Womenswear Envy

As a style-conscious male, I regularly find myself jealous of our female counterparts. I mean, obviously women are incredibly graceful creatures that can seemingly create beauty out of the most simple and humble of moments. And who wouldn’t want that ability? But more often than not, I’m just envious of the sheer amount of options available to them when it comes to fashion. Whether we like it or not, men only have so many choices to make when dressing themselves: top, bottoms, shoes and possibly an extra layer. Repeat forever. Snore. Of course, there are plenty of things that we can learn from womenswear, but the area we’re set to focus on today is one that I’ve personally been struggling with for a while: alternatives to traditional summer jackets. Because I’ve grown tired of my trusty trucker jacket; I’ve started to become indifferent towards my Harrington; and the shine has finally worn off my new linen sports coat. Yes, it’s time for a change when it comes to our summer top layer – but where do you start?

Alternative Summer Top Layers

Well, luckily that’s where FashionBeans comes in. As always, we’re here to offer a few helpful hints and tips when it comes to finding the right alternative summer jacket for you. But before we break down the three key styles that should be on your radar this year, bear in mind the following guidelines: Firstly, fit is king (sound familiar?). There’s no point pulling the trigger on an item that is the perfect colour, fabric or pattern when it doesn’t fit you properly or requires more than a couple of small alterations. It’s important to make sure the jacket fits you across the shoulders, chest and back – you don’t want the material pulling in any of these areas. The sleeves should end where the natural break in your wrist occurs and, since we are exploring warm-weather-appropriate styles, the length of the body should fall a couple of inches below your waist. Secondly, consider the clothes you already own. I’ve seen it so many times when helping gents build a brand new wardrobe: they go out and buy a jacket in a cool colour or pattern and then realise that they have no neutral basics to pair it with, the hues clash with what they already own or – worst of all – they own too many items in the same pattern already. Remember that you’re going to be wearing this jacket with the pieces you currently have in the real world. With that out of the way, what are the alternative outerwear styles you should be considering for the remainder of summer and transition into autumn?