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Welcome back! In today's video I'm going to talk about 8 secrets of a great summer sport
coat.
Many many believe that as long as they felt lightweight suit jackets, they;re ready for
summer but that's not true. Basically we have 8 core principles that are important for a
summer sport coat.
One, start with the right weight. Ofcourse, it's important to have a lightweight jacket
because lighter fabrics insulate less and feel cooler. However, if your fabric is too
light, you will have lots of wrinkles, it will look bad and you have to find the right
balance. Overall, about 8 to 9 ounces or 240 - 270 grams is a good start a weight because
it will give you a drape. If you go lighter than that, you may have issues with wrinkles.
Two, remember weight is not everything, The weave is even more important. The weave of
a jacket is extremely important because if it's tightly woven, it will breathe less and
in order to feel cool you want to have as much air flow as possible. A great open weave
fabric is a so called fresco fabric because hwen you stand you can really feel every wind
and it makes you feel cool.In order to determine if your fabric is open weave or closed, one
good way to do it is actually hold it against the light source, like a light bulb and look
through it and an open weave fabric is so open you could almost read a book through
it or some text in a magazine versus a tightly woven fabric is so that you cannot really
read anything through it.
Three, Opt for texture. Unlike suits, sport coats are meant to be worn in a more casual
environment. In some offices, it's okay to wear them but overall you want the garment
to be relaxed, distinctly different from the suit jacket. Basically, you will be well dressed
without being overdressed and texture is a really great way to help you achieve that.
In order to get texture, you want coarse weaves and yarns that are slightly irregular you
get some knobs. For example here, I'm wearing a panama weave jacket which is a wide weave
that creates this waffle structure and alternatively, you can have linen where one yarn is thicker
than the other so you get something irregular and more three dimensional than a regualr
business suit.
Four, go with unlined jackets. The open weave of your fabric is not enough because you have
a second layer of fabric inside your jacket which is the lining. Linings are typically
made from viscose, bemberg cupro or sometime silk which are all natural fibers or based
on cellulose which is a natural fiber and they're very lightweight however, the weave
is so tight that it restricts airflow. So even if you have an open weave fabric but
if you combine them with the lining, you will not get the best benefits of the open fabric
because the lining acts as a blocker. The main benefit of linings is A- to protect the
outer fabric and to make everything slide and fit well. So generally, lining are great
but summer, it's more important that you feel cool. So basically you want an unlined jacket
but there are two versions of unlined jackets:
One is completely unlined jackets. It means your jacket literally has no lining whatsoever,
not in the sleeves, not in the back, and this is a rare version of the unlined jacket usually
you only find them with bespoke garments. Italians sometimes like it or spaniards or
portuguese because they live in very warm climates and they really want to maximiz the
airflow. Disadvantage of the completely unlined jacket is especially in your sleeves, it sometimes
catches your shirt material and so it doesn't hang well or drape well. The second unlined
option is called half lined or sometimes called quarter lined. What that means is that your
sleeves are lined and your shoulders are lined but your back and oftentimes the inside front
are not lined and it really helps to make you feel cool but it also lets your sleeves
drape easily so it feels comfortable. Basically, it's the best of both worlds.
Five, select the sewn interlining also known as canvas. One of the most important aspects
of jackets or sport coats is the interlining which is also known as canvas. Basically,
when you have a piece of fabric, it's two dimensional flat, in order to keep it in a
certain shape, three dimensional around your chest, you have to fixate the interlining
to the outer fabric and connect them. You can connect them by sewing them together or
by gluing them together. Economically, it's much less expensive to glue these layers together
but in terms of comfort it's really bad because it's a fine fabric, it makes you sweat and
the fabric doesn't breathe as well. On the other hand, a sewn canvas really feels more
comfortable, generally softer and it allows you to feel more the air and it's also known
as the breathing garment. Basically, you'll have three levels of interlinings. You have
full canvas, half canvas and you have fuse. Generally, only top quality garments have
full canvas because it's the most expensive way to do it and if you go to a tailor or
to a high end made to measure company or rent to wear company, that;s what you really get,
a full canvas jacket or sport coat. The next step down would be the half canvas jacket,
that means that the top oart of your sport coat is sewn with a canvas versus the bottom
part is glued. The only reason to do that is to save a cost without sacrificing some
of the look on top of the garment where it's more important than the bottom. Very inexpensive
sport coats and usually the ones that are most comfortable are the ones woth fused interlining.
For summer, you definitely want to avoid it at all cost cos it's a guarantee that you
overheat and sweat a lot. That being said, not all canvasses are alike, you can have
a full sewn interlining canvass that is much stiffer or softer and ideally for summer jacket,
you want as little interlining as possible and you want it to be as soft as possible
so it's really comfortable and you don't really feel much. Traditionally, horse hair blended
with wool was used but for summer sport coats, it's better to go with like cotton wool because
horse hair is rather stiff and it's not ideal interlining of canvas that you want for a
summer sport coat.
Six, go with a bold pattern.When you have an open weave fabric, what happens is you
can see through one way but also the other way and you don't want people to see what
you're wearing on the inside or if you have a pen in your pocket. So ideally, a bold pattern
a- makes sure you look very differnt from business men but also it helps to make your
garment not see through. For example, this pattern is really great but you can also try
others, windowpanes, checks, seersucker stripes, madras pattern, all of these things are great
for summer sport coats. What you definitely want to avoid is things like pinstripes or
chalkstripes, they're typically associated with business suits because sport coats are
not just a suit jacket on its own, they're indistinctly different jacket.
seven, embrace strong colors. Now, when you don't want to wear a pattern or you don't
have one or it doesn't suit you well, that's okay. You can also go with stronger typical
summer colors. What I mean by that i avoid the typical black, grey, charcoal, blues and
navys and instead go for something like light blue or nice green and that way you really
create a different, distinct, unique look. What's also important is you never want solids,
you also want slightly mottled colors. Basically, you can be as creative as you want, maybe
red or orange or something turquoise. ALl these colors can work and it depends on how
comfortable you are and how strong they are. When in doubt, I recommend go for something
that is always a little lighter and interwoven with white yarns like this one here because
that way it softens the look even if you have a stonger, bolder color.
Eight, choose a single breasted jacket and pay attention to details. Personally, I love
double breasted jackets, I think they're really great on me, they look really masculine and
they're flattering. However, when it comes to summer sport coats, single breasted is
preferrable because it's simply less fabric that is layered up in front of you so I'm
more comfortable when it's hot outside. Also, when it comes to details you want to make
sure that you either have patch pockets on your chest, on your side and you can also
have details like a center pleat in the back or like shooting pleats, you can have angled
pockets, maybe contrasting color or a little colored tab. You definitely want to make sure
that you have certain details that look distinctly different from a business suit. If you just
have a regular flat pocket, two button jacket with a notched lapel that you also wear to
your office, you should always try to mix it up when you have a sport coat. As far as
accessories go, in summer sport coats, I prefer to wear bow ties when it's hot cos it's just
a single layer around my neck and it doesn't drape all the way along my body which can
oftentime insulate and make you feel warmer than you have to be. If you want to wear a
tie, I suggest you go with knit ties because theyhave a very open weave and they let the
air go through.
For a selection of summer knit ties, check out our selection of Fort Belvedere here.
If you enjoyed this video, please subscribe to our channel and I look forward to seeing
you next time. Thank you.