An image-heavy post this week, to illustrate options for summer jackets. In particular, those half-lined and unlined.
An unlined jacket is a nice way to create greater ventilation in hotter temperatures. The major disadvantage is that the jacket is more likely to rumple and catch on your shirt underneath. Those that have experience basted fittings will know what that’s like – sometimes the friction between cotton and wool can be so much that it is hard to see how the jacket really hangs.
A half-lined jacket restricts that problem to your back, which is less noticeable. And the back is where most men need the ventilation, as the shirt and jacket are so consistently pressed together.
That can be particularly welcome on heavier cloths such as tweed, making them more like three-season garments. Below is an example, a green W Bill tweed jacket being made for Luke (a fellow writer on Gentleman’s Corner) by Graham Browne. Note the curved patch pockets, a particular favourite of his.
On an unlined jacket, the seams can be ‘taped’ with the same material as the lining would have been, creating an opportunity for decoration, or they can be sealed with the same cloth as the jacket.
One example of each shown below: a check number being made for another Graham Browne client, Jeremy, and an old Zegna jacket of mine. Jeremy, again, is a fan of the curved pocket.
I’m going to go for a half-lined jacket in the cloth shown below, a lovely bunch called Sandringham recently released by Hunt & Winterbotham (under the John G Hardy label). The cloth is a cashmere/silk blend and each jacket option is paired with a cotton trouser. Always nice to have suggestions.
