Sports Jackets vs. Blazers vs. Suit Jackets

Jan 03, 2024

in: Clothing, Featured, Style

Antonio • June 30, 2021 • Last updated: September 25, 2021

Sports jackets. Suit jackets. Blazers. Most men use these terms interchangeably, as do many men’s clothing retailers.

Because of this, the differences between these three classic menswear pieces ends up being a mystery. Are these jackets really all that different? (Yes, they are!) And why should a man even care to take the time to learn these details?

Let me give you three reasons:

1) It’ll save you money. Armed with this knowledge, you can buy the right jacket that will stand the test of time.

2) You’ll show respect to others. Each of these jackets has a slightly different level of formality. You don’t want to try wearing a sports jacket to an event that calls for a suit.

3) You’ll learn a bit of history. Each of these jackets has its own unique story of how it came to be. Understanding this helps you grasp the changes men have lived through over the last 150 years.

This article is aiming to once and for all sort out the main differences between these three iconic jackets.

Read on, gentlemen, and discover how these pieces can have a place in your wardrobe.

The most common jacket on the planet, and the one most men own.

A suit jacket is defined as being such only if it’s matched with trousers made from the same exact swatch of fabric.

For the vast majority of situations, you should wear suit jackets with their matching trousers. Part of the reasoning for this is that if you wear your suit jacket as a blazer — that is, pairing it with jeans or other trousers — it can wear or fade differently than the suit trousers. So the next time you go to wear that suit, it may not look congruous.

Another defining feature of the suit jacket is that it should be a closer and tighter fit than blazers/sports jackets. This is because suit jackets aren’t meant to be layered; at most, you’ll be wearing a dress shirt and thin sweater vest underneath the jacket.

If you are just learning to dress sharp, wearing a suit is the best approach for you to take to avoid the risk of looking out of place, or even worse, not knowing what you are doing.

There are many fabrics that are used for the suit jacket. They’re distinguished from other jackets in that they’re often more lightweight and finer, and made with higher quality materials. Below are the most common:

Given its formal nature, the suit jacket is mostly found with solid, foundation colors. For your first suit, stick with solids. But once you own a few, bringing in pin stripes, chalk stripes, windowpanes, and textured weaves makes sense in order to add variety to the wardrobe. The most common colors are:

Suit jackets come in all shapes and sizes. These are the three you are most likely to see:

The jacket of choice of the British Navy in the early nineteenth century, the blazer exploded onto the scene after British royalty gave their approval of the garment in 1837.

Navy was the only color used at that time, and it was originally double-breasted with 6 buttons.

The single-breasted blazer has no ties to the British military and was used mostly by rowing clubs in England. These jackets only had two buttons to allow rowers the freedom to move around without restriction.

Today, you can find many varieties of the blazer jacket due to the way it highlights a man’s build. It is also one of the most versatile jackets you can own. It is often mistaken to be one and the same as the sports jacket. However, there are some subtle differences between the two that make each of them unique.

Fabric plays the most crucial role in the differentiation of the blazer compared to the suit and sports jackets.

The main fabrics used for the blazer are:

Navy blue is the color of choice for the blazer. They can also come in lighter shades, but past a certain point they start to resemble sports jackets. If you only own one blazer, make it navy.

Blazer jackets can also come in bright, vibrant colors, especially when associated with clubs and boating events. Green, red, and bright stripes are occasionally seen and have significance, as they identify the wearer as a club member or part of a team.

Common blazer jacket colors:

Last but definitely not least in our comparison today is the sports jacket.

Back in the day, gentlemen used to wear “morning” jackets paired with trousers of a different color. These jackets, along with full suits, were strictly used for sporting activities such as shooting. Such outfits were not yet considered appropriate formal wear.

Over time, a new type of jacket was designed specifically for men engaging in active pursuits. Termed the “Norfolk jacket,” it had a distinct fabric and build, and was in essence the very first version of the sports jacket. The Norfolk jacket was made from thicker material and was unique in having a belt with a fastening buckle around the waist to raise the comfort level of men participating in the sport of shooting.

It was not until the 1920s that the sports jacket as we now know it came to be. It offered many similarities to the Norfolk jacket, minus the belt and buckle around the waist.

The sports jacket was actually first viewed as a luxurious item, as most men could only afford a traditional suit, rather than one that had to be worn with different colored trousers. Over time, as clothing became more affordable, the sports jacket became known less as a jacket for shooting and more as a staple of sharp, casual style.

So what sets the sports jacket apart?

First off the sports jacket comes in a large variety of colors and patterns. It also isn’t as structured as suit jackets or blazers, and has a generally looser fit. A sports jacket should allow you to layer a sweater underneath and perhaps engage in slightly more rugged pursuits (comparatively speaking, of course). It also will sometimes have elbow patches on the arms, as well as a slit and pleats in the back. These design details once had a functional purpose: the patches protected the elbows from wearing out while the sporting gentleman traipsed through the countryside, while the pleats allowed him greater mobility. Today they serve simply as style statements.

The sports jacket is an extremely versatile piece, going with jeans and many types of trousers, such as ones made from corduroy, moleskin, and the ever popular grey flannel.

Plus, thanks to Italian design, the sports jacket is much more lightweight than it used to be.

Sports jackets can most easily be identified by their use of thicker fabrics when compared to the suit jacket or blazer (although many sports jackets use lightweight fabric as well). The thicker fabric traditionally protected the wearer from the elements when these jackets were worn by gentlemen who were hunting or shooting.

Fabrics used for the sports coat can overlap the blazer and suit jacket. However, there are many that are unique and have distinctive patterns (click here for a quick infographic tutorial on fabric patterns). The most common fabrics are:

Sports jackets come in an endless variety of colors, patterns, and fabric types.

Although not entirely different from each other, each of the jackets discussed today offer enough subtle differences to set them apart.

There is no one jacket that is better than the other; it all depends on your need and the occasion.

Each jacket offers its own unique advantages that will help you look sharp based on the environment you are in.

Here are other classic AoM articles that go deeper on these subjects.

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Written By Antonio Centeno Founder, Real Men Real Style Grab My Free Ebook – 7 Deadly Style Sins (and How To Fix Them)

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