# Suit Jacket Alone as Sport Jacket?



## aland (Apr 7, 2006)

I've recently had to start dressing business casual on occasion (in the past, it's been either suits at work, or slop clothes from my home office).

I don't have any sport jackets, but have two solid-colored wool suits - one that is navy and one that is charcoal grey. Can I use the jackets from these suits as sport jackets if I mix them in with business casual pants? Someone told me that suit jackets are cut differently from sport jackets, and that people will be able to tell I am using the jacket from a suit as a sports jacket.


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## Trip English (Dec 22, 2008)

*NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!*









DON'T DO IT!


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## windsor (Dec 12, 2006)

Not cut differently necessarily, but yes some people will know they are suit jackets. How you ask? Fabric, buttons, stitching, patterns or lack thereof. All telltale evidence of a suit coat. You just have to know what to look for. (and some do and will) Others won't have a clue. They think a pair of odd trousers and a sport coat is a "suit".


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

I love the cat picture. I echo Trip's scream of pain.

Please, please, please no. Those who don't know will think you odd, those who do know will know you are.

Do yourself a real favor: Go find a decent department store and get the Polo Congressman model blue blazer. Wonderful cut, material, you can wear it anywhere.

Or for an ultra-trad approach the Anderson-Little Blazer.


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## AdamsSutherland (Jan 22, 2008)

Pink and Green said:


> Do yourself a real favor: Go find a decent department store and get the Polo Congressman model blue blazer. Wonderful cut, material, you can wear it anywhere.
> 
> Or for an ultra-trad approach the Anderson-Little Blazer.


Regarding both statements: Um... what?????

OP: Get a blazer that fits you and your budget if that's the route you want to go. Fit is more important than anything else, including brand.


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## Beefeater (Jun 2, 2007)

I have seen poplin and linen suit jackets worn as odd jackets that looked fine. Same with seersucker.


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## Wisco (Dec 3, 2009)

Ok, I'll admit that I found a thrift store blue worsted wool suit where the pants were way too small, but I really liked fit of the the jacket. I took the jacket to my tailor and asked her to remove all the buttons and replace them with brass blazer buttons.

Blazer now, no?


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## boatshoe (Oct 30, 2008)

I think the changes the OP would have to make to the suit jackets would spoil his plan. Changing the buttons would make the suit jackets seem more like odd jackets. But what is he to do when he wears it as part of a suit again?

It doesn't sound like the OP takes joy in dressing up.


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## Cruiser (Jul 21, 2006)

Wearing a suit jacket (solid black or striped work best) with jeans is fine as hip casual attire for clubs, parties, etc., but not for business casual. I suggest you get a navy blazer for your business casual. You can wear it with just about anything.

Cruiser


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## StevenRocks (May 24, 2005)

Repeat after me...buy a proper sportscoat, buy a proper sportscoat...


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## Pink and Green (Jul 22, 2009)

Jeans and a sportcoat makes me throw up in my mouth a little. I've seen it pulled off but if I tried it I'd feel like I was walking around in my underwear. Something would just be...off somehow.

But as my friend Grover says, to each his own.


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## Earl of Ormonde (Sep 5, 2008)

Get out and buy yourself a sports coat then!


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## Coleman (Mar 18, 2009)

I'm to the point where I think orphan suit jackets are fine (as long as they are not pinstriped). It was in fact common practice in the past when men had smaller wardrobes or when their suit trousers gave up on them. 

Make sure your entire rig is done well, and you should be fine. I wouldn't pair an orphaned suit jacket with jeans, but odd trousers can look fine, even great IMO.


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## The Rambler (Feb 18, 2010)

I hate "business casual," I never know what to wear. Given what you say about your wardrobe, how about a suit with no tie, and a patterned dress shirt? But really, as everyone says, buy a blue blazer: many nice ones are offered on the resale thread here.


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## yossarian (Apr 17, 2007)

I think you can wear some suit pants separately, such as with a sweater or OCBD (but not with a sports coat), but I wouldn't recommend wearing a suit coat as a sports coat, with one exception _maybe _being a glen plaid. I've never done it, but could see how that might work. That and maybe seersucker.


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## 4dgt90 (Dec 2, 2009)

Pink and Green said:


> Jeans and a sportcoat makes me throw up in my mouth a little. I've seen it pulled off but if I tried it I'd feel like I was walking around in my underwear. Something would just be...off somehow.
> 
> But as my friend Grover says, to each his own.


I happen to think I look great in my camel hair blazer and medium blue levi 501s...


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## Trip English (Dec 22, 2008)

No sense in getting into a Jacket & Jeans debate. The earth has already been salted. Different strokes for different folks.


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

I wouldn't use standard worsted navy and charcoal jackets as sport coats. Those kinds of jackets scream "suit" from a mile away and you will look clueless to some good people.

I do however use other suit jackets as sport coats sometimes -- my cotton pincord, my BB "wash and wear" cotton navy suit. 

But never a worsted solid suit, no way.


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## Coleman (Mar 18, 2009)

^This is a good point, and despite my earlier more general statement, I agree with it. A solid navy (and to a lesser extent a solid gray) worsted screams a little too loudly that it is an orphan.

A solid olive poplin, however and for example, is the money IMO (a jacket for which I am currently on the look-out).


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## philidor (Nov 19, 2009)

Please don't! You can always find a separate blazer. Go with the wool, natural shoulder, three button, conservative lapel blazers. Paul Stuart, Brooks Brothers, and the Andover shop might be able to help you.


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

Coleman said:


> ...A solid olive poplin, however and for example, is the money IMO (a jacket for which I am currently on the look-out).


Yes, an olive poplin suit (sack, from BB, OC or Press) is on my short list. And yes I'll wear the jacket separately. Including with jeans. (and maybe purcells)

Edit: That's an awesome cat pic, Trip


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## Cardinals5 (Jun 16, 2009)

Joe Beamish said:


> Yes, an olive poplin suit (sack, from BB, OC or Press) is on my short list. And yes I'll wear the jacket separately. Including with jeans. (and maybe purcells)
> 
> Edit: That's an awesome cat pic, Trip


I'll join the chorus against worsted suit jackets as odd jackets and the support for olive, khaki, and navy blue poplin suit jackets (as well as seersucker and pincord) as odd jackets for summer. In fact, I have all five as odd jackets (thrifted) and only wear the pincord as a proper suit in the summer.


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## Coleman (Mar 18, 2009)

I should think that heavier, more textured suit jackets could be orphaned also, like flannels and tweeds. I have a great brown tweed Southwick sack suit that I really just need to sell on the exchange as I don't think I'll ever fit the trousers, even with letting out the waist as much as it could go. It saddens me to think about it though as the jacket fits perfectly, and I could probably orphan it. At the same time I'd rather get it to someone who could wear it as a suit.


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## aland (Apr 7, 2006)

OK, thank you one and all (and I love the cat picture, too).

I guess I do have to buy a sport coat, although I'm not big on business casual, and I'll rarely wear it. Personally, I like the look a suit gives me. Suits make me look slim.

Actually, I like the idea of dressing down the suit by skipping the tie and going with a sweater or sweater vest over a shirt, but think that might be a little too formal.


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## joeyb1000 (Feb 24, 2010)

My opinion only.

No on the gray.
On the blue, you will need to look in the mirror to decide.


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## Marcellionheart (Mar 10, 2010)

I always thought the only sort of suit jacket you could wear as a sports coat would be a tweed suit jacket a la the ones from Bookster. imo, definitely acceptable then.


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## windsor (Dec 12, 2006)

The fact that the OP posed this question is an indication that he has not acquired the necessary knowledge and experience yet to use an orphan suit coat as a sport coat. This is not derogatory judgment on him or where he is on the path of sartorial matters. As has been pointed it is possible for some men to discern when a suit coat can be worn or converted to a sport coat without ill effect. For those lacking the knowledge, buying a sport coat or blazer is the answer.


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

Some pointers to breaking up suits:

Check the pockets. I know I at least associate besom pockets with suits alone. Flap pockets or patch-and-flap pockets would be the thing to look for in a sportscoat candidate.

Single vent. (You could probably sneak by with a double vent, but as you're posting here instead of the fashion forum, why bother?)

Check the weave, pattern, and color. This is really what trips people up. The number of appropriate sportscoat patterns is really not so large. When in doubt, use existing sportscoats as guides. Most appropriate styles are vaguely rustic or rugged.

Wide-wale corduroy, wool flannel, wool hopsack, and herringbone tweed are all examples of this that come from the English country and sporting looks. Some American additions might be camelhair (formerly used for overcoats, giving it the necessary roughness to transfer to the sportscoat field) and chambray (an addition from workwear, which got its rugged feel from that). 

Another angle you can come at it from is loudness. Loud suits usually make great odd jackets and trousers. Tartan and its summertime equivalent madras are great examples of this. If you happen to have any suits in Go-to-Hell colors that satisfy the vent and pocket requirements, they might be good candidates.


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## Scott Anderson (Nov 20, 2008)

*No, no, a thousand times no.*

Gentlemen with all due respect, you are missing the fundamental issue with regard to this question. The reason you cannot and should not wear a suit jacket as a sport jacket is because it never looks right. No matter how much advice you may give, you are still trying to put a square peg in a round hole.

Why? Because they are different garments entirely. They are cut differently, come in fabrics that are selected for one or the other and have different trim treatments.

A sweatshirt is not a sweater. They're just different things.

Just in the example of a blue suit coat which one might suspect could be used as a blazer, the cut, color and buttons will be all wrong. This subtle collection of differences adds up to the innate feeling by those who see you that something is just not right in what you are wearing.

Please buy a sport jacket or blazer. It's immaterial if you get it from me, but as a maker of sport jackets who is also well versed in the manufacture of suits, I can assure you they are just different garments.


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## HistoryDoc (Dec 14, 2006)

There is one place where I give people a pass on this: the airport. Sometimes if someone wants to pack light they will wear the jacket and pack the pants. I'll give that guy a pass.


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## Jovan (Mar 7, 2006)

The Rambler said:


> I hate "business casual," I never know what to wear. Given what you say about your wardrobe, how about a suit with no tie, and a patterned dress shirt? But really, as everyone says, buy a blue blazer: many nice ones are offered on the resale thread here.


I have to disagree. Wear a suit as it was intended -- with a tie.


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## katon (Dec 25, 2006)

Scott Anderson said:


> They are cut differently, come in fabrics that are selected for one or the other and have different trim treatments.
> 
> A sweatshirt is not a sweater. They're just different things.
> 
> ...


I'm very curious about the cut issue... Might it be possible to elaborate? I'm sure there are many out there who would value your opinions on this.

Also, is this true for the Ivy League silhouette? I had always imagined that the preferred Ivy League cut for both suitcoats and sportscoats was the same; natural shoulder and dartless, a sack cut.


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## Joe Beamish (Mar 21, 2008)

^ I have the same question. I'm sure many here would like to know the distinguishing marks of the suit coat cut (vs. the sport coat cut).


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## Youngster (Jun 5, 2008)

You need a sportscoat.
There is a chance that a blue suit coat could pass for a blue blazer if you changed the buttons, but then it would look wrong as a suit. But this is only if the material is right. Hopsack and doeskin flannel look right in blue blazers, yours is likely a plain worsted that would raise the eye of the sartorially observant. And while some blazers are cut the same as suit coats, the lack of casual details such as patch pockets will give it away. Most folk will only notice the difference between the two based on buttons. Almost everyone knows that blazers have metal shank buttons and suits have flat plastic buttons. If you have lost the pants to your suit, then changing plastic buttons to brass or horn may be a viable way to get some more use out of your jacket- but there is know way for it to do double duty.
So get a new odd jacket or blazer.
If you really do want to get a suit that can be broken up into separates, start with a more casual suit. Tweed country suit jackets make great sportcoats, even if it is a relatively refined tweed without many "country" details. Tweed pants can look very good with heavy sweaters. Tan cotton suits also look good broken up. The jacket will look good on weekends with jeans and the the pants can be used as dressy khakis with a blue blazer. But that blue blazer should be a real one.


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