You want the best. And heck, you deserve the best. But there's a lot of choice out there, and sometimes the best is hard to find. Fortunately, we know where to find it. Every week, the Esquire editors reveal their favourite brands, from under-the-radar steals to luxury loves, so you can invest in the best clothes, watches and accessories that money can buy.
This week, a comfy classic: the jackets that work best for in-between weather.
Weekday
Tom Nicholson, Digital Writer
"A solid denim jacket is a beautiful thing, and Weekday’s staples are extremely solid. Much as I like a battered blue denim jacket, though, it’s the poppier, fresher end of their denim that I’m into.
"Weekday’s Core jacket has turned up in quite a few different colours over the last few years – a daisy yellow version was especially excellent – to add flat blocks of colour from an unexpected source. They tend to look best straight off the rail, too, rather than being something that hits its peak after a decade or so of artful scuffing. That said, they’re made from decent quality organic cotton that comes up well in the wash, so there’s no need to treat yours with undue reverence.
"You’re not going to find many better all-rounders at the price either. The standard cut’s nicely boxy; layer up with a hoodie underneath or wear it slouchily over a tee. Plus, they’ve got secret pockets on the inside. Very handy."
Ralph Lauren
Murray Clark, Digital Style Editor
"Preppiness is not a single stream, my friend. It is a delta. There's new prep: the colourful, Nineties sort. There's old prep: the heady, Hamptons sort. There's scholastic prep, too: clothes that look a lot like school uniforms (the nice sort). And the single bridge over all these waters? Ralph Lauren.
"While known for the sort of moneyed, sensible prep in which classic polo shirts and slacks naturally belong (he's somewhat responsible for that whole thing anyway), the godfather of American fashion has long made jackets with the structure of wardrobe staples, but with all the flash of an archival Nineties music video.
"That's a very heady combination, and it makes for a very fun jacket. The rowers and skiers and, of course, polo players of classic prepwear are all there in the prints. But this time, they're just on LSD. That probably won't fly with the Olympic doping regulations, but it sure floats in the waters of slightly mad preppiness."
Loro Piana
Finlay Renwick, Deputy Style Editor
"Loro Piana is at the Italian apex of stealth wealth, makers of luxury outerwear for the kind of high net individuals who own chalets in Davos and have yachts moored off the C’ote d’Azure (or French Polynesia when the temperature drops). For whom the clothes in Succession are seen as a shopping list (Lanvin trainers… tick!)
"There are no gauche logos or gaudy patterns here, just a top table colour palette of beige, grey, greige, powder blue and navy, navy, navy baby! A cashmere bomber or a Storm System mac by LP is a Rich Guy grail, a heady mix of the finest fabrics, the neatest trims, the navy-est navy blues. A Loro Piana lightweight jacket is a totem of the good life.
"As the saying goes: real billionaires move in silence… and Storm Proof cashmere."
A Day's March
Nick Pope, Deputy Digital Editor
"Summers are always bittersweet for me. I like the heat. I like pub gardens and the smell of sun lotion and eating sliced tomatoes with a sprinkle of salt. But I don’t like waving goodbye to my A Day’s March overshirt for months on end. I’m choking up just thinking about it.
"Lightweight and adaptable, the Swedish brand’s herringbone workwear shacket has become something of a style crutch for me. I always find an excuse to wear it when the cold snap kicks in, either on its own over a tee or as part of a larger-scale layering job. It’s the last thing I grab as I run out of the door, when the mirror disappoints and train departure times dawn. What more can you ask for?"
Engineered Garments
Tom Banham, Digital Editor
"No fashion brand has a more Ronseal name than Japan's Engineered Garments. It makes garments that have been approached with an engineer's mindset: where could this pocket best be placed? What fabric will be warm when it's cold and cool when it's warm? How can we make it so beautiful that it makes the eye moist, the wallet spring open, the Instagram ignite?
"Christ knows. Or, rather, Daiki Suzuki knows, and frankly I'd happily follow the Engineered Garments designer into the desert for 40 days, because he'd probably be wearing a lightweight but somehow substantial jacket that offered shelter from the beating sun, but also kept him snuggly when it dropped below the horizon. Praise be."
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