Do you need a jacket to wear with your business suits and sport coats? Simple brown wool overcoat is an option worth to consider.
The last couple of weeks has been extremely busy. Therefore I decided to take some old posts and update them a bit. As we are still in the middle of winter season but the spring is coming, let's take a look at some overcoat inspiration. The overcoat pictured here features a restrained herringbone pattern. But as the color of the overcoat is very dark brown and the herringbone design is pretty small, the pattern does not appear as strongly as it would in many other colors.
Dark brown wool overcoat combined with gray flannel trousers, checked sport coat and burgundy grenadine tie.
How to dress for business – keep your outerwear simple
If you are about to have only one winter overcoat in your rotation, go for a tailored dark blue or mid-gray wool jacket. Pick a coat with flap or vertical side pockets and 2,5 or three buttons. Single-breasted overcoats are probably more versatile than double-breasted options but this is more a matter of taste. And this recommendation naturally comes with the assumption that you need to wear your overcoat over a suit or a sport coat.
After you have that one overcoat covered the field is open. In my opinion every man needs at least another overcoat to complement the selection. As every man needs at least two pairs of quality footwear. A good option for a second coat in terms of color is brown. Dark brown to be exact. As mentioned many times brown is easy to combine with different shades brown, blue, gray. You can also wear it even with green or red. The only color a brown overcoat does not really match is black. And therefore blue or gray should be your first choice.
If your rotation is small and you are looking an overcoat to wear at work I recommend to stay away from bold patterns. Reason is the same than with sport coats or suits. You don’t want to be remembered as that guy who always wears that red overcoat with big stripes.
If you are wearing a double-breasted overcoat remember to leave that lowest button unbuttoned.
Double-breasted dark brown wool overcoat by Sand Copenhagen
The overcoat you see here is probably the oldest overcoat in my rotation. I bought it when I started my studies in law school in 2006. The coat is made by Sand Copenhagen of 100% pure wool and the lining features viscose and silk. It is double-breasted with 6×3 buttoning and features standard flap pockets. The coat is especially appropriate for fall and early spring season. It does not really keep you warm when the temperature falls below -10° degrees but with a suit and shirt underneath it is warm enough to survive through basic office days. Given the fact that the coat is almost ten years old it is still in pretty good shape. Only the lining has been repaired twice as it has begun to erupt.
In addition to the wool overcoat I am wearing a double-breasted checked sport coat by Lardini and striped shirt from Mastai Ferretti. The gray flannel trousers are from Finealta and burgundy grenadine tie brings a little color to the ensemble. More detailed thoughts about “how to wear a patterned sport coat for business” coming up later.
Trusting to my basic color chart - blue and gray spiced up with some burgundy.
If you want to see more about the same overcoat, check the post about this brown overcoat with gray flannel suit.
Original post 2/2016 - updated 2/2017.
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