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Is it okay to wear a Sportcoat with Shorts?

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From the Mailbag:  Thoughts on pairing a sportcoat/blazer with shorts

Originally Published 6/14/12.  Unstructured blazer, oxford shirt, & shorts all by GAP. Loafers by Sebago. Sunglasses by Ray-Ban. Beer by Pabst.

Hi Joe,

Sportcoat and shorts.  Thoughts, oh yoda of menswear?

– Shawn
.

Yoda?  Nice.  I’ll take that title.  Let me attempt to channel the green one:
.

All but impossible, wearing a blazer with shorts is.
This Venn diagram, of times when they look good together you see?
Cross their paths not.

But look great with a blazer, a kilt will.  Herh herh herh.
If with a blazer a kilt looks better?  Tell you something about shorts, that should.

Extremely rare times there are… when work, shorts and a blazer can.
Already be wearing shorts, you must.  Outdoors must you be.  Go down, the sun must.
Cold very quickly it gets?  And nearby, your completely unstructured cotton sportcoat is…

To hell with it then.  Cross this stylistic Bering Strait you should, open another beer you shall…
And with confidence wear.

Comments

  1. The look is not for 95% of men out there… but the few who can make this work (think uber preppy, Kentucky Derby partyesque occasions) it not only looks smashing, it is HOTTT! Yes, I used three T’s there.

  3. This is a hard look to pull off without looking like a member of the Young Republicans at an Ivy League school.

  6. talk about taking the Prep look and going on a tangent with it…

    I am sure it can be done, like Joe said completely unstructured piece, ie, the INC micro check, since its casual…and the sportscoat needs to be a little shorter IMO, (thinking a Thom Brown).  Iwould wear a polo and all white tennis shoes…boom done…and your signature piece…mine is a driving cap…

  8. Also – PBR? Really, Joe? Maybe it’s time for an article on the virtues of micro brews…. 😉

  9. The fellow who points out Bermuda is entirely correct: shorts with a jacket (or shorts as business-attire at all) only flies in tropical locales. And it has to be really tropical: Mobile won’t cut it.

  10. The only thing wearing shorts with a blazer does successfully is make it look like you forgot pants and are just wearing boxers.

  13. Hey now, I’m all too (way too) familiar with the virtues of micro brews.  Drank the last of our in-house Lagunitas Pils this weekend, and I figured my liter swingtop bottle of cellar reserve scotch ale from a brewery near Yellowstone wouldn’t look quite right in the pic.  I’m honestly not quite sure how that PBR got in our fridge.  It’s a 12oz.  And we always by the 16oz. pounders 🙂

  15. I don’t think the British schoolboy look has quite the same effect as the Catholic schoolgirl look.  If it’s too hot to wear pants, I’d say it’s too hot to wear a blazer.

  16. Maybe if you happen to find yourself reclining on a beached catamaran in a Ralph Lauren print ad.  Or you’re a member of Boyz II Men.

  17. By the way, that’s some fine, lush grass your gear in grazing on Joe.   Lawn treatment? 

  19. This 100%. Why spare your arms the comfort of actually being able to breathe?

  22. All of this negativity makes me think I’m going to HAVE to do it, just to show you haters.  😉

  23. In the photo links posted, the suit-short things look absolutely rediculous, IMO.  The odd jackets (esp. the very light coloured, summery-types) look pretty cool with the shorts they’re paired with.

    Not sure that it’s a look I would attempt, though.  While it *can* be done, I agree that it looks a bit unbalanced.

  24. If by lawn treatment you mean really wet spring and hardly any mowing?  Why then yes! The cats probably do their business out there too.

  29. I am, however, a huge fan of the kilt.  I’m glad to see it get a nod outside of Scottish heritage or kilt-specific circles!

  30. I’ve never felt that there was really a major problem with it. As long as the blazer and shorts both fit well, it can be pulled off. It’s a very Kentucky Derby/Nantucket/Hamptons kind of look. Anywhere you could wear Go-to-Hell pants, I think blazer + shorts is acceptable as well.

  31. I will first admit that I will wear a sweatshirt with shorts on a slightly chilly evening in the summer, but a sport coat is more about form than function and the form seems odd when you are mixing shorts (generally viewed as more casual) and a jacket (generally viewed as a little more formal).  My two cents.

  32. First thing I’m gonna do once I win that ugly Critical bike is throw on an outfit like this and go for a ride!

    Second thing I’m gonna do is get beat up by a bunch of no good punk kids. And it ain’t cause of the bike.

  34. I do agree this is better suited for evening outdoors. I pulled it off last weekend in a Luau themed BBQ, with good results (gentlemen rules abide not to tell more).
    Some considerations would be to keep things in proportion: slimmer above the knee shorts with a
    trimmer blazer, or use your safari/shacket with those baggy cargos. Also remember that the blazer must be unlined, unstructured and cotton or linen to keep it hot weather friendly.
    IMO the suit with shorts or attempting this ensemble with a tie, is as ridiculous as all those Pewee Herman suits we’ve been seeing lately.

  35. Yes, it can absolutely be done. Some of the Debbie Downers here need to be a touch more open to new things when it comes to men’s style – and this ain’t even new. It’s a pretty classic element of prep and other styles.

  39. why must one wear shorts if a jacket be needeth? Thou shalt wear pants if the day happens to be brisk.

    common sense, no longer common

  41. Just weighing in on the kilt–it’s actually very hard to make the kilt and blazer look work, outside of the traditional context. It always seems awkward when I’ve tried with a casual kilt. And if you look at photos online, a jacket worn with a kilt has to be pretty much designed for that use–cropped really short, either in the classic Prince Charlie jacket or just as a very short tweed sport coat. If you wear a normal jacket with a kilt, the two will overlap awkwardly & not look right.

    If you can find a counterexample where it works, though, please show me!

  42. Now I know why Yoda never wrote any books- hard to read they are. Either that or he also spoke languages which didn’t have rules on fixed word order.

    Shorts and sportcoats are like Crocs and well-dressed men: they don’t mix.

  43. In the US, are kilts every casual? The only people I know who wear kilts wear them for key, dressy occasions such as weddings.

  44. Considering the subject of discussion, Pabst was a righteous choice. Kudos, I’m thinkin’

  45. I wear a Utilikilt casually, but you’re right that traditional kilts are almost always worn for formal occasions. That’s just habit, though–there’s no reason that you *can’t* wear even a traditional tartan kilt for everyday stuff, most people just don’t. (It doesn’t help that most wool kilts are expensive as all get-out.)

  46. This is perfectly acceptable, if a few criteria are met:

    1) the blazer has to be casual cotton or linen, unlined & short
    2) the shorts can’t go further than the top of the knee
    3) the undershirt needs to be casual (t-shirt, polo), as do the shoes (boat shoes, beat loafers)