3Sixteen Work Blazer

Cotton is what makes this jacket what it is. A blazer in wool is always, at some level, quoting a suit; a blazer in cotton is not, because cotton has never been the cloth of formality and everyone reads it that way without being told. So the tobacco version can go where its grey sibling cannot: over a tee on a warm evening, with cargo trousers, on a day that has no occasion in it. It is the more relaxed of the two by a distance, and the more useful for most people.

The cut is straightforward and the details do the arguing. Two buttons, which is the least severe closure in tailoring. Patch pockets, which are applied to the outside of the cloth rather than cut into it and are the most casual pocket a jacket can have. Together they take the formality out of the silhouette without softening the shape, so what you get is a garment that reads as tailored from a distance and as a work jacket up close.

Tobacco is the colour worth arguing for. It is a warm mid-brown with enough depth to sit against indigo, black, and cream, and it is the shade that most obviously does not belong to an office. Cotton takes it with a slight variation across the surface that wool would not, and it will lighten gradually at the elbows and the front edges, which is the correct thing for a jacket like this to do.

We took the tobacco cotton version first and this grey wool second, which is the reverse of the usual order and tells you what we thought of the first one. Most of our customers already own a tailored jacket that they wear four times a year and resent. These are the ones that get worn weekly, because nothing about them demands an occasion.

3Sixteen's work is grounded in denim and military patterns, and the Work Blazer is where that vocabulary is pushed as far toward tailoring as the house takes it.

One hundred percent cotton. Two-button closure, patch pockets. Made in Portugal. Colour: tobacco.

Cut with the ease of a work jacket rather than the discipline of a suit coat, so there is room for a shirt or a light knit without the shoulders binding. Cotton has less recovery than wool, so it will wrinkle at the elbow and the back of the sleeve and stay wrinkled until it is pressed. That is the character of the cloth and not a fault, and it is the main practical difference between this and the grey. The shoulder is the part to judge in person. We do not hold measurements for this piece, and we would rather you tried it on or called us than worked from a number.

Over a white tee with raw denim, which is the oldest good trick in men's dressing and has not worn out. Over the Crosscut Flannel in autumn. With the Cargo Pant in charcoal, brown over grey, for something that is not quite tailoring and not quite workwear.

Brush it, air it, and press it rather than cleaning it. Cotton tailoring can take a gentle press at home in a way wool tailoring cannot, which is one of the quiet advantages of this jacket. Take it to a cleaner only when it genuinely needs one. Our general care guidance covers the rest.

The same jacket in wool is the Work Blazer in Grey, and it is the more serious of the two. The Work Pant in Tobacco makes a soft matched suit with it. For a jacket with no lapel, the French Work Jacket. Underneath, the Club Collar Shirt and the CS-100x. Everything we currently hold from 3Sixteen is listed together.