From desert to city: the overshirt, an informal alternative to the jacket
It takes inspiration from the safari jacket, but is reinvented in a more sophisticated way. It is also perfect as part of a traditional men's suit with shirt and tie.
by Silvia Paoli
3' min read
3' min read
Jacket or shirt, this is the dilemma: whether it is more noble to suffer the pains of a structured jacket or to oppose too rigid logics and find the ease of style in a shirt that has the practicality of a jacket and the lines of a jacket. A question of points of view. Meanwhile, the overshirt (shirt-jacket, evolution of the safari jacket, which remains its inspiration) is the new classic of the male wardrobe, among the most popular garments of the last few seasons because it represents not only an alternative to the jacket (which is heavier and decidedly more sporty), but also a choice that directs the entire outfit in a casual, yet sophisticated sense, thanks to colours, materials and combinations. The shirt-jacket can also be part of a suit, the coordinated suit for men, and is worn with a shirt and tie, as per the textbook. The proportions of the jacket are more contained, the collar small, the bellows pockets are only on the chest and the others hidden because practicality does not have to be exhibited, pragmatism is a forma mentis not a marsupial display.
Canali's choice, for example, is to co-ordinate the jacket with flowing trousers, in what is defined as soft tailoring, the idea of a current refinement that combines the pleasure of fine fabrics with strategic solutions for invisible pockets and realises the aspiration to unite the formal world and outdoor aesthetics or even to give the outdoors a pass for less sylvan environments.
Pal Zileri's cotton and nylon overshirt treats the shirt to a jacket, with cuffs and collar turned up, and the silhouettes drawn in. It's not a suit, but a charming separates that he proposes, with trousers in the style of My Africa. Jacob Cohën does the same, with his pure new wool overshirt with slim proportions, small bone button pockets and invisible side pockets.
Cashmere and overshirt seem made for each other: the first provides fluidity and warmth, the other the immediacy of a transversal piece. The result, a light, yet sophisticated outerwear, ideal for the change of season and for moments on the road when your hands are free and the outer pockets are available for items of immediate use and the inner ones for your valuables. Paul & Shark's Shacket (from shirt plus jacket) in cashmere is paired with a turtleneck and trousers with a stripe, putting it in precise mode, but with a leisurewear style.
When one wants to invest in an exclusive shirt-jacket, the choice must fall on a garment rich in additional content, as backstage stories, collaborations and anecdotes accompanying a successful TV series are called. Here, Caruso's Nous jacket has a story all its own: it was created during Design Week 2025 in Milan, for a mentorship and training project led by architect and designer Gio Pagani and dedicated to young talents. Their uniform? A safari jacket made of Vitale Barberis Canonico's iconic fabric, Super 120's wool, coupled with a coloured membrane that makes it waterproof and windstopper.
