The 5 Best Lightweight Jackets for Men, From Casual to Dressy

“Why would anyone wear a jacket in summer? It’s already enough to ask me to wear pants!”

I get it: as someone who grew up in the Australian tropics and now lives in Manhattan, I’ve been on both sides of the debate. But there are good reasons to try a summer jacket: they let you carry more stuff, a dress code often requires them, but above all, you know you look cooler in a jacket.

To help you find the best lightweight jackets for both dressy and casual situations, I brought in Peter from Peter’s Prism, a YouTuber who’s much more advanced in the finer points of menswear than I, a guy who mostly blogs about boots and jeans.

Instead of diving into every kind of summer fabric, we’re listing types of lightweight jackets and discussing different fabrics they can come in.

Note: Thanks to Huckberry for sponsoring this content; they sell a lot of these jackets! A lot of them aren’t on Huckberry, and we just had them lying around, but they let us publish this content as is anyway. Thanks for being cool, Huckberry!

Why Summer Jackets?

There are a lot of times when it’s a good idea to leave the house with a jacket that isn’t designed to keep you warm.

“Summer jackets are great because in many places, it cools down at night,” says Peter. “Or maybe you work in an office where the AC is blasting, or you’re going somewhere with a smart casual dress code. And sometimes you just want to layer! A light jacket adds dimension to your outfit, and there are so many great options.”

My opinion, as a guy who isn’t super into menswear? It’s a fact that even guys who don’t care about “fashion” get excited for jacket season. I’ll be blunt: you know you look cooler in a jacket.

Jackets are also practical, especially for those of the purseless gender: if you don’t carry a bag, jackets help you carry your belongings without them bulging uncomfortably out of your pants pockets.

Also, everyone knows you need a jacket for formal events like weddings. But even at a bar, restaurant, or backyard party, the simple act of wearing a casual jacket over your t-shirt immediately makes you look smarter: it’s just understood that a jacket dresses you up a notch, even a casual one.

“Add any of these jackets and you instantly upgrade your look,” says Peter. “Even at a casual event, it just adds a level of polish.”

1. The Most Versatile Summer Jacket: Chore Coats

• Usually unlined cotton or linen
• Versatile: easy to wear with a t-shirt or with a tie
• Functional: bucket-style pockets keep your belongings from falling out

The chore coat is a simple cotton jacket that runs longer than a denim or trucker jacket; it’s about the length of a blazer, which is why it does a good job of dressing up a little if you want it to.

They’re typically made from a thick cotton called moleskin, and while unlined cotton breathes pretty well compared to all the synthetics on the market, we prefer my twill chore coat from Taylor Stitch or (even better) Peter’s cotton-linen one from Flint and Tinder.

An underrated benefit of chore coats is their utility: they were originally designed as work jackets for French countrymen, which is why the pockets are bucket style: they open a the top, not the sides.

That means they aren’t great as handwarmers (hey, it’s summer), but they excel at keeping your belongings relatively secure: I was walking around Central Park the other day with a book in one pocket and a can of soda in the other.

How to Wear Chore Coats in the Summer

It’s unstructured like a casual sports coat, slightly longer than a denim or leather jacket, and has a pointed collar that layers nicely. But unlike a blazer, you can wear a chore coat over a t-shirt and jeans just as easily over an Oxford shirt and chinos (like I’m doing below).

“I’ve worn chore coats with a tie and collared shirt,” says Peter. “You can very easily dress it up or down. In summer, I lean on lighter-weight fabrics like this linen one from Flint and Tinder.”

Our Top Picks for Summer Chore Coats

Historically, chore coats were made from heavy moleskin, but summer versions favor lighter fabrics. Taylor Stitch’s popular iteration, called the Ojai, has been released in a range of fabrics, but 8-ounce cotton twill is their most popular, and a pretty good pick for warmer months.

Some take it even lighter, using one of the best fabrics for summer: linen.

Flint and Tinder’s 70% cotton and 30% linen chore coat is an excellent choice; it’s what Peter’s wearing in his pictures.

Or for 100% linen apparel, I wear a lot of Alex Crane. Their chore coat is called the Kite, and you can get matching pants to create a great casual suit that I wear a lot on my regular trips to Southeast Asia.

2. The Wild Card: Field Jackets

Before you start thinking this list is all about jackets you can wear with ties, here’s a very casual option that gives you a lot of style without a lot of warmth: the military style field jacket.

This one might not achieve the goal of making your outfit look smarter, but it does make a casual fit look cooler, and it works surprisingly well atop smart casual fits like the wool trousers and white sneakers Peter’s wearing with his.

How to Wear Field Jackets in the Summer

“They’re very casual,” says Peter. “But I’ve seen guys style them with a tie or something flashier, and it makes for a really nice contrast.”

The most iconic version is the M-65, and countless brands have made their own take on it. But if a brand is aping the M-65, the jacket is usually a little bulk,y and worst of all, it’s usually made with nylon. Synthetics are bad for breathability, so you should look for a lightweight cotton jacket made with sateen or ripstop, like Peter’s.

Field jackets are so casual that you want to look like you’re dressing deliberately: wearing one with baggy jeans and an old t-shirt runs the risk of reminding people of Taxi Driver. I think it’s wise to always wear them with a button-up shirt, just to ensure no one gets Travis Bickle vibes.

“Don’t look like you just woke up and picked your clothes off the floor randomly,” Peter warns. “Do not look unhinged when walking around in public in a field jacket.”

On a related note: field jackets seem perfect for travel — lightweight, lots of secure pockets — but I’ve learned from experience that it’s a bad idea to wear one in airports and train stations, especially in countries with a history of military or paramilitary tensions. Military clothing makes security jumpy.

But if you’re hitting some bars with your buddies, a field jacket is cool. Just wash your shirt first.

Our Top Picks for Summer Field Jackets

Field jackets are often made with nylon, but 100% cotton is a better choice for summer.

“One hundred percent cotton just feels a little cooler on the skin, whether it’s against your body or layered over something else.”

Mine is from Shockoe Atelier, and it has a more minimalist, less militaristic look to it. I enjoyed its light weight when visiting workshops in Indonesia (below), but it’s over $300 — worth it for some guys who value the fact that it’s made in America, but it’s not accessible for everyone.

Peter’s is from Bronson Mfg, who make military style clothes at very low prices. For warm weather wear, opt for the U.S. Army Fifth Model Tropical Jungle Fatigue Jacket. It’s made from a tough ripstop cotton that’s very lightweight and costs just $65.

Army Surplus World has a cotton jacket that I thought was well priced, but Bronson’s beats them. They’re so inexpensive that they won’t even give us a commission for linking to them:

3. Smart Summer Blazers

Technically, a blazer is supposed to have shiny buttons and the crest of some kind of club or society on the chest, but we’re going with the more typical definition of a blazer: a nice jacket with lapels.

How to Wear Blazers in the Summer

“When you’ve got a lapel jacket, it’s automatically more casual than a structured wool suit,” says Peter. “That gives you more flexibility. You can wear blazers like these with a t-shirt and linen trousers, or dress it up with a collared shirt — it’ll look great either way.”

The right material, obviously, is paramount: look for linen, tropical wool, or lightweight cotton. We both agree that the most comfortable fabric for hot weather is seersucker.

I used to avoid seersucker, assuming it was some weird synthetic performance fabric. Turns out, it’s just cotton — but its distinctive puckered texture keeps it from sticking to your skin. That single feature makes it dramatically more comfortable than any other summer jacket I’ve worn.

“And what’s nice about a seersucker suit is that it’s easy to break apart,” Peter adds. “Seersucker is casual enough that the blazer can stand on its own.”

Our Top Picks for Summer Blazers

For seersucker, I like Flint and Tinder’s, which comes in navy or khaki — none of the Southern gentleman pinstripes you might associate with this fabric!

Peter’s wearing two different navy blazers in these pictures: a lightweight cotton from Relwen and a linen one below from Engineered Garments, who also make his seersucker. (They don’t have their own store online, though, so I can’t link them for you. To Google!)

“You could pair a linen blazer with loose cotton trousers, loafers — maybe sockless — and a white collared shirt or even a camp collar,” he says. “A t-shirt under a blazer works too. It’s clean, simple, and summer-appropriate.”

4. Bomber Jackets for Summer

• Think elasticated wrists, waist, and collar
• Bomber jackets are casual, but work with a collared shirt and chinos for a smarter look
• We’re including Harrington jackets here, though the collars are different

Another summer jacket that you might not have thought about is the bomber jacket, which would be fair given they’re usually made of leather or synthetics.

But I found a couple of models made of summer-friendly fabrics that can be a great way to make a t-shirt and jeans look just a little smarter without any risk of you looking overdressed.

How to Wear Bomber Jackets in the Summer

Bomber jackets are fairly casual; you’ll look put together but not dressed up. Don’t think twice about wearing them with a basic t-shirt and jeans, but they also look good with a range of smart casual outfits like Oxford cloth button-downs and chinos.

I personally find it hard to wear business casual shoes like loafers or oxfords. Sneakers and boots are the sweet spot for a bomber.

I earned Peter’s ire by lumping Harrington jackets (above) into the “bomber jacket” section, which is fair — the collars are different. But both jackets have elastic cuffs on the waist and wrists, both close with zippers, and neither has a pointed collar, so they’re pretty similar.

Harringtons look pretty great with preppy outfits, and I personally love to wear them with a polo shirt. (And there are a few jackets I like to pair with a polo shirt.)

Our Top Picks for Summer Bomber Jackets

Most bombers are bad for the summer! Consider only these picks.

Thursday’s Alpha M. bomber inspired this entire article because the shell is 100% cotton and weighs just 6.5 ounces, which is impressively lightweight.

Or for a Harrington, check out Baracuta, who make the most famous Harrington on Earth: the G9.

But beware: most of them are made with a shell that’s about 50 percent synthetic, making it a decent windbreaker and an okay rain jacket, but it doesn’t breathe in the heat. Look for G9s made from a better summer fabric: there are even seersucker options.

Another good choice is Baracuta’s G4 line: this model is looser at the waist, allowing for more airflow, and many of them come in breathable fabrics like tropical wool.

5. Safari Jackets

Much less common than the other picks on this list, but that gives safari jackets all the more cachet. Karl, managing editor of Stridewise, is wearing a custom-made linen safari jacket in these pics taken from a Scottish summer.

Safari jackets are really cool pieces: you can one hundred percent wear them with a tie, but because they’re covered in pleated patch pockets, they’re just as solid with jeans and casual button-ups.

They strike a great balance: dressier than a chore coat, more relaxed than a blazer; unusual enough to stand out, not so interesting that you stand out in the wrong way.

Honorable Mention: Denim Jackets

It’s important to note that the point of denim is more about being “durable and not too hot” rather than being “not too hot” first. It’s usually a pretty tight weave and not at the top of anyone’s list for summer wear — but we are talking about an unlined cotton jacket here, so they can work well.

I recommend Naked & Famous’s spring/summer collection. The exact denims they sell change every year, but they’ve always got some options that are under 11 ounces, which is very light for denim.

Honorable Mention: Wabash Jackets

OK, this one is really niche, but at least you know that I really do explore a lot of different styles and fabrics. Wabash is a little like denim, but covered with distinctive stripes made by intricate dotted lines.

I grabbed this jacket from Copper Denim in Vietnam (sorry, their site’s not in English). Wabash is best known for being worn by old-timey railroad workers (and thus a favorite of denimheads), but the blue and white stripes made me think of nautical designs and yacht clubs — surprisingly summery!

Wrapping Up

That’s our roundup of summer jackets — a solid spread from dressy to casual, plus a couple of underrated dark horses we’ve picked up throughout the years.

I know that jackets in warm weather might seem counterintuitive, but hopefully we’ve shown why they’re actually functional, and I think you’ll wonder why you took so long to get one.

Big thanks to Peter for adding his expertise. You can see more great content on his YouTube channel, PetersPrism.