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What Makes for a Proper Sport Coat/Blazer (so it doesn't look like 1/2 a suit?)

RatherAnOddball

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Hi!

I'm not really in the market for a suit at the moment, and would rather buy some odd trousers and sport coats, then mix for my style. But I'm clueless about how to avoid buying a sport coat that just looks like an orphaned suit jacket. What general advice can you give me?

Additionally, I'm not really sure how to match trousers with sport coats, since I've read that, if you get the two roughly the same color, it will just look like a bizarre quasi-suit. So what, then, should the trouser be? A lighter shade of the same color? Or related mainly to the shirt rather than the jacket?

Thanks again.
 

Golf_Nerd

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Originally Posted by RatherAnOddball
Hi!

I'm not really in the market for a suit at the moment, and would rather buy some odd trousers and sport coats, then mix for my style. But I'm clueless about how to avoid buying a sport coat that just looks like an orphaned suit jacket. What general advice can you give me?

Additionally, I'm not really sure how to match trousers with sport coats, since I've read that, if you get the two roughly the same color, it will just look like a bizarre quasi-suit. So what, then, should the trouser be? A lighter shade of the same color? Or related mainly to the shirt rather than the jacket?

Thanks again.


The fabrics is different, more colourful.

The trousers are in contrast to the jacket.

There was a thread about 'slacks' two or three weeks ago. They tried to combine a jacket with trousers. It was with pictures.
 

Shraka

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Complimentary colours! Don't match your pants to your jacket unless it is a suit. If they are a similar colour it just looks like you made a mistake.

If you have a navy blue blazer, wear it with cream to cream-brown, or gray slacks. Gray jacket, wear it with darker gray, brown-gray pants, or navy slacks.
Charcoal gray jacket, wear it with cream or sand coloured slacks.
 

ZengaGent

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Originally Posted by Golf_Nerd
The fabrics is different, more colourful.

The trousers are in contrast to the jacket.

There was a thread about 'slacks' two or three weeks ago. They tried to combine a jacket with trousers. It was with pictures.


+ 1 to that.

Fabric should be different, preferrably textured so as NOT to look like an orphaned suit jacket.

Just my humble opinion...
 

Flieger

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Patch pockets help too.

I like my blazers and casual jackets unlined, less structured and shorter in length than my suitjackets.
 

alliswell

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John Ellis

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In a word: CONTRAST. Check sportcoat with grey or another contrasting color of pant. Blazer with mid to dark grey flannels, chinos, jeans, red moleskin. I actually think it's pretty obvious when you are wearing a suit jacket as a sportcoat. I've tried it a couple of times and felt it stood out a mile. But maybe that was just my natural angst.
 

Sator

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I think two things make a lounge coat more formal:

1. Solid worsted cloth with plain buttons (eg horn or corozo) navy or charcoal grey
2. Understated pinstripes - strictly business only

In the case of 1. you may wear matching trousers. Morning trousers and waistcoat are even more formal. With 2. you must wear matching trousers +/- waistcoat.

Things which make a lounge coat casual are:

1. Texture: tweeds, linens and cottons.
2. Colour: lighter colours, and country colours such as brown and green
3. Fancy buttons or plain brown buttons
4. Checks and plaids
5. Fancy pinstripes
6. Contrast stitching

A lounge coat with fancy pinstripes can still be a blazer or a sports coat. As the public at large are so poorly dress educated, you need to have more than one feature to impress upon them that the wearer is at play and not at work.
 

JayJay

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Originally Posted by John Ellis
I actually think it's pretty obvious when you are wearing a suit jacket as a sportcoat. I've tried it a couple of times and felt it stood out a mile. But maybe that was just my natural angst.

I tried this with travel as I thought I could get by with a suit one day and then for the second day wear a pair of odd pants with the suit jacket. Maybe it was just me knowing that I was wearing a suit coat as an odd jacket, but I didn't feel comfortable. Haven't done it since then.
 

Artisan Fan

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Originally Posted by Golf_Nerd
The fabrics is different, more colourful.

The trousers are in contrast to the jacket.

There was a thread about 'slacks' two or three weeks ago. They tried to combine a jacket with trousers. It was with pictures.


Well said.

You can make them more casual with patch pockets as well. I like a little more flair when I choose a sportcoat.
 

Film Noir Buff

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Originally Posted by RatherAnOddball
Hi! I'm not really in the market for a suit at the moment, and would rather buy some odd trousers and sport coats, then mix for my style. But I'm clueless about how to avoid buying a sport coat that just looks like an orphaned suit jacket. What general advice can you give me? Additionally, I'm not really sure how to match trousers with sport coats, since I've read that, if you get the two roughly the same color, it will just look like a bizarre quasi-suit. So what, then, should the trouser be? A lighter shade of the same color? Or related mainly to the shirt rather than the jacket? Thanks again.
Although there are exceptions, generally you want the trousers similar in tone to medium contrast. Sometimes having a pair of trousers similar in tone and/or color but completely different pattern has some of the propriety of a suit without looking like a suit.
 

Manton

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Originally Posted by Flieger
Patch pockets help too.

+1. I have come around to SF Matt's doctrinaire view that odd jackets should always have patch pockets.
 

Flieger

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I used to hate patch pockets, but now I have practically all my jackets with patch pockets.
On suits I thought it would not look good, but someone on the forum had a beautiful example made by Frank Schattuck (not sure about the spelling of that name), that I really really liked.
Not on a more formal suit though.
 

voxsartoria

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Originally Posted by Flieger
On suits I thought it would not look good, but someone on the forum had a beautiful example made by Frank Schattuck (not sure about the spelling of that name), that I really really liked.

That was aportnoy's fantastic Shattuck.

- B
 

RatherAnOddball

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Thanks a million for all of your great responses! Without belittling the wonderful advice given by everyone else, I just have to say that I'm particularly pleased that I managed to get a Sator-reply in my thread.
inlove.gif
As I've begun reading AskAndy and this forum, he's always had a wealth of great pictures to download and refer to.

Anyway, thanks again! I've a few more questions now -

I had thought that a lounge suit was simply a black suit. Obviously I'm wrong. What differentiates a lounge suit from your average suit? Moreover, what differences are there between lounge suit jackets, sport coats and standard suit jackets in terms of lapels, number and height of buttons and other aspects of tailoring? Being very short, a peak lapel helps, but if it's inconceivable to do that with a sport coat, I suppose I'll forget about it.

About the patch pocket - I'm not sure what one is, so I'm not sure what to look for in the pictures that have been linked. I've also read about "ticket pockets" and "hacking pockets" - how would these fare with a sport coat?

Finally, Sator brought up the subject of waistcoats, which I'm rather fond of. I'm still searching around for more threads on them, so feel free to ignore this request as I may find info and pictures later, but I am eager to see more photos of them being successfully worn in fairly casual ensembles, to give me idea on how to do the same.

Those are the only questions I can come up with at the moment.

Again, thanks very much for all of your replies, they are greatly appreciated!
worship.gif


Bye!
 

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