CORRECTLY Match A Jacket With Jeans (Dress Down Your Suit!)
[0:00:00] Gents, I get it.
You want to put to use that suit that’s sitting in the back of your closet and has
been doing nothing, but gathering dust the last couple of years.
Or maybe you want to get more mileage out of a blazer and you’re trying to figure
out how far can I dress this thing down.
Or could be you love denim, you’re not going to cheat on it, but you want to know how can
I dress these jeans up?
Well, the key to correctly matching a jacket with jeans is pretty simple.
You just need to nail these five things.
You’ve got to make sure you’ve got the right type of jacket, the right type of jeans,
the right type of shirt, the right type of shoes, and ensure that you’re wearing it
in the right situation.
Now, notice that point in the center where all five circles intersect.
That is where you want to be.
So, first up, the right type of jacket.
Now, the three most common jackets you’re going to see out there are suit jackets, sports
jackets, and blazer jackets.
Small differences between them, but in general, a suit jacket is going to come with a pair
of trousers made from the same material.
This is pretty common out there and if this is your only suit if you wear this often,
do not wear this with jeans.
The reason being is that this is made to go with those trousers and you don’t want to
mess this up.
It would behoove you to go out there and maybe grab a sports jacket or a blazer jacket which
in general are more versatile or maybe to even go to the thrift store, pick up an inexpensive
suit and then to wear that jacket with the jeans.
Next up, let’s talk about sports jacket.
As the name implies about a hundred years ago, this broke out of suit jackets as separates
made to be worn during sport.
But, in general, we do not see sports jackets come with matching trousers that are sold
as separates.
Sports jackets also come in a wide variety of colors and patterns.
In fact, compared to suits, you’re going to see much stronger brighter bold patterns
in sports jackets from houndstooth to glen check to all types of just different tweeds.
Now, blazer jackets if you can imagine are kind of a high breed between a suit jacket
and a sports jacket.
They’re a little bit more formal than most blazers because they usually come in a solid
color, unless they’re a regatta blazer.
But, in general we’re going to see these made from a navy blue material.
Most jackets out there are going to lean towards the formal side.
That makes it very difficult to be able to wear with jeans, which are casual.
But, there are some jackets out there in general, 80 to 90% of sports jackets out there, you
could find a way to make them work.
The same with blazers, although, I will say that blazers are going to be a bit dressier
and you’re going to really want to make sure that you wear the darkest, you just wear
jeans that really work.
Or if you’re going to go, you know, a little bit fashion forward that you’re able to
wear the combination with confidence.
Now, in general, when it comes to a suit, this is much harder to wear with jeans than
sports jacket or a blazer, but that’s made from a material with patterns that are pretty
bold.
That would actually be may be a good candidate to break it up to get more miles out of this
garment.
Now, black and charcoal, those are very formal colors and they don’t normally work with
a casual pair of denim.
Although, there are instances where you can actually if you’ve got black denim, if you’ve
got really dark denim, it can work in certain situations if you know how to pull it off.
That being said, as we’re covering the upper part of the body, let’s talk about what
brings the jeans and jacket together and that is the right shirt.
So, the easy default here is a white button down.
I get it, if you are younger guy, you own a tech company, maybe you want to go for the
whole dark maybe V-neck t-shirt with the denim and jacket.
You could try pulling it off, you really got to make sure you nail the fit and if you’re
going to do that, make sure you go with a quality t-shirt that drapes well that has
just a great fit on your body type.
Now, for me personally when it comes to layering because that’s what it is when you have
a shirt and you throw a jacket over it, I want something that’s comfortable.
So, with my shirts, I’m looking for a stretch, I’m looking for a strong color that isn’t
going to fall under the jacket.
I want something that just feels comfortable and a polo is usually where it’s at.
Now, the problem with most polos as many of you guys know is that they’ve got really
weak collars.
Collars that wrinkle up after one wash and just, yeah, will all of a sudden sag underneath
the jacket and it’s not a good look.
Well, gents, if you’re looking for a polo shirt that has a strong dress shirt like color,
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Now, the whole purpose of Collars & Co. was to build a shirt that could be layered upon.
So, something you can wear with a sweater, with a sports jacket and they did that by
putting in a built in collar stay, a strong front placket.
And what we get is a perfectly designed collar that’s going to stay up all day, not be
floppy not look like a bacon-type collar.
This thing is beautiful.
I mean, if you wanted to pair this thing with a necktie, you could do it.
When it comes to collar types, go over to their website, check out all their options.
They’ve got cutaway collars, they’ve got oxford button downs, they’ve got semi spreads,
and they’ve got English spread.
In addition, they’ve got a wide variety of collars and patterns.
So, of course, you’ve got the go-tos, you’ve got the navy blue, you’ve got the white,
pink, and a variety of other solids.
So, again, if you want to mix it up, you want to change it up, you want something that’s
going to be a little bit brighter maybe underneath that sweater, you want something that’s
going to grab attention when you’re wearing that sports jacket, they’ve got you covered
with all these different materials.
In fact, one of my favorite colors right here, look at this blue houndstooth.
Get in there and look at the pattern.
What I love about this, from a distance, it looks like a solid, but you get up close,
just absolutely beautiful.
[0:04:58] And, patterns like these are so great if you
just simply want to wear it with a gray sweater, a blue sweater, look at how it makes the whole
outfit pop.
And personally, as a traveler, what I love is the material, not only has that four-way
stretch incredibly comfortable, but it’s wrinkle-resistant.
So, this is something I can pack in, take right out my bag, throw on, and wear.
In a nutshell, gents, you get the look of a dress shirt without having to actually wear
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If you want a shirt to be able to easily wear it with a jacket and jeans, you can layer
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Really, a great company, great products, go check them out.
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the web.
All right.
So now, let’s talk about the jeans that you want to wear with your jacket.
The vast majority of jeans out there are going to be on the casual side.
So, if you’re going to wear these with a jacket, you really want to go for those jeans
that are going to be a bit dressier, not formal.
No such thing as formal jeans, but those or over there on that dressier side.
So, these are going to be free from distress.
They’re in general going to be darker colors.
So, when it comes to distress denim, light-colored denim, when it comes to stone-washes, classic
blue denim, I mean, there are instances that you can pull this off.
If you’re a rock star, if you’ve got the confidence, if you own the company, if you
love the look, then, yeah, go for it.
But, for the vast majority of us mere mortals, I would recommend going with a dark denim.
Maybe you can go even with black denim and there are options out there, you know, charcoal
gray, something really, really dark colored.
That is going to work best with sports jackets, with blazers, with suit jackets.
I also like it when the denim is a bit heavier in weave.
So, if you can find something raw, something in indigo, that really, really looks good.
And people can clearly tell that this is denim, but, you know, mixed in with that dark-colored
with, again, maybe a dark sports jacket or a sports jacket with a little bit of popping
color, I think you can pull off this combination.
Now, when it comes to the fit, I’m going to go for a tapered cut, I’m going to go
for a slim cut, and maybe a straight cut.
Avoid skinny, avoid really loose denim.
And, we’re starting to see, again, things go towards the looser side.
Be careful of that especially if you’re going with a jacket that’s a bit more fitted.
And this is something I didn’t have on the jackets too much.
But, if you’ve got a well-fitted jacket, you want to go with well-fitted denim.
They should match up in about that type of fit.
So, if you’ve got really close fitted denim with a loose jacket, that combination there
is just not going to work.
It’s going to be off.
So, make sure that the fit on that jacket, if you like your jackets a little bit looser,
it’s okay to go with a straight fit pair of denim.
Bonus point here, let’s talk about that hem.
So, in general, you never want to be wearing denim that’s three to four inches too long.
Even if you’re going to be rolling that denim at the bottom, you want to make sure
that you’ve got that, you know, you are making the choice here.
Now, if you’re going to be wearing this denim with boots, which is very possible with
the sports jacket, there are tons of boot options out there, you can go a little bit
longer in the length of the denim.
If you’re going to be wearing though with dress shoes, this is where you want to make
sure that it is hemmed properly that you’ve got the right length because, yeah, if you
are wearing dress shoes and you’re wearing those jeans and they are just way too long,
it’s a really bad look.
And that right there takes us to the section talking about shoes.
Now, I’ve made entire videos on wearing jeans with dress shoes, which I will link
to down in the description of today’s video in case you want to go and check that out
after this one.
But, I will say that dress shoes with the right type of denim can be pulled off.
So, again, you want to go with something that’s slim cut, something that has a taper at the
bottom.
You do not want to go with a boot cut.
I mean, it sounds obvious, but I see so many guys trying to wear dress shoes with denim
and they’ve got just too wide of a bottom.
Boot cuts as the name implies are made for boots and that means that they’re going
to have a wider opening at the bottom.
Now, when it comes to the types of dress shoes, I do like to go more on the casual side.
So, loafers, slip-ons, things like that I think are perfectly fine.
Avoid balmoral oxfords and black.
Those are going to be more for a suit.
You don’t want to go with anything that is, yeah, a whole cut, that’s just a little
bit too much.
In general, go with something that’s got a little bit ornamentation on it, maybe brogues
I think are a great option, especially in a dark brown.
But to be honest and this is probably my personal preference, I love wearing boots with denim
with a sports jacket.
I find that that’s a very natural combination, especially if those boots are just have a
little bit of shine to them, maybe some brogues.
Maybe you want to bring in something that’s got a very plane Chelsea.
I just find that boots in general especially with the denim, it just brings the whole combination
together.
You don’t want to go with anything too casual though because this is where boots can definitely
skew over towards that being too casual.
So, no hiking boots, no military boots.
You definitely want to go for more of a dress boot, maybe a laced dress boot, tons of options
out there.
But, this right here is a great solid combination and if they can be shined, take care of those
boots, make sure that they are clean looking good.
Now, let’s talk about the situation.
So, wearing a suit jacket with jeans, sports jacket with jeans, blazer jacket with jeans,
understand that it’s like a chain.
It falls down to its weakest link.
And, unfortunately, jeans are never going to be formal.
At least probably in my lifetime.
[0:10:03] But, this is just something that you have
to accept the fact that if it calls for a suit, wearing a pair of jeans with a suit
jacket is not a suit.
A suit is a jacket and trousers made from the same material.
And when most people mean it, they’re not talking about anything in denim, they’re
talking about something in a worsted wool.
So, the denim is always going to bring down the level of formality.
That being said, if it’s your event, if it’s an even that is casual and this is
really where this look shines.
When everyone else is wearing something casual, maybe they’re all just wearing button down
shirts, they’re wearing a sweater, a long sleeve shirt or whatever it may be, you walk
in with that sports jacket, with that polo shirt, with the denim, with those great looking
boots, that is a combination I absolutely love.
And it fits so many situations in our dress down, but understand that it needs to be the
right situation.
Don’t violate the dress code especially if somebody is trying to put on a party, they’re
expecting, you know, everyone to wear – you know, if you’re down south and it’s accepted,
again, this is where it’s a fine line and you can go.
And let me know in the comments below.
Do you guys – what are situations you can wear a sports jacket and jeans?
I want to hear from you guys.
And really quick, let’s talk about all the different fabric types that I think you can
wear with a dark blue denim.
And, again, I’m being specific there about the denim, but here are just tons.
I mean, tweeds.
You’ve got it in green, you’ve got brown.
Harris tweed if you’re familiar.
I mean, this is just some of the higher quality you’re going to find out there.
Sharkskin, this is actually a suit type, but it’s got a slight texture to it and it comes
in a variety of colors.
Seersucker, you’re going to see this out there.
Houndstooth, beautiful.
Flannels, a wide variety of flannels you will see this sometimes in bold patterns.
But, oftentimes just in a great or dark gray.
And I think, again, this can be pulled off with denim.
Corduroy, this is going to have -- you’re going to see seven-wale, eleven-wale.
But, corduroy very casual from cotton.
Camelhair, birdseye, windowpane.
You’re even going to see some madras jackets out there and this is a really bright color
very lightweight, great for the summer.
Herringbone, from a distance a lot of times especially if it doesn’t have a contrast
to it, it’s going to look solid, but you get up close, you’re going to see the pattern.
But you will also see herringbone in a contrasting color and this definitely has a strong pattern
to it.
You’re going to see linens, you’re going to see fresco, flannels, hopsack out there.
Hopsack looks solid from a distance.
You get up close, it’s going to have a very heavy weave to it.
Very breathable, perfect for the summer.
And I also want to point out, if you choose not to wear a shirt with your blazer and jeans
and you go shirtless, no, I’m not saying ever do that.
But, I am saying you can wear a polo, you can wear sweaters.
Sweaters are such a great option and they really bring down the casualness of the whole
look.
So, I get it, not everyone wants to get a collared shirt, sweaters just – but I like
the combination, especially if you can mo, you know, go with the colored shirt with a
V-neck sweater with a nice, you know, sports jacket, then you’ve got that nice denim.
Layered looks are just absolutely beautiful don’t you think for this time of the year?
All right, gents.
So, what video to watch next?
Well, how about style mistakes to avoid unless you want to look old?
Now, nothing wrong with being a little bit more mature looking, but you don’t want
to look like you’re 54 when you are 24, right?
You – you want to – you want to feel good.
If you’re 54, you don’t want to look 94.
You want to, yeah, you’re out there I get it, you’re, you know, recently single out
there dating a younger woman, you want to look good.
So, guys, I cover that in this video how not to look old, style mistakes you want to avoid
make.
Check it out.
[0:13:25] End of audio