Ghillie Collared Jackets

Unlike casual coats that are intended to be removed indoors, suit jackets provide us with useful advantages in all but the warmest weather. They help maintain body temperature, provide a variety of pockets so it's not necessary to carry a purse, and the long line of the coat is a better look for the majority of men due to our genetic propensity to pack poundage around the waistline. Other than cost, which is not trivial, the principal negative I hear about jacket wearing is that many men don't want to wear the associated necktie.

Now I would have no argument with tie-less men, except that they usually approach the thing without enough thought. The deep vee of the single breasted jacket is designed to display a strip of silk. Left unfilled, the observer is left to gaze at a row of shirt buttons, and that's, frankly, unattractive.

When a man doesn't care to wear a tie with his jacket, a turtleneck or other sweater looks better than a dress shirt. But a still better alternative is a jacket that closes at the neck, perhaps similar to the ghillie collared version from the Hardy Amies studio that's pictured to the left.

There is plenty of precedence for this. The single breasted jacket originally closed at the neck and if they were present the necktie's predecessors were worn outside of the jacket. The ghillie collared Deeside or Tweedside coat that appeared in the 1860's was a morning coat with the tails removed. As worn by King Edward VII, there was space for a bow tie or the knot of a four in hand when the lapels were open. A modern version in thirteen ounce brown flannel would be just the thing.