The Best Shirt Jackets Cloak Your Tees in Class
This being Todd Snyder, there’s also a ton of other good things to talk about. For one thing, this piece is 70% wool, and therefore so much toastier than your average shirt jacket. It’s cut with a fuller fit to make layering underneath even easier. And there are also so many of the other thoughtful details Todd Snyder often makes time for: horn buttons, a button-through chest pocket, a locker loop on the inside collar…
Best Oversized Shirt Jacket: Universal Works Travail Overshirt
Made by the British brand Universal Works, who excel at workwear-inspired menswear in clever fabrications, this shirt jacket is soft (thanks, brushed flannel), easy to layer under (thanks, relaxed fit), and eye-catching (thanks, graphic check). And don’t feel nervous about the pattern: it’s bold, yes, but balanced by its restrained colour palette. The faded edges of the colors help to balance the whole piece out, and enable you to wear this with dark denim or a classic pair of chinos.
Warmest Shirt Jacket: Dana Lee Brown Cozy Shirt
Pros
- Sustainably and responsibly made
- You won’t find a cozier fit
Cons
- This one’s for colder days only
An occasional drawback with shirt jackets is that they can veer on the thinner side – especially when brands are leaning into the shirt part more. Not so with this style, which comes from the always effortlessly tasteful Dana Lee Brown. If that name is new to you, it’s well worth making an introduction. Its eponymous designer relaunched her label in 2023, after a previous stint making low-key but highly impressive menswear in the mid-noughties. This version of the brand might just be the best yet.
Take this (irresistibly named) Cozy Shirt. From afar, it looks like a standard fatigue shirt. But you – and you alone – will know that within, it’s lined in an almost absurdly soft, local-sourced wool fleece. It’s the closest you can get to going out in your comforter without attracting concern, and the fine yarn also means it avoids being bulky. If you’re looking for a more heavy-duty option to replace your usual fall jacket, look no further.
Best Corduroy Shirt Jacket: Portuguese Flannel Labura Cotton-Corduroy Overshirt
Portugese Flannel
Labura Cotton-Corduroy Overshirt
Pros
- Leads the pack on tailoring
- Good selection of colors
Cons
- A little less relaxed than typical shirt jackets
If you don’t own a corduroy jacket, let alone a corduroy shirt jacket, you really should have at least one. Sling it on over anything – really, almost anything – and you’ll look artsier, cooler, and just a little more charming. In particular, a shirt jacket in the fabric is the kind of piece you’ll return to over and over again: for work, for dates, for beers with the boys.
This style, made by the ethically produced brand Portuguese Flannel, is noticeably more tailored than any other on our list, so it could sub in for a blazer at more casual events. If you’re feeling that way inclined, you could even buy the matching pants, and wear it as an unstructured suit.
More Shirt Jackets We Love
How We Test and Review Products
Style is subjective, we know—that’s the fun of it. But we’re serious about helping our audience get dressed. Whether it’s the best white sneakers, the flyest affordable suits, or the need-to-know menswear drops of the week, GQ Recommends’ perspective is built on years of hands-on experience, an insider awareness of what’s in and what’s next, and a mission to find the best version of everything out there, at every price point.
Our staffers aren’t able to try on every single piece of clothing you read about on GQ.com (fashion moves fast these days), but we have an intimate knowledge of each brand’s strengths and know the hallmarks of quality clothing—from materials and sourcing, to craftsmanship, to sustainability efforts that aren’t just greenwashing. GQ Recommends heavily emphasizes our own editorial experience with those brands, how they make their clothes, and how those clothes have been reviewed by customers. Bottom line: GQ wouldn’t tell you to wear it if we wouldn’t.
How We Make These Picks
We make every effort to cast as wide of a net as possible, with an eye on identifying the best options across three key categories: quality, fit, and price.
