Sartorial Picks

Coats & Jackets

Outerwear is where British men get the most daily use from any single category in their wardrobe and also where we see the most consistent underinvestment relative to how much it matters. Your coat is the first and often only thing people see when you walk into a room and it's doing significant work on your behalf before you've said a word or removed a layer. We've gone through phases of treating outerwear as purely practical and phases of caring too much about it and the truth is somewhere in the middle. You need something that actually handles the weather because this is Britain and the weather has opinions. But you also need something that works with your actual wardrobe rather than just sitting on top of it looking unrelated to everything underneath. The pieces in this section cover the full range from lightweight layers for transitional days to proper coats for when the weather stops being polite about it.

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Anoraks

The anorak is one of those pieces that's had several different cultural moments and is currently in a fairly good place style wise which means it's worth paying attention to if you haven't already. It's essentially the practical end of the outerwear spectrum. You're getting coverage from wind and light rain without committing to a full waterproof jacket situation. We love an anorak for exactly the kinds of days that make up most of the British autumn and spring where it's not properly cold enough for a coat but definitely not warm enough to just wear a jumper outside and hope for the best. The key with anoraks is to keep everything else fairly clean and simple. They work brilliantly with straight leg jeans and a simple knit. They don't work as well when you're competing with them pattern wise or adding too many layers underneath that start pushing out through the hem in an unflattering way.

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Biker Jackets

The biker jacket is one of those pieces that looks effortless on some people and slightly like a costume on others and the difference is almost entirely about confidence and styling rather than the jacket itself. We went through a phase of wearing one and feeling like we were performing rather than just wearing a jacket before we figured out that the trick is to treat it as a straightforward outerwear piece rather than a statement. When you stop thinking of it as the interesting thing in your outfit and start thinking of it as just your jacket it suddenly starts working much better. We love a classic black leather biker with straight jeans and a simple white or grey tee for exactly this reason. The jacket does enough. Everything else can be quiet. It works in a way that gets more comfortable the more you wear it and a genuine leather one only gets better looking with age and use.

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Blazers

The blazer is probably the single most versatile piece a man can own and if we had to pick one thing to tell someone who was trying to build a wardrobe that works from a standing start it would be to start here. A well fitted navy or charcoal blazer can go with smart pants for something that reads as nearly a suit. It can go with chinos for smart casual. It can go over a tee with dark jeans for a look that feels intentional and pulled together without being particularly dressed up. The key word in all of that is fitted. An ill fitting blazer does none of those things and just looks like you borrowed someone else's jacket. Shoulders aligned with your actual shoulders. A length that covers your waistband without hitting mid thigh. Sleeves that show a bit of shirt cuff. Get those things right and everything else is relatively straightforward.

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Bomber Jackets

The bomber jacket is one of those things that looks very simple but requires getting a few details right to work properly. The length is the main one. It should hit right at your waistband or very close to it. A bomber that's too long loses the whole shape that makes it interesting and you end up with something that just looks like a short coat rather than an actual bomber. We love a clean minimal bomber in a neutral colour because it works with so many different outfits. Black or olive with dark jeans and trainers is the obvious combination and it's obvious because it works brilliantly. A slightly smarter bomber in a satin or suede fabric can also work surprisingly well with chinos and loafers for something that feels more considered than the standard casual version without tipping into trying too hard territory.

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Camel Coats

If we had to pick one coat to own if we could only own one it would probably be a camel coat and we say this having gone through various phases of preferring darker outerwear before eventually coming back to this conclusion. The camel coat does something quite specific in that it makes even very simple outfits look expensive and considered. A grey knit, straight leg jeans and a camel coat looks like you thought about it. The same outfit with a black coat just looks like an outfit. There's something about the warmth of the camel tone that adds a richness to whatever's underneath. It also works across smart and casual registers in a way that not many coats manage. It looks right over a suit for something that feels polished without being stiff. It looks equally right over weekend clothes for something that feels effortless. A good one is worth spending properly on because it will last for years.

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Coach Jackets

The coach jacket is one of those pieces that sits in a slightly awkward middle ground between casual and smart and handles that awkwardness better than almost anything else at that price point. It's lighter than a bomber and more structured than a hoodie which makes it genuinely useful for the kind of weather where you need a layer but not a proper jacket. We've found it works brilliantly as exactly that — a layer rather than the main event. Over a good hoodie or a chunky knit when the temperature is doing that thing where it can't decide what it wants to be. On its own over a tee on a warmer evening when you need something to carry but don't actually need much warmth. The key is keeping everything proportional. A coach jacket has a fairly clean streamlined shape and piling too much underneath it starts to look bulky and awkward. Slim fit underneath and the jacket can do its job properly.

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Coats

A proper coat is one of those wardrobe purchases where getting it right matters significantly more than getting it quickly and we've learned this lesson the expensive way by buying something that seemed fine in the shop in October and then resenting it by December. What we look for when we're buying a coat is whether it works with the actual range of things we wear rather than just one specific outfit. Something that only goes with suits isn't a coat we're going to reach for very often. Something that works over a suit but also over weekend clothes is a coat we'll wear constantly. Fit matters enormously here too. A coat that's too short makes your legs look strange. One that's too long makes you look like you've borrowed someone else's. Somewhere between the hip and the knee depending on the specific style is usually the right territory. Spend properly on something in good quality wool and it'll last for a decade.

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Denim Jackets

The denim jacket is one of those pieces that feels like it should be straightforward but is actually surprisingly easy to get wrong mostly because of sizing. The specific fit that works for a denim jacket is quite particular. It should be slightly fitted through the body without being tight and the length should sit right at the waistband. Too large and it looks shapeless and unintentional. Too small and you look like you've borrowed something from a younger sibling. We love a classic indigo denim jacket over a grey sweatshirt with dark jeans for that tonal denim look that works really well in autumn. Over a simple tee in summer when you need something for the evening. It's also one of those pieces where the fading and wear genuinely adds to it rather than making it look tatty so a well worn one often looks better than a stiff new one.

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Faux Leather Jackets

Faux leather jackets have got significantly better over the last few years to the point where distinguishing them from the real thing at a glance is genuinely difficult with better quality options. We mention this because there used to be a reason to be snobbish about faux leather and that reason has largely disappeared. What matters now is pretty much what matters with any jacket — the cut and the quality of the finish. A well made faux leather jacket in a clean biker or bomber silhouette works just as well as a leather one for most purposes and obviously has the advantage of being considerably more accessible price wise. The main thing to avoid is anything that looks plasticky or has that particular sheen that cheap faux leather gets. A matte or semi matte finish is almost always the better choice and tends to age more gracefully when you're not working with actual leather.

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Jackets

The jacket category is a broad one and that breadth is actually the point because what we're talking about here is the layer that sits between your tops and your outerwear and it's a layer that most guys either get very right or almost completely ignore. A good mid layer jacket creates a way of dressing that's more interesting and more practical than just shirt plus coat. It gives you something to take off when you go inside without leaving you in just a tee. It adds structure to a casual outfit in a way that a hoodie can't quite manage. Quilted jackets for warmth without bulk. Harrington jackets for that clean classic casual look. Overshirts worn as light jackets when the weather allows it. The jacket layer is where a lot of the most interesting and versatile pieces in menswear live and it rewards paying attention to more than most guys typically manage.

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Leather Jackets

We've had a few leather jackets over the years and the one thing that's been consistently true across all of them is that quality matters more here than with almost any other piece of clothing. A cheap leather jacket looks cheap in a way that a cheap pair of chinos doesn't quite manage. The leather itself tells you everything. Good leather has a weight and a texture and a smell that synthetic alternatives simply don't replicate and more importantly it ages in a way that makes it look better rather than worse. A leather jacket you've worn for five years looks like it belongs to someone who actually has a life. The fit for a leather jacket should be slightly more fitted than you might initially think is comfortable because leather has almost no give and a jacket that fits correctly when it's new will soften and mould to your shape over time. One size up and it never quite looks right.

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Padded Jackets

The padded jacket had a rough few years style wise where the only options seemed to be enormous puffer situations that made you look like the Michelin Man or flimsy things that provided warmth in theory only. Things have improved considerably. There are now padded jackets across a really wide range of weights and silhouettes that provide proper warmth without making you look like you've wrapped yourself in a duvet. We've gravitated towards the slightly slimmer quilted styles that have more structure than a traditional puffer because they work across more occasions. Smart enough to wear with chinos and boots to something that isn't quite formal. Casual enough to throw over a hoodie on a genuinely cold weekend. The key with padded jackets is keeping the overall silhouette clean. When everything underneath is too bulky the jacket stops lying properly and you lose the shape entirely.

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Parkas

The parka is the outerwear piece we reach for when the weather has stopped being ambiguous and is just being straightforwardly unpleasant. It's the honest option. It doesn't pretend to be stylish when what it's actually doing is keeping you dry and warm in genuinely grim conditions and there's something admirable about that clarity of purpose. That said there are parkas that do the practical job well and look good doing it and parkas that sacrifice everything for function and end up looking like they came from a surplus store. We prefer something with a clean silhouette even if it's longer than most outerwear. An olive or navy parka in a good quality material with a decent hood situation handles almost any British winter scenario without complaint. Keep everything underneath fairly streamlined so the bulk of the jacket doesn't compound into something that restricts how you move.

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Puffer

The puffer jacket exists at this intersection of practicality and aesthetics that used to be a conflict and is now basically resolved because the options available are so much better than they were even five years ago. We've moved away from the enormous billboard puffers that made us look twice our actual width and towards things that are more considered in their proportions. A shorter puffer that hits at the waist rather than the hip works better with most outfits and avoids that shapeless quality that longer puffers can create. A longer puffer in a clean colour worn over minimal basics and good footwear has also become a genuinely strong look that requires very little effort to pull off well. The key thing with any puffer is that the rest of your outfit needs to be fairly clean and streamlined. Competing with the puffer rather than working with it is where things start to go wrong.

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Track Jackets

The track jacket is one of those pieces where the line between looking like you've just come from the gym and looking like you've made a deliberate style choice is quite fine and worth understanding before you commit to wearing one outside athletic contexts. What makes the difference is almost always what you pair it with. A track jacket with matching tracksuit bottoms and trainers reads as gym or leisure wear. A track jacket with straight jeans and clean minimal trainers reads as a deliberate casual choice that borrows from sportswear without being fully consumed by it. We like track jackets in cleaner colourways without too much branding for exactly this reason. Minimal logos and a simple cut give you something that works as an actual layering piece rather than something that's only appropriate when you're doing something athletic.

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Trench Coats

The trench coat is one of those rare pieces in men's wardrobes that has been consistently correct for about a hundred years and shows no signs of going anywhere which tells you something useful about its fundamental rightness as a garment. The classic khaki double breasted belted trench works with almost everything and has this quality of making the person wearing it look like they have somewhere important to be even when they're just going to buy milk. We've found the length is the most important variable. A trench that hits just above or just below the knee is the classic proportion and it works. A trench that's too short loses the drama that makes it interesting. Wear it belted when you want to define the silhouette and leave it open when you want something more relaxed. Both work. It's a genuinely versatile piece that rewards spending properly on.

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Varsity Jackets

The varsity jacket is one of those pieces you either feel immediately comfortable in or you spend the entire time wearing it wondering if you look like you've wandered out of an American high school from 1987. We've been in both camps at different points. The key we've found is to treat it as a casual piece without any additional self consciousness about what it's referencing culturally. A clean varsity with wool body and leather sleeves in navy or black worn with simple jeans and a plain tee looks genuinely great. The mistake is overthinking the references and either doubling down on the Americana theme with everything else or trying to dress it down so much that you're fighting against the jacket rather than working with it. Keep everything else quiet and let the jacket be what it is.

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Windbreakers

The windbreaker fills a specific gap in outerwear that not many other pieces handle as well which is the warm but windy and possibly lightly damp day that is genuinely most days in this country for at least six months of the year. It's lighter than a jacket but more protective than a shirt and it packs down to almost nothing which makes it the piece you end up being grateful you brought on roughly half the days you take it out. What we've learned about windbreakers specifically is that the ones that look best are the ones that avoid too much technical looking detailing. Clean lines and simple colourways without seventeen zips and mesh panels and reflective strips for occasions where none of those things are needed. A minimal windbreaker in a solid colour works as an actual style choice rather than just a practical contingency you've grudgingly included in your bag.

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