WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A SUIT JACKET, SPORT COAT, AND BLAZER?
A friend of mine recently emailed me to ask whether he accidentally bought a suit jacket by mistake, when he wanted a sport coat. I see this sort of thing happen often, so let's break down the differences 🧵
First, understand that a suit is just a garment where the jacket and pants have been cut from the same cloth. This distinguishes it from the frock coat, which is what "proper" gentlemen wore before suits became popular.
By the early 20th-cent, the frock coat fell out of favor and was replaced by suits and sport coats.
See how the suit on the left is made to be worn with matching pants. The sport coat on the right is made to be worn with pants cut from a different cloth.
A suit can be made from almost anything: cotton, linen, seersucker, thornproof tweed, cavalry twill, etc.
It can also come in any color, although it's most traditionally made in sedate colors, such as various shades and hues of blue, grey, brown, and green.
When you go into a store, however, you will mostly see suits like these. These are made from worsted wool, which is a smooth, often slightly silky, sometimes slightly shiny fabric (fabric nerds please don't "actually" me about worsted—I have character limits).
The reason why you want to know the difference between a suit jacket and sport coat is bc you never want to dress like Gaetz below. You don't want to look like you accidentally spilled something on your suit pants and changed out of them. The jacket here is too formal for pants.
But remember, some suits can be broken into separates! Corduroy is a perfect example. If you have a corduroy suit, you can easily wear the jacket with matching corduroy pants or pants cut from a diff fabric. Corduroy works a suit or sport coat.
So, how do you know when you can wear a suit jacket on its own?
Clothing is a social language, so much of this is about training your eye for what looks right, just as you would train your ear to know what sounds right. However, I can give you some guidelines:
Generally speaking, the rougher, fluffier, and more visible the weave, the more likely you’re looking at a sport coat. Conversely, the finer and flatter the weave, the more likely you’re looking at a suit jacket.
Silky worsted wool? Suit
Tweed? Sport coat.
Certain patterns can also be clues. Pinstripes and chalkstripes always indicate something was meant to be worn as a suit. Fine patterns or weaves, such as birdseye, nailhead, and small-scale herringbones, also tend to be reserved for suits.
Scale of pattern also matters. Although suits can come in big, bold patterns, and sport coats in quiet and subtle ones, the more successful sport coats tend to have larger scale designs. It’s a way of saying, "this isn’t something to be worn to a business meeting."
Look at these two coats. They are both made with the same pattern: a glen check. They even have similar colors. But the sport coat has a much larger scale pattern, which distinguishes it as more casual than the suit jacket (which should only be worn with matching pants)
Some other details can be a giveaway. Patch pockets, leather-wrapped buttons, and fewer than four buttons at the sleeve are all casualizing details. Jetted pockets, on the other hand, are typically reserved for suits (although not always)
This can all sound overwhelming at first. But you can avoid the worst by sticking to a simple rule:
Don't wear navy, grey, or black jackets made from silky, smooth wools on their own. Esp if they have flapped or jetted pockets. These are suit jackets and need matching suit pants
Ok, now, what's a blazer? I've seen lots of people here mistake suit jackets and sport coats as blazers.
Here is the long history of blazers encapsulated in a neat little chart:
One definition comes from the history of club blazers, where people wore unusually striped or trimmed jackets to distinguish themselves as members of a rowing, boating, or yachting club. Jack Carlson's book Rowing Blazers is dedicated to this subject. The style is VERY preppy
The other definition comes from the history of schoolboy blazers, which were also sometimes a distinguishing feature of club blazers. These are essentially navy sport coats with metal buttons (silver or gold in color). The buttons sometimes have emblems of the organization.
It's very rare to see boating blazers nowadays out in the wild. When people (correctly) use the term blazer nowadays, they mean a navy sport coat made with buttons that look like this:
If you like tailored clothing, a navy sport coat is the most useful garment you can own. Start with that in a slightly textured material to distinguish it from navy suit jackets. Hopsack, serge, and Mock Leno all work.
You can have a tailor swap out the buttons to play with different looks: matte brown horn for year-round wear, mother of pearl for summer (only for summer materials like Mock Leno), or brass buttons for something slightly preppy.
Sales associates at good stores should be able to guide you on what's what. If you are shopping vintage, beware of things called "orphaned suit jackets." These are suit jackets sold without matching pants (usually bc the pants wore out at the seat). Avoid these purchases.
One more thing: if you're on TikTok, you've prob seen this clip of Harvey claiming you can turn 5 suits into 75 different outfits. Lots of men remix this audio with a video showing them doing this. I don't want to put anyone on blast by posting their vid. But you can look them up
The reason why you can't do this is bc not all suit jackets can be worn on their own (see Gaetz and Santos above). Your ability to wear a suit jacket on its own depends on whether it can *convincingly* pass as a sport coat.
This depends on a host of variables: fabric's sheen, texture, and weave; pattern type and scale; jacket details such as pocket style, etc. The details matter greatly, so don't mix and match willy-nilly as Harvey recommends.
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When I was on a menswear forum, navy trousers were of great controversy. Discussions about them lasted many years, resulting in long-lasting rivalries. Sometimes people refrained from speaking about them out of fear of dredging up old debates.
First, I should state at the outset that there's no way to have this conversation without, in some way, speaking crudely about certain classes of people. I make no judgements about their worth or dignity. I am only describing the semiotics of men's dress.
Second, everything depends on your goals. Dress is not a science, so there are no overriding laws. Everything is contextual to culture. More on this later
Before we start, here are two outfits involving green sport coats. Which do you like better? Please choose before moving on.
I get this question a lot. I don't have strong views on how transmasc people should dress, but since I often get the question, I've thought about it a bit. Will share some thoughts in this thread. 🧵
My general feeling is that this question often approaches the idea of style from a perspective I don't share. I don't believe in approaching dress first from the perspective of body type. For instance, there are a lot of guides online that break down body types like this.
I disagree with this perspective because they always seem to be about forcing the person into one narrow ideal. So if you're short, they tell you how to wear certain things to give the illusion of height. Or if you're heavy, they say how you can dress to hide your weight.
I don't think people such as Hegesth are intentionally choosing to dress like this to signal they're "not like the swamp." I think we're simply in a generational change in terms of taste. Will show some examples. 🧵
A hundred years ago, men's dress was governed by time, place, and occasion (TPO). If you were of a certain social position and had to do a certain thing, you were expected to wear certain outfits. If you didn't know these rules, a tailor would tell you.
Over the course of the 20th century, these rules loosened, partly because society became more accepting of different social groups and their lifestyles (which is a good thing). By the close of the 20th century, the rise of business casual swept tailoring out of offices
Anthony Constantino, CEO of Sticker Mule, says that he would use a US manufacturer for his company's t-shirts. However, he feels the US company doesn't meet his quality standards and they "must maintain quality."
So what constitutes a quality t-shirt? Let's find out. 🧵
For reference, I'm comparing Sticker Mule's t-shirts (made in Nicaragua) to Bayside Apparel (fully made in the US from fiber to finish). Sticker Mule charges $19 for their t-shirts. Organizations that print on Bayside blanks sell their merch for $27.
I should state at the outset that to properly determine quality, I would need to send these t-shirts to a lab, which I'm unable to do because I don't own a Sticker Mule t-shirt. Additionally, quality can be subjective, as it depends on your preferences.
It's very hard to find a suit jacket that can be worn with jeans, assuming you mean the kind of suits that would be worn for business. Let me show you. 🧵
What do we mean by "suit?" The term suit simply means that the jacket and pants were cut from the same cloth. You can have corduroy suits or linen suits. But when most people say suit, they mean the kind of outfits that would be worn for business, funerals, and court.
Such materials are typically dark in color and slick in feel. Historically, men wore these things with white dress shirts, dark ties, and black oxford shoes to do business in London. This history is why this outfit telegraphs "I'm here for serious business."
I disagree. In this thread, I will tell you what's wrong with Stephen Miller's outfits. Hopefully, this will help you judge whether a suit fits when you're shopping for one. 🧵
For context, here is the video that @FischerKing64 is responding to. Can you spot the issue with this suit?
It appears that Miller has spent a considerable sum upgrading his wardrobe since his time in Trump's first administration. I suspect these are all made-to-measure suits because they look new and come in a wide variety of materials. Unfortunately, all of them exhibit a collar gap.