5 x Workwear jackets and how to style them
As we emerge blinking out of a year of lockdown, the world seems to have turned into a more casual place. If your suit feels stuffy and your blazer feels formal, then turn instead to a chore jacket.
On my recent personal shopping trips, I've been buying these classic workwear style jackets which seem to suit everyone, and are perfect to start wearing straight away and will continue to be useful right through the summer (if we ever get one in the UK!)
Here are some of the ones we bought and how I styled them for each client:
We tried on quite a few different options of jackets, before settling on this Reiss one. On previous shopping trips, we've bought bomber jackets for casual wear, so this made a nice change rather than repeating exactly the same thing (though I know you men often like to do that!)
It went really well with this lilac hoodie from Community Clothing (Patrick Grant's UK made brand - he of The Great British Sewing Bee fame & also director of Savile Row tailor Norton & Sons and E Tautz) and though this is a bit of a departure from my client's blue loving tendencies we both thought the colour was super flattering on him. I love the lilac and khaki together, and he'd wear that with grey or washed in black jeans.
Forest green 'Conley' casual worker jacket - Reiss - £165
Lilac cotton hoodie - Community Clothing at John Lewis - £49
I thought it would be handy to include an inspiration pic with another way to wear a chore jacket......with an overshirt. Not something you'd necessarily think of doing, but I'm loving the image of the guy on the right in his understated blue layered jackets. I think this chambray linen one would do nicely under the navy Kin workwear jacket you'll see below. You might have to size down from how it looks on the mannequin, so it's a bit of neater fit which will work better under another jacket.
Dockside chambray linen overshirt - Universal Works - £165
Photo from GQ at the Men's Collections
I love it when I can introduce a client to a new brand (especially when they're as clued up as he was!) so it was great to take him to the Wax London store where we got this white (which is actually slightly off white in reality) jacket. We tried it with this striped t-shirt, and the lightweight Oliver Spencer 'fishtail' trousers (great if you have larger thighs btw!) and the Boggi white trainers he also bought on the shopping trip.
And when I came to write an outfit list for him after the session (yup, I do this for clients, so they know exactly how to wear everything they've bought on the shopping trip) I found that it completed loads of outfits really well, so I think he'll get loads of use from it.
White heavy denim 'Chet' jacket - Wax London - £130
Navy & ecru 'Dean' striped t-shirt - Wax London - £35
Most people would instinctively wear a t-shirt under a collared jacket like the chore, but it actually looks good with a shirt too, and it gives it a totally different look. I'm definitely in the blue and green should ALWAYS be seen camp, and I love this pale blue shirt (and I'm sure you have one of those in your wardrobe) with the green jacket in this image, which is similar to the Reiss one I talked about earlier.
Pale blue 'Levon' button down linen shirt - NNO7 at Mr Porter - £110
Photo by Christian Vierig on Wall Street Journal
When I first showed this jacket to my client, I don't think he was convinced....but once he tried it on and saw how excellent it looked on him, he was smitten. I lead him gently out of his comfort zone with these rust chinos, to make a change from the 5 or 6 pairs of beige/tan ones he already had. And then we put it with this denim shirt from Uniqlo and a Nick Bronson blue check scarf from Liberty which created a really nice casual outfit, and was one of my favourites that we put together.
Navy cotton twill workwear jacket - Kin at John Lewis - £89
Rust 'Schino' slim chinos - Boss at John Lewis - £99
"Just a note to say thanks for your time earlier. I really enjoyed shopping with you, it was so easy and such a relaxed day even though we were full on. They are not always words that I associate with clothes shopping!
I’m thrilled with my purchases and I’m delighted and amazed that we managed to get everything on my wish list. Getting your views and advice on each item really reassures me that they are right for me."
Bored with how you look now we're coming out of lockdown and feel like a fresh start? Contact me here to have a chat about how I can help to revitalise your wardrobe!
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