Inspiration: The Summer Sport Jacket I Couldn’t Stop Wearing

For those of you who follow my Insta, there’s one jacket you’ll have seen again and again.

It’s a three button number in a tan linen, made by Corneliani. I’ve scarcely managed to hang it up in the wardrobe, I’ve been reaching for it so much.

There’s something about the colour that makes it versatile enough to go with just about anything. From high contrast to low contrast, from dressy to super casual with a tee shirt, it just works with everything.

How I Got It

It was an eBay find, which I imported from Los Angeles, USA. I can’t remember how much I paid for it now, but it was under $100AUD. What a steal.

The jacket didn’t require much in the way of alterations. I had it nipped in at the waist a tiny bit, as the waist suppression didn’t do much originally. It was a fairly inexpensive alteration, and it was the only one I had to make. The length, sleeve length, shoulders and so on were good enough for me already.

The Details

I knew I had to have this jacket as soon as I saw the pictures. The lapel size was good, and the way they roll isn’t quite a hard three and it isn’t a three roll two either. It’s somewhere in between, which I’ve previously heard referred to as a Florentine style. The fabric is the best part; the mix of white and a light brown which resides somewhere between khaki and rust gives it such character and evolves when light hits it. Combined with the texture of the linen, it’s a real eye grabber.

The shoulder construction is soft; there’s a slight touch of spalla camicia (shirt style) to the it, with some pleating which is common in the Neapolitan style of jacketing. That makes this jacket a bit of a mixed bag of influences, but it’s all the better for it. Being soft shouldered makes it easier to wear casually.
The button stance is quite good too, sitting ever so slightly above my natural waist.

The construction is fully canvassed, and half lined with cupro (also known as Bemberg silk). The colour goes well with everything from light to dark, and various materials too. Though, I only tend to wear it with chinos, linens and jeans. It works surprisingly well with light jeans, dispelling the myth that only indigo denim is good for pairing with tailoring. If you’d like to read more about that, check out my recent article on combining ties with denim.

The Many Different Outfits

I’ve worn this jacket an awful lot this spring/summer season just gone, and continued to wear it as we transition into autumn/winter 2020. Here are some of the outfits I’ve put together with it:

Concluding Thoughts: My Best Buy of 2019/2020?

It’s quite possible that this jacket has been my best buy of the last 12 months. The cost/wear ratio of it is incredibly small, and continues to get smaller. The only competitor to it in this instance would be my Canali wool/cashmere windowpane jacket, but that’s a story for another post.

If I could get a couple of reproductions of this jacket in the same fabric, but with different colours, I doubt I’d ever buy another spring/summer jacket in my life.

What was your best buy of the last 12 months?

Thanks for tuning in,
Sam