When would you wear a double-breasted navy sport jacket?

[rjc149]

?? so if he shaved his moustache he'd stand out in that outfit?

If I saw that outfit I'd say to myself, "oh interesting look" and move on with my day regardless of his facial hair or personality. If I never saw looks/outfits that made me pause for a second to take it in, my life would be just a little less interesting.

No, I'm saying his interesting mustache is congruent with his interesting attire, and likely, his interesting personality. That's all.

 

[blewnote1]

I thought of this thread the other night when I attended Hamilton with my wife and thought I'd share my experience.

We rarely go out (especially the last two years) and the theater is a special occasion so we decided to dress nicely (although I wear what I wore to work frequently, so it was not that out of the ordinary for me). She wore a black full length dress that I and our kids had bought her for Christmas and since it's summertime in New Orleans I was tempted to wear the new wool/linen grey glen check suit I received from Spier. She was concerned it might not match her black dress appropriately since it's on the lighter side of medium grey, so I asked my son (my fashion consultant) if I should wear it or my blue pinstripe DB from Brooks Brothers (which, although fully lined, is in a high twist fabric from Drago that is fairly breathable in the southern heat). He didn't hesitate and picked the DB.

So we get to the theater and the guard at the door remarks that I'm the snazziest dressed gentleman in attendance tonight, the person taking our tickets asks my wife if she dressed me to have me looking so well put together, and then after we sit down, the gentleman who arrives and sits next to my wife tells me "that's a nice suit!" Then on the way out to our car after the show one or two other people commented on how nice it looked. I felt bad for my wife that everyone was paying attention to my outfit, because she looked rather stunning herself!

Anyway, it made me think of this thread and I wanted to share what I felt was a very positive experience wearing something that some people seem afraid to wear for fear of sticking out or being too "whatever." And I was in a pinstripe suit, vs a fairly pedestrian blue blazer. Speaking of the navy double breasted blazer, I just got one in hopsack and love it. It's a 4x2 with patch pockets, so it feels right at home with a polo or short sleeve button down over summery trousers. I might even get crazy and wear it with a t-shirt. In fact, I'm going to go so far as to say I feel like it's easier to "dress down" (in a manner that still looks stylish) the double breasted blazer vs a single breasted navy blazer, which comes off as too business casual/country club to me when dressed down.

That said, my 2 cents are to wear what you like and not overthink it.

 

[Mr Tickle]

I have noticed people wearing dressed-down double breasted blazers recently in a way that just looks better as a casual outfit than many single breasted blazers would. I think it's because the SB is just so reminiscent of the business suit jacket that has just always been the default for business, so the SB often inherently looks "business" to me. When I worked in the city no one I knew wore a DB for business. Where you did tend to see them was leisurely places - people out for dinner at nice restaurants, the races, weddings, theatres and galleries, for example.

 

[AriGold]

So OP, did you ever get around to wearing double breasted jackets or suits?

I wear double breasted jackets all the time, to work and casually. But perhaps I have the personality pull it off, only ever attracting compliments.

 

[YP Zhang]

I actually did! Many thanks to the encouragement and suggestions from folks here. I tried a quite a few ways to wear them in the past two years (the armoury model 16 in navy and a few other vintage finds) but never quite felt satisfied, until I saw Seiji McCarthy last year wearing a navy tailor caid 4x2 in melton wool. I then realized what I wanted in a DB is something that's slightly oversized and verging on a peacoat. And now I've decided to commission a piece similar to that. I'm pretty confident I've found what I was looking for when I asked the question two years ago.

Looking back, I think I was both more timid in responding to how other people reacted to me wearing an unusual piece of clothing, and also confused as to why I wanted to wear it in the first place. Now, I got used to being teased for what I wear and have found them fun most of the times, and I guess I also figured out what kind of aesthetic I was looking for in a DB all along. It's not the put together kingsman look nor the cool casual southern italian look, but the slouchy and hardy american one.

Thanks again!

Permanent Style

The jacket-as-coat: Seiji’s commission from Tailor Caid and others

www.permanentstyle.com

 

[NadalRG]

If someone is over the age of 30 and lives in a cosmopolitan city, I don't think it's that hard to wear a DB suit. You don't even have to go to a Michelin restaurant. A DB suit looks natural in any restaurant or bar that charges over $25 for a plate or $15 for a drink.

Going by this logic I should be seeing DB jackets left and right where I live lol, in reality never seen even one.