Should You Wear a Suit Jacket or Blazer with a T-Shirt?

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Gentleman's Gazette
#sportcoat #blazer #notsponsored

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In the warmer months of the year, it's only natural to try to cut down on the number of layers you'll be wearing each day. After all, with fewer garments on your body, you'll generally stay cooler. Even so, different situations call for different dress codes.

That brings us to the topic at hand today then, in an effort to beat the summer heat while still looking stylish, can one effectively pair a t-shirt with a jacket or even with a full suit?

Our answer in a nutshell is that we wouldn't exactly recommend it. There are a host of other more stylish options out there and we'll get to those more toward the end of the video.

Still, if you are really dying to pair these two garments together, there are ways to do it that are better than others.

Finally, there are simply a great number of more stylish alternatives at your disposal than pairing a t-shirt and a jacket together. Again, we'll get to those in a moment.

But first, if you simply must pair a t-shirt and a jacket together, here's the advice we have on making it look passable.

First, it's best to choose a crew neck t-shirt over a v-neck. The crew neck is a little bit more modest and will tamp down some of those 80s vibes. In terms of fit, the t-shirt shouldn't be too baggy or too tight.

In terms of jacket styles, it's best to go with a summer weight odd sport coat or blazer rather than a suit jacket.

And on that note, go with odd trousers as well; cotton chinos or slacks in a neutral color and preferably without a pattern will casualize and ground the outfit at the same time. Wearing a t-shirt under a matching suit jacket and trousers is a one-way ticket to 80sVille.

An additional style tip for wearing a t-shirt under a jacket, make sure that the t-shirt is tucked in; if it's untucked, things are just going to look that much more discordant in terms of formality and they really won't work.

STYLISH ALTERNATIVES:

Firstly, just wearing a standard dress shirt with an open collar under your jacket should still keep you cooler than if you were wearing a tie and it will look better as the dress shirt and jacket are closer in terms of overall formality.

Next, if you would prefer to wear a shirt without long sleeves, go for a polo. Short sleeved dress shirts under jackets or even on their own can look a bit dorky so they're best avoided. Not only should a polo worn under a jacket keep you cooler but also because it's well within the realm of smart casual and therefore, closer to something like a summer weight sport coat or blazer, you can feel free to experiment to a greater degree with the colors or subtle patterns of your polo so long as they harmonize with those of your jacket. Just make sure that everything is working in harmony and of course, be sure also that your polo is tucked in.

As a bonus tip here, long sleeved polos in darker jewel tones can work well under jackets in the cooler months of the year as well. Whether short-sleeved or long-sleeved, there is one potential pitfall of pairing a polo with a jacket and that's the polo shirt's more unstructured collar. In order to make sure things are looking good, give a check every once in a while just to see that things aren't bunched up underneath your jacket's collar. If you do this, wearing a polo with a jacket should be a look that you can pull off well and it will come off casually overall.

Finally, if you really are against wearing a shirt with a collar, a happy middle ground between a standard t-shirt and a polo would be the Henley shirt. It isn't quite as easy to pair with a jacket as a polo would be but it's slightly easier than a standard t-shirt. Follow the guidelines we gave for pairing t-shirts and jackets together with your Henleys and you should end up looking good.

[PunkBass]

While I am not a fan of the look myself, the key to pulling it off seems to be to breach the formality intentionally. One could wear a full slim fit blue suit with a crisp white t-shirt and equally white but rather basic sneakers.

Richard Ayoade pulls a t-shirt with a suit off, by mostly following what you suggested: summer suit fabrics with a breton striped t-shirt for instance.

[aaronsung]

Your jacket is WAY TOO LARGE, trim it please.😁

[sammyal-badri]

Can we agree that Preston isn't allowed to be in videos until his jackets fit properly?

[momotheelder]

I love you guys but I think you aren't thinking outside the box with this one. I can show you images from 1930s Esquire showing a jacket worn with a t-shirt. The point is combining a casual enough and ideally summery enough jacket with a t shirt that provides a pop of colour and contrast. So for example a rumpled cotton or linen jacket with patch pockets worn with a colourful striped knitted t shirt is an excellent leisure/resort look. In your video you are wearing a peak lapel jacket with a plain grey t-shirt, probably to prove a point, but it is exactly the thing to avoid when sporting this look: a formal looking jacket, drab colours and a t-shirt that looks like underwear.

[tstew]

I think it's worth noting that the whole point of this look is dressing down the jacket so it can be utilized OUTSIDE of the normal circumstances. A lot of guys are sick of the way men's fashion standards hem them into boxes and "formality levels". Women's clothing is more fluid, and in some cases just the addition/subtraction of one minor piece can make a woman's outfit transcend boundaries. The question men are now asking is "why can't I do that?" The answer is that our clothing has been idealized and stereotyped quite heavily over the years, and we haven't been nearly as active in challenging those previously set stereotypes/expectations (i'm talking us everyday guys, not male fashion models). It may have started ion the 80's, but I think now is a perfect storm of us beginning to play more with our style options (especially thanks to all these very helpful style youtubers, even if I don't always agree with their "rules")


It seems to me you're coming from the wrong place in this video. You've tucked in the t-shirt (to try and turn its formality up to be in the ballpark of the jacket), your sportcoat is buttoned (this further hides the shirt) and while peak lapels can be really cool, I think trying to pair a tee shirt with a peaked lapel coat is almost always going to look bad. Having a less structured blazer or even a coat that has less formal features will make the look much less jarring. Its not about making the tee shirt more formal, its about making the jacket a seamless and even useful addition to a casual look.


We love how jackets make us look, and we are finally saying: "screw it, I'm going to make this something I can wear more than six times a year". While you can't pull this off with every jacket you own (and probably wouldn't want to anyway for reasons mentioned above), having one or two less structured/casual jackets will really open up your options and add some depth to your style.

[MrWolf-xksl]

I actually only do so with a linen jacket and linen trousers, during summer to have a fresh look like Don Johnson in Miami Vice

[speedracer]

The thumbnail tho 😂 tells you everything you need to know about wearing short sleeves with a jacket

[pestoriusj]

When I wear a t-shirt with a jacket, it's never for something that I'd be expected to wear a jacket to. It's always something that most people are wearing t-shirts to.

[HouseholdDog]

Loved sports jackets ever since I saw the Rockford Files.

[ghost]

I've always found summer sartorial success comes from matching crocs with the colour of my pocket square. But, now I'm rethinking wearing a wife-beater under a sport coat with cargo shorts.

[austinsteele]

I think it depends on the jacket. A peak lapel jacket, like in the video, does seem odd. However, I have a dark brown corduroy jacket that looks great with a t-shirt. If the jacket is very informal on it's own, it narrows the disparity in formality that the video mentions.

[paletasdehielo]

*random clips of Sven squishing himself*

[sabuvarghese]

Dude, your jacket is too big for you, I see you swimming in it.

[DaCheapChimp]

Could you do one on driving etiquette, whether you have your spouse/potential SO in the car, potential client, or even your boss or vips, thanks.

[Indykitty]

When I saw the title of this video my mind went right to Miami vice. Hearing that from you made me laugh.

[louisb.]

Out here in the western US its pretty popular for bullriders, cowboys, and ramchers out on the town to rock this look with blue jeans and even cowboy boots sometimes and of course the iconic hats. I rock the look too, kind of enveloped by the culture around me. I think thats an important part about this idea too, to look at the environment around you.

[randycollins]

Really enjoy your presentations Preston.

[fountaincap]

For the hottest days of summer, I need to stay cool but I also still need the pockets of a jacket to carry my phone, wallet, etc. My solution is a very thin, casual, deconstructed blazer in indigo with a checked pattern. When I pair it with a t-shirt like the video describes and jeans, I dunno, it seems to work.

[baskorohpradono]

If its solid jacket and t shirt, and the t shirt is tucked.
I think t shirt with peak lapel check is clash of formalities

[Rtcmanga_YouTube_Channel]

The Miami Vice reference pics are awesome!! :D In my opinion they put the combinations really well together at the time... you can't complain about that - highly paid stylist probably did the job. I think a polo shirt has a very defined lower end can also be worn over the jeans and not tucked in. I know you have different video about jackets and jeans which I didn't watch so far... :D