Saving Money on the Perfect Summer Outfit

Banana Republic Blazer, Shirt, Chino, and Clark’s Desert Boot – $364.00

UPDATE: Banana Republic is doing a one day sale (Wed. May 12) on a selection of their most popular Men’s Chinos.  $35.00 for Relaxed Dawson or the more updated Straight Gavin Chino.  Which will knock a bit off the B.R. Outfit Price.

Give Banana Republic credit… that’s a great summer look.  Just a few weeks after they published one of the worst suit fitting guides in recent memory, the BR team makes a strong showing with a well put-together summer outfit suggestion.

The whole look is anchored by the tan cotton/linen blazer. The patterned shirt, extremely light chinos, and brown desert boots are a terrific supporting cast.  But it’s not cheap.  You’ll find the breakdown of the outfit as if you were to buy it completely from Banana Republic, and then an almost identical outfit made up of more affordable options below:

Banana Republic’s Blazer and Chino Summer Outfit

BR Modern Fit Linen Two Button Blazer – $150.00
BR Slim Fit Linen Cotton Windowpane Shirt – $69.50
BR Relaxed Dawson Chino – $49.50
Clark’s Desert Boot – $95.00

Total Cost: $364.00 – Which is quite a lot.

The More Affordable Blazer and Chino Summer Outfit

Land’s End Canvas Chino Blazer  – $69.50
J. Crew Button Down Tattersall Shirt – $55.00
Docker’s D1 Slim Fit Flat Front Khaki in Marble – $36.00
Alfani Oasis Chukka – $79.99

Total Cost: $240.49 – And just like that, you’ve saved $123.51

The only advantage that the exclusively BR outfit has going for it is the texture of the linen blazer. Linen has that rougher look to it, which will break the bottom and top half of the outfit up nicely. But one major disadvantage to linen is that once the warm weather starts to go, it should be shelved until the spring. You won’t have that issue with the much less expensive cotton chino blazer from Land’s End Canvas.