The Madras Sport Coat

Pete Campbell Madras Jacket

As the colors of spring and summer start to pop up around us so will colorful madras clothing. However, madras does not have to be overwhelmingly bight. In fact, it can be found in a lot of subdued color schemes such as earth tones. Some madras items cannot be restrained no matter what the color. One of these items is the madras sport coat.

Pete Campbell Madras Jacket

The madras sport coat is for those who are confident in their style. It is not an easy look to pull off. I doubt that I need to tell you this as I am sure that you have seen countless fails. These attempts are made more often than not by those who have yet to master fit let alone have the prowess that it takes to pull off the madras jacket. If you are brave enough to take the plunge. My advice to you is to keep it simple. See the “how to wear it well” pics below.

Jab Madras jacketFrom Mister MortMadras from TrashnessNot only is it hard to wear madras jackets, but they are also hard to find. Well, the small-medium-large sized variety in patch madras are not hard to find. This isn’t too surprising considering these pieces are usually no more than cheap costume clothing rather than functional clothing. This is exactly the look that you want to avoid. Finding a correctly constructed and sized sport jacket in non-patch madras is a bit more difficult. I did find a few. Brooks Brothers has two nice madras jackets and O’Connell’s has a large selection of vintage bleeding madras jackets available right now. If I were in the market I would head over to O’Connell’s.

O’Connell’s  Clothing Madras Sport Coats $295

O'Connell's Madras Sport Coat

O'Connell's Madras Sport Coat 2

Brooks Brothers Madras Sport Coats $398

Cambridge Fit Three-Button Madras Sack Sport Coat 1

Madison Fit Vintage Madras Sport

Let’s do a quick recap of this post. Madras sport coats are hard to find and even harder to wear. So you may be asking, why wear them at all? It is simple. When done well they look cool (see pictures). They also keep you cool. I myself am not quite ready to attempt a madras jacket yet, but I am getting closer every summer.

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Jerrod Swanton is a simple man interested in simple, classic, and traditional style.

4 Comments on "The Madras Sport Coat"

  1. Sarah says:

    Hi it is me Sarah just stoping by to read…I love H and M. A few questions for your style expertise: can you speak to women’s fashions? What do you think of Lilly Pulitzer, Lacoste, or even my favorites BR, and Loft for women? Any good finds there? I personally much prefer the jeans, flip flops and t-shirt look…but I love reading now! What about babies and kids prep fashion?

  2. oxford cloth button down says:

    Sarah – Hey, thanks for stopping by! I have an outsiders opinion on women’s fashion. Of those that you listed I really like Loft and Lilly P. Although I was more impressed with BR’s women’s fashion than I had expected. It was much better than their mens Mad Men attempt. Maybe I will do a post on prep for kids. Good idea!

  3. tim says:

    Have the top pictured sport coat from O’Connell’s – simply awesome.

  4. Found a great old navy and green madras by jacket via Ebay recently (1/2 lined). I pick it up from the tailor later this week. Can’t wait to combine it with a pair of khakis and a plain light blue shirt when the opportunity presents itself a few times this summer.

    Best Regards,

    Heinz-Ulrich von B.

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