Your first two sport coats

[josepidal]

Assuming you're also getting your traditional navy blazer, what would be the best colors, patterns and fabrics you'd recommend for a guy in his twenties looking to get his first two sport coats? Main reason is he's going for grad studies in the US, coming from a tropical country where he doesn't need jackets.

 

[Concordia]

One tweed at least (especially useful in US winters, and not at all unusual in an academic setting). Colors and patterns are up to you, but you should probably stick to muted patterns until you have the basics down, or are very confident of your style.

If you have the option of going bespoke, some good books to look through are the Alsport (12oz primarily for your use, I think, but also 16oz), Porter & Harding Glorious Twelfth, any number of Harris tweed collections. Holland & Sherry Snowy River fabrics are not tweeds, but have many excellent jacket patterns.

Best weights for year-round (not summer, but other seasons), taking central heating into account: 11-12 oz, although you may find yourself needing 14-16oz and higher during the winter. For some reason, a really heavy tweed jacket feels less oppressive to wear in warm weather than a flannel suit.

 

[Nick M]

One vote for a natural-colored camelhair, and then maybe a tweed/herringbone of some kind.

 

[Matt]

jose, buy this

navy windowpanes are great, this and this tweed/cashmere looks great and the cashmere blend should give it a great hand too.

 

[Cantabrigian]

At that obscure liberal arts college where you'll be going...

the white-black herringbone tweed is king - from the profs to their version of frat boys.

I would also recommend a glen plaid with a blue or purple overcheck in a smoother finish.

 

[johnapril]

I made it through grad school wearing a leather bomber but that was in SoCal.

 

[Beckwith]

M@T-

I noticed that fabric the other day and thought it was really nice. Living in NYC, what seasons do you think that can be worn? Is that a fall/winter jacket? or can it be strecthed into spring?

 

[JBZ]

Regarding tweeds, you might want to look at the Orvis website for inspiration. They have a variety of rather conservative Harris tweed sport coats and probably offer a good representation of the types of things that are out there. I don't know that I'd buy from them - I've heard that the fit isn't the best. Given the price, I am assuming the jackets are fused construction. Ben Silver might be another good site for inspiration (although they might not have anything there now, given that it is Spring headed into Summer).

 

[chorse123]

What size jacket are you, Jose?

 

[AlanC]

White-black herringbone tweed (especially since you'll be in Yankeeland), as suggested above:



Then aim for something lighter, year-around weight, perhaps a camel cashmere with windowpane. If adding a third I might go with a silk or linen summer jacket.

 

[Matt]

Originally Posted by Beckwith

M@T- I noticed that fabric the other day and thought it was really nice. Living in NYC, what seasons do you think that can be worn? Is that a fall/winter jacket? or can it be strecthed into spring?
hmm, i'd say its ok 430 grams per meter comes out at about 14 oz/yard, so I guess on a spring day its ok, easy on the under-layers...a 2.5 seasoner

 

[Mr. Checks]

I'd skip the blue blazer (don't tell the Trads) and go for something that is less stodgy.

Love the windowpane.

 

[josepidal]

This is intriguing. I don't know my size, but I guess my options are:

1) Arm twist someone for Paypal account, buy cloth from m@t's source, have local tailor do jackets with specific instructions as to details and canvas construction.

2) Find way to go to Hong Kong and have them made at Chan (though I think that may be well above the budget).

3) Go to US a couple of weeks early and hunt for jackets there.

With a nod to Alan, I was looking through old sport coat posts, and the one that really got me was a charcoal herringbone posted by Darren Beaman on Ask Andy, I think it was HIS jacket in fact.

M@t, I'm intrigued by the possibilities of windowpanes. I never thought about them before. Would anyone think they're a tad too old mannish, or do they work for guys under 30?

 

[josepidal]

Checks, the blazer is a bit more important for me for dressier purposes where a suit would be overkill. In Manila, the blazer is a happy compromise to even many evening functions. I accompanied my firm's founding partner to a testimonial dinner for a newly appointed Supreme Court Justice, for example, and he wore a blazer to that. He wore the same blazer when he went to the fraternity ball and had to accept this gigantic plaque because he was a golden jubilarian, having joined the fraternity in 1956.

That really makes me want to figure out where to have a blazer done before I leave.

By the way. What would you think of a blazer with brass buttons with the Harvard seal on them? I want one traditional jacket and figure the seal will be invisible unless someone looks up close, and I need to pick a design for buttons anyway.

 

[SGladwell]

As a guy (barely) still in his 20s, I'd recommend first a black worsted jacket with a minimalist silhouette. Think Helmut and Jil here. It should be just big enough to fit a thin cashmere sweater underneath. Second, I'd recommend a Neapolitan-style jacket with a fuller cut (to allow a thicker cable-knit sweater underneath) in cashmere with a windowpane pattern like the one above. If you don't want blue, maybe a dark maroon with a grey windowpane, or something like that. Actually, I'd get either of those long before I did the nautical blazer thing, with a camelhair jacket - maybe a hacking jacket with a ticket pocket - coming before the blazer, too.