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Suit Jackets, Sport Coats, & Blazers: What's the Difference? - Menswear Definitions - YouTube
Channel: Gentleman's Gazette
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Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette!
In today's video, we'll clear up some
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menswear confusion and discuss the
differences between Blazers, sport coats,
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and suit jackets. When you shop at a
department store or large clothing
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retailer, chances are you'll probably see
most jackets marketed as Blazers but
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just because they have lapels and
buttons, doesn't qualify them as being
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this type of jacket and it's not just
brick-and-mortar stores that contribute
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to the confusion around the various
names of these garments. For example, on
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eBay, there's no category listing for
Blazers or sport coats, only for suits
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and suit separates. And while it's not
totally within our wheelhouse here at
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the Gentleman's Gazette,
we should note also that many jackets
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with buttons and lapels for women are
also marketed under the blanket term of
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Blazer. All of these different factors
have contributed to a broader
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misunderstanding about the true
differences between these different
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jacket styles. So let's clear that up in
today's video. We'll start with a suit
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jacket which is precisely that. In other
words, it is the jacket portion of an
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outfit made up of either two or three
pieces along with trousers and a
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waistcoat that have all been constructed
from the same fabric. So definitionally,
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if a jacket comes from an ensemble of
two or three pieces from the same fabric,
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it is a suit jacket. Of course, just
because this jacket comes from an
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ensemble of the same fabric doesn't mean
that it always has to be worn with its
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companion pieces. Suit jackets can be
worn with other garments in a sort of
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mix-and-match technique, that's often
referred to by the Italian term "spezzato".
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For example, one could take the navy
jacket from one suit and the gray
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trousers from another and mix them
together. In a sense, this can blur
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definitional lines between suit jackets
and sport coats because one is
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breaking up the original unity of the
suit jacket from its other companion
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garments. Spezzato literally means "broken"
If you would like to learn more about
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this distinguished style technique, you
can take a look at our article on
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spezzato here. So it's easy enough to say
that a jacket is a suit jacket if it
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came from a suit but other than that,
what are some defining characteristics
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you can use to identify a suit jacket?
Overall, suit jackets are usually more
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formal than either of the other two
jacket styles we'll discuss today. This
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is why the suit has long been considered
a sort of default uniform for business
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meetings, funerals, and other events that
require somberness and dignity. The
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formality of a suit jacket is usually
reflected in its relative absence of
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pattern and texture and by being
generally more structured than a sport
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coat or blazer will be. The majority of
suits are made in smooth worsted wool in
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solid and conservative colors. For
example, charcoal gray or navy blue. There
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are a small number of patterns that are
considered formal enough for use in
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suits such as Glen plaids, windowpanes,
or chalk stripes but there aren't a lot
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of patterned suit styles that you'll see
out there. Speaking structurally, a suit
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jacket tends to have more padding inside
the shoulder area and in some cases, more
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canvassing between the inside lining and
the cloth itself. The formality provided
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by this structure, especially in
something like a British styled suit,
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combined with typical suiting fabrics
makes a suit jacket somewhat more
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difficult to wear with a different pair
of pants as your upper body is probably
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going to appear more dressed up than
your lower body and it might simply look
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like you're wearing the orphaned top
half of a suit. By the way, if you're
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curious as to what we mean by a British
styled suit and how this might contrast
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from something like an Italian or
American style, you can find our video on
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that subject here. So the essential
difficulty then in
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pairing suit jackets with other types of
garments is that padded shoulders and
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worsted wool are more formal features so
they're not as easily going to gel with
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other kinds of garments that are
slightly less formal. There is a school
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of thought that says one can lean into
this disconnect and pair a formal suit
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jacket with something like jeans or
shorts but of course, being proponents of
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classic style, we, at the Gentleman's
Gazette, aren't going to recommend that
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look. So while the spezzato technique
exists for mixing and matching different
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suit elements, you'll probably have an
easier time pairing odd trousers with a
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sport coat or a blazer. What do we mean
here by odd trousers? Not odd in the
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sense of being weird or unusual, although
some designs certainly can be, we just
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mean that these trousers weren't made to
be part of a suit originally and
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therefore, they can go with a variety of
different elements. Similarly, a sport
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coat which is also referred to as a
sports coat, sport jacket, or sports
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jacket is a type of odd jacket in that
you can mix and match it with other
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garments easily. In a number of ways, the
sport coat can be seen as something of
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an opposite to the standard suit jacket
where suit jackets are usually smooth and
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solid in color, sport coats are more
often than not made with textured weaves
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and fabrics and they come in a larger
variety of patterns and colors. Say for
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example, something like a houndstooth
pattern on a tweed sport coat. By that
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token, the presence of bolder patterns
and more textured weaves communicates
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that a sport coat was not originally
part of a suit and that it is
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essentially a more casual garment. As the
name suggests, sport coats were
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originally designed for sporting events
in the British countryside, things like
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pheasant hunting or fishing. While it's
not going to be accurate in all cases,
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one broad distinction to make is that a
sport coat would be more appropriate for
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country wear whereas a suit jacket would
be more appropriate in the city. Of
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course, given that many men these days
aren't going to be wearing any sort of
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tailored jacket, just wearing a sport
coat will still make you more formally
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dressed than a great many people. Still, a
sport coat remains less formal than a
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full suit and is appropriate for more
casual events like weekend parties or
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picnics. What is it that makes a sport
coat less formal then? Well, we've already
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talked about the more textured weaves
and the greater variance in colors and
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patterns but additionally, there's often
going to be less structure in a sport
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coat as well.
Natural shoulders without padding are
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common and summer sport coat styles can
often lack an internal canvas or a
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lining. Of course, there are some suits
that can lack some of these features
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like padded shoulders but as a general
rule, you'll see this more casual styling
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and structure in sport coats more than
suits. Another casual aspect that will
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often set a sport coat apart is the type
of pockets that it has. While suits will
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often have flapped or jetted pockets,
you're going to see patch pockets on
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sport coats more commonly which are
generally more relaxed in appearance.
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This can sometimes include the breast
pocket as well which would usually be
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welted on a more formal garment. Finally
here then, let's go back to the garment
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whose name is often used as an
all-purpose umbrella term for men's
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jackets. What really is a blazer?
Technically speaking, a blazer is the
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most specific of these three jacket
types because it has to meet a certain
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set of criteria to qualify as such. One
of these criteria, for example, is that a
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blazer can come in a solid color, most
often navy blue or it can incorporate
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either contrasting piping or stripes. All
other types of patterns technically
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disqualify a jacket from being
considered a blazer. One somewhat common
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additional ornamentation on a blazer,
however, is a crest of some sort which
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signifies the heritage of the Blazer
as a garment worn by men who were
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members of a particular organization or
club.
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Conversely, you're not usually going to
find a crest on a suit jacket or a sport
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coat.
Another key criterion is that a Blazer's
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buttons are going to contrast strongly
with the jacket fabric. You're commonly
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going to see things like gold colored or
brass buttons with anchors on them or
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maybe bright mother-of-pearl buttons. As
an example here, you're often going to
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find retailers like Ralph Lauren who
cater to a more traditional crowd
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selling Blazers with these styles of
contrasting buttons. Whatever their
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specific details may be, blazers are
often intended to be bright and ablaze
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with color, as their name would suggest.
For example, the blazers created for the
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Lady Margaret Boating Club in Cambridge,
England are one such garment. They're
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said to have started this trend of
bright blazers being made of red flannel.
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You're also going to see blazers in
other bright colors like green or yellow.
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The striped versions which are known as
rowing blazers, boating blazers, or
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regatta blazers are similarly quite bold
in nature and even the standard navy
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blazer will command some attention if it
has bright brass or mother-of-pearl
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buttons. Therefore, any man who's wearing
a blazer should either be somewhat
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extroverted to be able to take this
additional attention or in an
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environment where blazers are being worn
by everyone such as at a nautical event.
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In a certain sense, blazers exist
somewhat in the space between suit
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jackets and sport coats. Like a sport
coat after all, a blazer is traditionally
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worn with odd trousers in a different
color.
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At the same time though, traditional
Blazers are true to their British
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tailoring origins and they're generally
more formal than sport coats possessing
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some of these structural components of
suit jackets like a more padded shoulder.
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It should also be said though that
nowadays, you can find some less
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structured Blazers more
influenced by Italian style which are
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wading into sportcoat territory. For more
information on blazers in particular
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though, not just how they differ from
suit jackets and sport coats but also
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their unique history, you can check out
our blazer guide here. Everyday language
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often fails to recognize the traditional
differences between suit jackets, sport
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coats, and blazers and while using the
information we've outlined here today,
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you'll be able to identify these
different types in traditional settings.
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Do be aware that more and more as style
lines are blurred and casualized, you may
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also see hybrids of these jacket styles.
There are casual suits with unpadded
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shoulders that fit more like sport coats
and blazers that fall into this category
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too. These reflect the prevailing trends
for less formal and more relaxed cuts.
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Still, gentlemen who appreciate the
history and heritage of these garments
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are going to want to know where they
came from in terms of the different
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style elements and also, how to most
correctly differentiate between the
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three. In terms of how to wear and pair
these three different kinds of jacket
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styles, the blazer guide definitely has
more information on that type. If you're
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curious about suits, we've got videos on
how to pair shirts and ties with gray
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suits and with blue suits here. and if
you're curious about sport coats, I'd
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suggest that you check out our tweed
guide here. in today's video it should
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hopefully be obvious given the navy blue
color and brass buttons that I'm wearing
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a blazer
it's double-breasted in configuration
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features some padding in the shoulder
but at the same time does have flapped
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pockets and a single vent in the back
which make it slightly more casual than
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it might traditionally be I've paired it
with plain charcoal trousers and a blue
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and white striped French cuffed shirt in
those French cuffs the cufflinks I'm
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wearing today are from Fort Belvedere
they are
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gold plated sterling silver cuff
links in a monkey's fist knot design
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because they feature tied rope I figured
that they tie into this nautical
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heritage of the Blazer my other
accessories are from Fort Belvedere
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today as well including my pocket square
which is an Art Deco Egyptian scarab
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design in straw yellow antique brass
blue black and cardinal red and features
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a brown contrasting edge meanwhile my
bow tie is in madder silk and features a
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diamond pattern of yellow red blue and
orange both the pocket square and the
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bow tie have predominantly yellow tones
and so harmonized well with the gold
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buttons on the Blazer my boutonniere is
a pink and white cherry blossom which
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harmonizes with both the yellow and red
colors in the outfit as well as the
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white that's found in the shirt my socks
are from Fort Belvedere - they are shadow
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striped models in grey and light blue
which of course harmonized with the
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color palette as well you can find all
of these Fort Belvedere accessories
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including the bow tie pocket square
boutonniere cufflinks and socks in the
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Fort Belvedere shop here rounding out my
outfit today then are my shoes which are
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dark chocolate brown suede penny loafers
from Meermin
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