Why Patterned Navy is the Future of Jacketing

Wool is a timeless and classic fabric choice that you will find in most of our patterned jackets collection, specifically superfine merino wool or cashmere. Wool fabrics are usually rich in fibres and textures, giving warmth to the fabric base. A navy wool blazer is the ultimate classic, but it’s certainly not your only option. Wool can also be blended with high-end fabrics like cashmere and silk for new blends and a glorious hand-feel.

Our Dark Grey And Blue Houndstooth Jacket is made from the finest 100% wool fabric and features a classic cut that can be dressed up or down. All of our pattern jackets uses either wool or cashmere sourced from specialist mills as standard. Below we look at the other commonly used fabric types across navy blazers, sports coats and tailored jackets.

Cotton
Cotton jackets are the most versatile fabric for all year round use. The lightweight fabric has a draped feel for a truly casual look. This material is easy to dress up or down as cotton fabrics are breathable and easy to care for. Be sure to look out for organic cotton for both sustainability and the highest production standard.

Linen
Linen is another incredibly lightweight fabric and the perfect summer weave for a tailored jacket. Linen is ideally suited to casual, unstructured jackets and usually worn with chino shorts or trousers in cool light colours such as creams and blues. 

Tweed
Tweed is a heavyweight wool fabric that is also best saved for cold weather. Tweed is practical but still a stylish way to keep warm in the winter. It adds textures and substance to your outfit whilst incorporating a traditional English heritage look—often seen in brown, caramel and grey hues.

 

 

The classic menswear navy jacket can come in various fabrics, styles and shapes. Below we explore some of the commonly known jacket types.

Textured Navy Jacket
Fabrics can have either a flat surface or added textures through the yarns, usually found within wool, hopsack and tweed fabric. This is where the surface is slightly raised, allowing some fibres to stand upright and create a rougher handfeel. Colours can also combine within the yarn to twist and create a new surface pattern for the eye. 

Our navy textured blazer below features a hopsack weave that uses a blend of dark and light blues with an orange speck to give the appearance of a blue from a distance while providing a unique combination of colours when viewed closely. Although hopsack is usually associated with a rougher weave, the fine wool gives this jacket a beautiful texture whilst making it exceptionally soft to the touch.

Unstructured Navy Blazer
An unstructured pattern blazer is a softer form of dressing, retaining an air of formality without the sharp edges of a tailored jacket. The blazer shape will come from the shell fabric with some light fusing, and it has no shoulder padding or chest canvassing. Furthermore, it might not even have a lining, or perhaps just a half lining to allow for a couple of inside pockets.

Cashmere Navy Jacket
One of the softest fabrics available, cashmere tailored jackets, belongs to a group of textile yarns known as ‘speciality hair fibres’. Our cashmere is sourced from the finest of sources within Inner Mongolia. Cashmere fibres, more prolonged, smoother and straighter than sheep’s wool, are removed manually with a comb, starting from under the goat’s chin, and are then spun into a filament ready to be woven or knitted.

Checked Navy Jacket
Check patterns are a classic British statement, with iconic check types you may know, such as Tartan, Prince of Wales and Houndstooth. Checks can have different scales, sizes and styles across a navy blazer. For example, a windowpane is usually large scale and woven or printed across two colours, creating a window-like pattern. Tartan checks are 3-5 colours and are classically a mixture of green, white, red and navy from their Scottish heritage.

CHECKS GUIDE: WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF CHECKS?

What check is best on a jacket or blazer? Checks are a menswear staple item across all navy jackets, and within our current collection we have an array of check patterns which play on traditional cloth designs. These include Prince of Wales checks, Glen checks, Black Watch Tartan and Houndstooth, but made wearable for a modern-day wardrobe with tonal palettes and bolts of contemporary colour. Below we explore the different check patterns commonly seen in mens navy blazers.

Glen Check
Glen check, short for Glenurquhart check, is a woven twill design of small and large checks. Most commonly it is made up of black/grey or with more muted colours, with a houndstooth block where the stripes intersect. The name is taken from the valley of Glenurquhart in Inverness-shire, Scotland, where the checked wool was first used in the 19th century by the New Zealand-born Countess of Seafield to outfit her gamekeepers.

Prince of Wales
The Prince of Wales Check is a classic staple of British menswear. It has been successful over the years because, while the basic pattern is timeless, it can be modernised with slight reorientations of the pattern, or in this case, with a cobalt window pane. 

Gingham
The gingham pattern is a classic and it has been used across the world throughout the centuries. Many countries have claimed to have invented it, however, no one can truly confirm where it started. It has a special place in many cultures, and has traditional uses depending on the country. It’s a checkerboard style of pattern, but with three colours, or shades, one being a mix of the two others. Gingham is a popular and timeless pattern, and will absolutely no doubt have a place in your wardrobe.

Sherpherds Check
The Shepherd's check is a twill-weave of small, even-sized, coloured and white checks. This pattern often resembles the gingham check, however the visible twill weave is what distinguishes the shepherd's check from gingham. The name derives from the plaid worn by shepherds in the hills of the Scottish Borders.

Tartan
Tartan is a pattern consisting of criss-crossed, horizontal and vertical bands in different colours and is of course heavily associated with Scotland, where families and clans have used it across various items of clothing for hundreds of years. Historically made from wool, they can also be made of various fabrics, such as cotton or cashmere. Nowadays, we see tartans as not only reserved and used for Scottish dress, often appearing across collections and runways around the world. It’s nonetheless an interesting way to bring a bit of history to an outfit. 

WHAT TO WEAR WITH A PATTERNED NAVY JACKET

One of the greatest attributes to a patterned navy jacket is how versatile it is. Navy is a primary colour so works perfectly with secondary complementary colour, such as grey, brown and green. 

Brown Trousers
The beauty of brown is that it encompasses many well known colours such as caramel, stone and tobacco. Brown colours are earthy and grounded and work brilliantly with navy jackets, as shown below. Brown accessories such as handmade ties or silk pocket squares are a classic look with any white shirt to complement your navy blazer.

Grey Knitwear
This combination of navy and grey always looks sharp, whether you're going casual or dressing up for the office. We recommend sticking with a lighter shade of grey when wearing grey to provide some contrast. When it’s colder outside, any type of layered knitwear from a raglan sleeve to a roll-neck works superbly with any navy jacket. Grey checks also complement navy within a pattern or design, particularly windowpane and houndstooth. 

Blue Oxford Shirt
Tonal dressing has become a key trend within menswear the last few years and blue on blue is a cool and sophisticated look. Navy pattern jackets usually have different levels of blue within them, either through fabric texture or check pattern. Try pairing with an open collar blue Oxford twill shirt for a casual dinner setting attire, or match with a grey tie if a more formal occasion. 

CONCLUSION

Hopefully you can now see the true benefits within the different types of patterned navy jackets available to dress up or down with sartorial elegance and style. Patterns within your jacket offer a chance to get noticed, play with your creative flair and make your mark on the world. 

Our first-class collection of tailored jackets come in a variety of styles and patterns from the world-renowned Scabal fabric. Our bespoke and made-to-order service means you will be delivered a world leading jacket that will last you a lifetime. 

SHOP THE NAVY PATTERN JACKET COLLECTION 

 

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