Participate on online clothing forums for long enough, and you’ll notice, around this time every year, people will start to chat about what kind of sport coats can they wear for summer. Some say it’s important to get something unlined. Some say it’s about the weight of the fabric. Others say it’s important to get something made with a very loose weave, so your skin can breathe.
The sad reality is: there’s no jacket – no matter how it’s constructed – that’s going to be as comfortable as not wearing a jacket at all. Suit jackets and sport coats have “stuffing” in them, which means even if you’re only wearing a jacket made from a thin, lightweight, loosely woven material, it’s still probably going to have some layers of canvassing and horsehair inside. That will naturally trap a bit of air and make you feel a bit warmer that you’d otherwise feel.
You don’t need to wear a tailored jacket to look put together, however. Yesterday, it hit the high 80s where I live, and I wore something like what our friend Theo in London is wearing above. Only, where he’s wearing striped seersucker pants and a light blue shirt, I had on a striped linen shirt and tan linen pants. When something is this simple, I think it’s useful to have a bit of pattern somewhere. And while Theo has on a Panama hat, braided belt, and watch in this picture, I accessorized yesterday with only a watch and a suede belt. Suede being more casual than calf, I find it’s a nice nice complement for a look like this.
Of course, you will almost always look better with a tailored jacket than without (at least if you’re shooting for a classic look). But you don’t necessarily need one to look good.