Summer sport coats keep men in fashion style

Tag : Jeans Men Fashion
The linen jacket remains a summer perennial. Its slouchy chicstrikes the perfect note between casual and dressy.

"It does wrinkle," says Carl Slesinger, chairman at Larrimor's,Downtown. "But a person who wears linen expects it to wrinkle. Itif doesn't wrinkle, they're disappointed. What you're getting fromit is a cool, comfortable fit."

Linen sport coats often are blended with cotton, silk, wool, even atouch of Lycra to help retain their shape. At Larrimor's, anunstructured brown canvas sport coat by Ermene Gildo Zegna is 58percent cotton and 42 percent linen.

"On really hot days, it's a great fabric to wear to a summerwedding," says Daniel Billett, men's fashion and grooming editor atwww.about.com.

Don't wear linen after sundown, however, unless you're in atropical climate. And not every guy is comfortable wearing linen.

"It's a very particular thing," Billett says. "You've got to lovethat sort of casual, wrinkly easy look. If you're somebody wholikes to look pressed, you're not going to like linen."

For those who prefer a more finished look, Land's End features asilk-cashmere three-button blazer in a subtle glen-plaid pattern,shot with a subtle blue. It's closer fitting for a morecontemporary look.

Seersucker is another classic look that's receiving an update. Ifyou associated it with Bible salesmen in the Deep South, you may besurprised at the urbane reinterpretations by Ralph Lauren andBrooks Brothers. The latter features seersucker in their newhigh-end Black Fleece line, which debuted last year.

"It's kind of old-fashioned," Billett says. "It's kind of one ofthose fabrics when you think of F. Scott Fitzgerald and the GreatGatsby. It's got a classic look to it. It's being used in a moremodern way with more modern cuts."

Guys might take a cue from JoS. A. Bank, Downtown, which features aseersucker suit paired with a bold pink-and-blue regimental tie.

"We've been selling this to a lot of younger men lately," sayssales associate Tom Imber.

It's OK to mix linen, cotton and silk garments. But don't match tooclosely. Don't wear a white jacket with eggshell pants.

Never wear more than two patterns at a time. If a sport coat andtie both feature patterns, wear a solid color shirt.

"Keep it simple," says Raymond Harney, sales associate atLarrimor's. "You don't want to be too tricky. A lot of guys,they've got too much going on."

A sport coat that is darker than the pants will be more versatile,Billet says.

"I'd rather see somebody do a darker-toned sport coat and a lighterpant than the other way around," he says. "You're going to get moreuse out of a darker-toned sport coat. You can wear it with jeans.If you bought a stone-colored sport coat, you're not going to beable to wear it with khaki very easily."