bonobos unconstructed italian wool blazer

Why would anyone wear a blazer in summer? I get it: as someone who grew up in the Australian tropics and now lives in Manhattan and travel in South East Asia, I've been on all sides of this. But a good summer blazer actually makes you look better while barely adding any warmth — if you pick the right one. To help sort through the options, I brought in Peter from Peter's Prism, a YouTube channel that digs deep into mature, stylish menswear. I mostly blog about casual durable stuff like boots and jeans, so between the two of us we've got the casual and the dressy covered. My Top Picks for Summer Blazers Best Casual Summer Blazer: Relwen Trap Blazers Best Linen Blazer: Wills Rosedale Classic Patch Pocket Suit Jacket Dressiest Blazer: Proper Cloth Most Breathable: Flint and Tinder Seersucker Blazer Wild Card: Post-Romantic Tan Hand-Loomed & Hand-Sewn Cotton Suit Why Blazers in the Summer? Why blazers though? The blazer’s classic and clean cut look will dress up any outfit, but it’s not so dressy that you have to pair it with calfskin Oxfords. "Summer jackets are great because in a lot of places, it cools down at night," says Peter. "Or maybe you work in an office where the AC is cranked up, or you're heading somewhere with a smart casual dress code. Sometimes you just want to layer — a light jacket adds dimension to your outfit, and there are so many good options now." Blazers are typically made of a heavier wool, but we've found more lightweight versions that you can comfortably wear in the spring and summer. Further Reading The 5 Best Lightweight Jackets for Men, From Casual to Dressy Peter and I explore the best summer jackets for men to help you dress better and beat the heat. Learn more → Peter on the right is wearing suede chukkas with fatigues and a blazer for a smart casual summer look. Our Criteria Every blazer on this list had to pass one test first: can you actually wear it when it's hot out? That ruled out anything heavy or fully lined. The summer fabrics here are seersucker, linen, tropical wool, and lightweight cotton — no polyester blends. "Make sure your fabrics aren't full of polyester," explains Peter. "If you're looking for something that's a little cooler, look for cotton, linen, silk, wool. These will help you stay cooler." We also prioritized blazers that travel well. Wrinkle resistance, packability, machine washer safe and versatility all got extra points. Finally, we called out when matching pants are available. A summer suit you can break apart, jacket with jeans one day, trousers with a polo the next, is one of the best investments in a warm-weather wardrobe. Not every blazer here works for every occasion. Some are casual enough for a chambray shirt and loafers; one is dressy enough for a boardroom. Further Reading The Best Breathable Summer Fabrics in Menswear I break down the best summer fabrics for men: cotton, linen, wool, and more to help you dress better and beat the heat. Learn more → Relwen Tropical Trap Blazer Relwen's Trap blazer line is legendary on Huckberry, and the Tropical version is built specifically for heat. Highlights Relwen's blazers come in multiple fabric options this season — ranging from linen-cotton blends to houndstooth patterns — all lightweight and unstructured. Working sleeve buttons, a rear game pocket with snap closure, a throat tab, and interior zippered storage give it a field-jacket DNA that separates it from anything else on this list. What I liked: A light-feeling construction; it's completely unstructured. Field jacket details like the game pocket and throat tab give it real character Multiple fabric and color options each season. Machine washable. Available through Relwen.com and multiple independent stockists, not just Huckberry. Downsides, not dealbreakers: The most casual blazer on the list — won't work for dressy occasions. The field jacket styling is polarizing; not a traditional blazer look. No matching pants. Wills Rosedale Classic Patch Pocket Suit Jacket Wills is another Huckberry brand, but where Flint and Tinder leans rugged Americana, Wills goes for what Huckberry calls "elevated everyday wear" — they combine elements of preppy, slouchy fits with more rugged elements like canvas. Highlights This Rosedale Jacket is a lightweight linen blazer with partial canvas constuction, which means it's designed to conform to your shape over time. Patch pockets keep it from looking too formal, and the natural venting means air moves through it. The Wills Rosedale Linen chinos are available for a full linen suit. Comes in three colors including navy. It's currently on significant sale at Huckberry, we've seen it as low as $118 during their Sale on Sale events. What I liked: Partial canvas construction molds to your body over time. Linen breathes incredibly well and looks better the more you wear it. Three color options and matching trousers for a full suit. Currently on steep sale — one of the best values on this list right now. Downsides, not dealbreakers: Linen wrinkles, you need to be okay with that. Dry clean recommended. Proper Cloth Sports Coats Proper Cloth makes made-to-measure clothing with a surprisingly short wait time and a reasonable price for custom tailoring. They offer an insane range fabrics: linen, wool, and seesucker. Their tropical wool blazers use fabric from Drago, one of the most respected Italian wool mills in the world. Highlights This is the dressiest option on the list. It's made from 57% linen 43% wool blend that breaths and doesn't wrinkle as much as pure linen. Because it's made to your measurements, the fit will be better than anything off the rack. Proper Cloth offers a wide range of summer sport coats, and they have a "Summer Sport Coats" section on their site that makes it easy to find the right weight. "Superfine merino wool is infinitely breathable, very fast drying, and apparently very forgiving," says Peter. Proper Cloth will make you matching trousers in the same fabric, cut to your body. What I liked: Made to your measurements. Wool/linen blend is world-class; breathable, wrinkle-resistant, and antimicrobial. The most versatile option here, works for summer but also year-round. More polished than linen or seersucker; appropriate for business settings. 11 colors available. Downsides, not dealbreakers: Higher price point (expect $750+ for the jacket). Lead time of 3-4 weeks since it's made to measure. Some guys find wool itchy, though tropical fresco is very fine. Flint and Tinder Seersucker Blazer Flint and Tinder is Huckberry's house brand, and they've built a reputation for taking classic American garments and making them tougher, more comfortable, and more affordable than you'd expect. Their seersucker blazer is the best example of that. "Seersucker is a puckered cotton fabric, and the puckering helps it stay away from the skin and dry more quickly and keep you cooler," says Peter. "It's a looser weave fabric, so it's great for the summertime." Highlights Flint and Tinder's Seersucker is my go-to summer blazer, full stop. It's made from 98% cotton, 2% spandex in a seersucker weave, which means it's highly breathable without clinging to your body. The blazer is completely unlined, so there's no extra layer trapping heat against your back. Surgeon cuffs — functional buttons on the sleeves — are a nice heritage detail. The interior seams are finished with chambray tape for durability and airflow. It comes in navy and khaki — none of the Southern gentleman pinstripes you might associate with this fabric. You can get matching Seersucker Chino Pants from Flint and Tinder as well, giving you a full warm-weather suit for around $350 total. What I liked: The most breathable blazer on this list, the puckered texture creates natural airflow. Unlined construction means you unlikely to overheat. Machine washable, no dry cleaning needed. Matching pants available for a full seersucker suit. Downsides, not dealbreakers: The seersucker texture is pretty casual; this isn't going to pass at a formal event. Only two color options right now. If you associate seersucker with old-timey Southern style, you might need to get past that — but trust me, the monochrome colorways fix this. Post-Romantic Tan Hand-Loomed & Hand-Sewn Cotton Suit This is the wild card on the list, and we're not going to make any money recommending it and it's not even a blazer— but I had to include it because it's one of the most interesting things I've seen in summer suiting. Highlights This is a full suit, jacket and trousers, made from 100% hand-loomed cotton, woven by a family of weavers on the outskirts of Lahore. The entire thing is hand-sewn by a single artisan over roughly 40 hours. The cotton is a substantial 340 grams per square meter (gsm), so it's not flimsy, but because it's unstructured, unlined, and has natural soft shoulders, it breathes well and moves with you. It's designed to be "totally forgotten once you have it on." They'll customize it to your measurements, and they offer lifetime repairs. The fabric has a slightly slubby, handmade texture that you're simply not going to find from any mass-produced garment. Chance from Unbleached Apparel owns one, if that tells you anything about the audience. What I like: A hand-loomed, hand-sewn full cotton suit for $450 is genuinely remarkable value for what you're getting Custom measurements included at that price Lifetime repairs — they'll mend it and send it back at no cost The fabric has character that machine-made cotton simply can't replicate Ethically made; single artisan, family-owned workshop, no plastic packaging Downsides, not dealbreakers: It's sold as a full suit only — you can't buy just the jacket (their jackets page doesn't have cotton options right now) Two-week delivery timeline; this isn't Amazon Prime Dry clean only Small operation means limited availability and no easy returns process This suit is for the guy who cares more about how something is made than what brand is on the label. It's cotton, it's hand-loomed, it's hand-sewn to your body, and it's $450. I don't know how they do it at that price, and I'm not sure I need to. 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." Further Reading The Best Summer Shoes for Boot Guys If you like boots but you're wearing shorts, these options will scratch your itch for quality casual footwear. Learn more → What's a Blazer? Although the origin story of blazer is heavily debated — did they originate from a rowing club? did the HMS Blazer throw them on to impress Queen Victoria? — we do know that blazers were born sometime in the mid-nineteenth century. Originally a hallmark of upper class British society and sporting events, the blazer grew to become a wildly popular part of any man’s formalwear. Look to any wedding, museum outing, or yacht club and you will notice blazers abound. Given its popularity even today, the blazer is beginning to modernize and allow for newer iterations that bring style to a variety of settings and events. That being said, there are several key elements that make a blazer a blazer. Historically, blazers come either as single-breasted, two-button jackets or double-breasted, six-button jackets. These jackets were made to be worn with mismatched pants, which gives you plenty of options for styling, and are made to fit somewhat comfortably, although not as loose as a sports coat. One important update that this list will show plenty, is that although blazers initially were only made in navy blue out of worsted serge (a kind of twill), nowadays, fashion houses are designing blazers with a number of refined colors and fabrics. All in all, a blazer carries with it a specific lineage in fashion history. It continues to be an essential part of men’s wardrobes and has the ability to class up almost any outfit. Between going to the office, or meeting friends for drinks, or dazzling on a first date, a blazer is always the right choice. Image source: Proof Wool What’s the deal with travel blazers? Lately, you may have seen a surge in this new iteration, the travel blazer. It sounds a bit counterintuitive: what does travelling have to do with a piece of office or formalwear? But in this day and age, when people are jetting off to all sorts of adventures, it’s important to look good while moving around. That’s where the travel blazer comes in. Typical blazers require a lot of upkeep and ideally are not exposed to the elements. Travel blazers, on the other hand, are designed to be just a bit stronger to hold up during travel and potential weather hazards. They are made to be wrinkle-resistant, machine washable, and more lightweight than a classic blazer. Some are even made to be water and stain resistant! Travel blazers are the new trend for when you want to look great right after disembarking the plane. The Takeaway A quality blazer is essential for any man’s wardrobe. I hope this list helped you find the blazer that will suit you for spring and summer, regardless of style or price range. These days a blazer doesn’t just have to serve as a warmer layer. With more and more lightweight blazers coming out, you now have plenty of great options for looking chic in the heat!