What is the difference between sport coat...

[SieurDeLaSalle]

Hello Gentlemen(and Gentleladies),

What exactly are the differences between a sport coat and a suit coat?
I 've heard it said on this forum that the aforementioned is Taboo? Why?
Best regards,
DLS

 

[Jovan]

Simple. A sport coat is a jacket meant to be worn without matching trousers. They oftentimes (but not always) have details that make them, well, sporty looking such as leather elbow patches, thick "football" buttons, patch pockets, and a throat latch (a tab for closing the top of the jacket for cold weather). Of course, some casual suits such as corduroy or tweed might have these features too. The name is because such jackets used to be (and still are by some people) used for hunting or horseback, hence the need for some of those more functional features. I don't know if suit coats are necessarily taboo to wear alone, but a lot of them don't always look right that way either. A good example is pinstripe. Something like navy worsted or earth colour tweed/corduroy could probably do double duty just fine though. Checks or windowpane are pretty well accepted since those are common patterns on sport coats. Hope this helps.

 

[California Dreamer]

I'm probably breaking all sorts of taboos, but I regularly wear a navy suit coat in place of a blazer.

I bought a navy Barbera suit on eBay, and found that the pants were way too small in the waist. It was a steal, so I decided to diet my way into them (I'm half-way there) rather than flip them. In the meantime, the coat, which fits fine, works great on casual Fridays with some beige slacks or whatever.

 

[Jovan]

Like I said, I think it's okay if you don't have brass buttons on a navy jacket. It seems to fit the role just fine from all I've seen.

 

[SieurDeLaSalle]

Originally Posted by Jovan

Simple. A sport coat is a jacket meant to be worn without matching trousers. They oftentimes (but not always) have details that make them, well, sporty looking such as leather elbow patches, thick "football" buttons, patch pockets, and a throat latch (a tab for closing the top of the jacket for cold weather). Of course, some casual suits such as corduroy or tweed might have these features too. The name is because such jackets used to be (and still are by some people) used for hunting or horseback, hence the need for some of those more functional features.

I don't know if suit coats are necessarily taboo to wear alone, but a lot of them don't always look right that way either. A good example is pinstripe. Something like navy worsted or earth colour tweed/corduroy could probably do double duty just fine though. Checks or windowpane are pretty well accepted since those are common patterns on sport coats.

Hope this helps.

Thanks... I was a little apprehensive as someone had mentioned it being a "Critical Infraction" lol.

What your saying is, "Use reasonable Care" and it works!

Thanks,
DLS

 

[California Dreamer]

Originally Posted by Jovan

Like I said, I think it's okay if you don't have brass buttons on a navy jacket. It seems to fit the role just fine from all I've seen.
I don't go for the brass buttons thing at all. It makes me feel like Thurston Howell III.

 

[Huntsman]

Me too.

I'd also like to point out that only at SF do we have people who diet to fit into their suits!

 

[Nantucket Red]

Originally Posted by California Dreamer

I don't go for the brass buttons thing at all. It makes me feel like Thurston Howell III.


Bastard said he could offshore my assets . . . !!

 

[mendel]

There are differences in the cut of a suit jacket and a sportcoat or blazer. The length is usually the giveaway for me that someone's pressing a suit jacket into use as a sportcoat. Doubly so if they're doing it with jeans, where you'd expect an even shorter blazer.

 

[Roger]

In my experience, the cut of the two has usually been the same, as has the length. However, if a suit had a very long jacket (like some Armani suits did at one time, and may still do), that fact would make it a bad candidate for use as a sports jacket. And pockets that you'd find on a suit--whether flap or besom--wouldn't rule it out for use as a sports jacket, as you see both frequently on the latter. There are other, more subtle, differences though, in addition to the buttons. Suits are often made of very fine, smooth worsted wool, and such a jacket would, in my opinion, look mismatched with odd trousers. Sports jackets are usually made with a somewhat coarser wool finish. Similarly, patterns on suits are usually more subdued than on sports jackets, and any suit jacket in a pinstripe or chalk stripe would be a very bad candidate for wearing with odd trousers. Perhaps the one place you might get away with this is using a plain navy suit jacket as a blazer or navy sports jacket (since it won't have the brass buttons often associated with navy blazers), particularly if the wool has some texture to it and isn't too fine and smooth.

 

[retronotmetro]

Originally Posted by mendel

There are differences in the cut of a suit jacket and a sportcoat or blazer.

What brands are you basing this on? This hasn't been my experience at all.

The last time I tried on sport coats and suits at the same store, I was looking at Canalis and mainline Cornelianis, and those were cut exactly the same. Same shoulders, same length. The only real difference was the choice of material.

 

[Dragon]

Originally Posted by mendel

There are differences in the cut of a suit jacket and a sportcoat or blazer. The length is usually the giveaway for me that someone's pressing a suit jacket into use as a sportcoat. Doubly so if they're doing it with jeans, where you'd expect an even shorter blazer.
I don`t think the differences you describe are universal. If there is a difference in cut (length, etc.) like you described, it would most likely be because you specified the different cut/length to your bespoke tailor.

 

[Jovan]

Yeah, I have to agree with these gents. I don't notice much a difference in cut. Difference between brands, sure, but not much else.