The menswear calendar isn’t built on fashion weeks or drop days—it’s built on microseasons. There’s autumnal layering season, of course—a.k.a. really start dressin’ season. And then there are the more niche concerns: hoodie and shorts season, tiny beanie season, big coat season, and short shorts season, to name just a few. But it’s at precisely this time of year—as winter fades into spring, and we all gleefully shed our heavy parkas and puffers—that one of the most fleeting but deeply cherished sartorial windows of all finally arrives. I’m speaking, naturally, about light jacket season.
Now, what exactly counts as a light jacket? It’s a wide spectrum that includes everything from chore coats and trucker jackets to technical anoraks, old-school Harringtons, and even sport coats. There are also wildcards and style swerves—unexpected combinations of silhouettes and materials, like a nylon cardigan or a suede shacket. Basically, anything that works for the tricky shoulder seasons when the weather can fluctuate between chilly, warm-ish, and wet all in the span of a single day. Generally those transitional climes only last a handful of weeks out of the year, but that doesn’t stop guys from dedicating prime real estate in their closets to a boatload of beloved light jackets.
“A light jacket is the Swiss Army Knife of jackets,” said Nico Lazaro, a freelance brand consultant and stylist in Los Angeles. “Most of my closet is light jackets.”
Lazaro loves the versatility of his light outerwear, but it’s the storage space above all that really speaks to him. A chore coat will offer you a respectable three or four pockets, while some military-inspired field jackets clock in at six or seven—to say nothing of the hyper-utilitarian wares from a brand like Acronym. Certain styles, Lazaro explained, allow him to be “prepared for almost anything” by stashing his entire everyday carry assortment. “The alternative is bringing a bag—and bringing a bag sucks. I don’t think most guys want to bring a bag if they can avoid it.”
The New York-based photographer Geoff Haggray agreed. “You can use it as a bag, in a way,” he said. “I always needed pockets to carry a couple rolls of film, and that is what led me to chore jackets.” Soon, Haggray found himself expanding his collection to include denim jackets and various vintage military styles. His current favorite is the P43, a sturdy yet lightweight World War II-era field jacket with two massive front pockets. For him and plenty of other menswear buffs, the countdown begins before the warmer weather has even fully arrived. “I’ve been looking at those jackets the past few weeks being, like, Okay, it’s almost time.”
At the cult New York menswear label Noah, a perennial best seller is the Ricky jacket—a modern spin on a 1950s golf jacket and a near-perfect specimen of the lightweight outerwear genus. “We’ve done it a few times, and we know people love it,” said Monica Palucci, a senior designer at the brand. The simple zip-up’s boxy, cropped fit syncs up just right with the roomier pants that stylish guys tend to favor these days—and calls to mind classic light jacket looks of yesteryear, like Martin Sheen in a Type II trucker or James Dean’s famous cherry-red jacket from Rebel Without a Cause.
