go for it.

Personally, I can't wear something this heavy indoors. A standard Harrington or Members Only is always a safe bet and translates well to any environment of student life, but I'd suggest browsing Baracuta's website.

What would happen if you wore a blazer? Would you get beat up?

Drakes has a very nice quilted coat for a ridiculously low 140GBP

For causal, have a look on Barbour, also walk around shops.

For smart, you can try a gunclub blazer, or in fact any blazer. There should n't be a problem for academic environment.

Blazer with jeans can look good. Realistically, on campus, you can wear any type of jacket. No one will care. Pick what you like.



MikeDT said:

What kind of school building? Eton, Harrow, UK comprehensive, kindergarten, US senior high, Chinese middle school, Ivy league Preppy?

Click to expand...

This really is the key question, but if you are (as I'm assuming) in a US college/university, I can't imagine that a cord SC would be too formal. In fact, I think it would be the perfect thing. If you're a little uncomfortable with it, perhaps look at one with a little less structure.

This blazer is WAY too formal to wear inside the b-school. Even professors don't dress like this...






This is definitely more casual that the last one. It could be acceptable, but still too "perfect" and thus not "low-key" profile.

I'm talking about college campus in midwest region like Chicago, say for example, University of Chicago. I don't know about schools in New England, but here people dress casual (not as casual as in California). I can wear a blazer or cord jacket to classes, but usually only European international students would dress like that. Otherwise, people are going to ask one of the following four questions:

1) Hey, why you are so dressed up, man?
2) Are you going to a club tonight?
3) Are you going for a date?
4) Are you going for a pre-interview dinner tonight? (I'm in a b-school)

Sorry that I didn't specify my specific circumstances... My goal is too sharp like you gentlemen, but with less high profile (more subtle). Any suggestions? Thanks!

You are, presumably, a college student?

and not a kid in kindergarten?

why don't you look around and just wear what other college kids wear?

What's wrong with a solid grey or blue blazer? I'm a university student myself, and I rarely get anything other than compliments about my clothes even though I wear jackets and ties quite often.

If the metal buttons on a blazer make it look too formal to you, you could replace them with MOP.

More generally, any jacket (sports coat) made from a heavily textured fabric like tweed will be inherently more casual. I have a jacket made from blue barleycorn fabric, an air force blue jacket with a herringbone pattern, and a cream jacket of dupioni silk. All are quite casual, so there are many options besides tweed. Also, on corduroy jackets, the wider the wale, the more casual the jacket. So a navy microwale jacket could be rather formal, whereas a brown wide wale jacket (which I also have) would be quite casual.

Another solution to your conundrum might be a finely knit cardigan. I've been looking for another casual jacket, textured and unstructured (so an unstructured sports coat is another option for you), without success, so I recently bought a navy blue, shawl collared cardigan, which I intend to wear as a very casual blazer-equivalent. It does help that I can get away with more than you, since I'm a little older than you...