The suede jacket is a grown up’s jacket. Just ask Simon Baker and Brandon Sklenar
Don't be afraid of the suede jacket, it'll level up your outerwear game
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WHO’S AFRAID OF a suede jacket? Or maybe, what is a suede jacket afraid of? For one, water. It’s recommended to wear the buttery leather in dry conditions as droplets can leave a darkened mark on the highly-absorbent material. This is probably why its regular leather cousin is more popular for its water-resistant properties. With this delicate preconception, the comparatively higher price point to other hides is another factor.
It takes time and knowledge to really care for this wardrobe staple, to make sure it lasts a lifetime (because it can). Like most natural materials in clothing, suede’s unique napped texture – achieved by flipping the hide inside-out – ages into a patina moulded to your body. You get creases and fading in all the right places, like denim, an imprint of a stylish life well lived.
Being in the midst of autumn down under, we’re in that serene period where our daily temperatures match those in the northern hemisphere. Meaning, we’re all more or less wearing our trans-seasonal garments. The suede jacket is thus, Simon Baker, at his Esquire Australia cover launch party in Sydney this week, was the picture of good casual taste. The Mentalist actor wore a workwear-style brown suede jacket with a light blue shirt and olive Prince of Wales trousers, finished off with chocolate brown suede shoes.
Across the globe in New York City, actor Brandon Sklenar erred more yee-haw in his suede trucker jacket on the Drop press tour, wearing it with a singlet underneath, blood-red tinted shades, straight leg jeans, and brown suede shoes. You could wager that this is Sklenar’s – whose best known role is Spencer Dutton in the Yellowstone prequel 1923, one of the purveyors of the dominating cowboy-core – stab at method dressing, but he currently stands as one of the few all-American leading men types in Hollywood.
Indeed, rocking it is a mature man’s game, and another for a stylish man’s. But the beauty of it is in the nigh-impossible levels of buttery softness that lends it to an upgraded sophistication for casual settings. Two lessons from Baker and Sklener are the various jacket styles suede can be adapted to. Whether workwear or cowboy-core is your vibe, this option is most likely out there. Bomber, Harrington, country and trucker jackets are also made in leather. And second, you score extra points when pairing it with suede shoes. It takes a considered consummate of good taste to have the right pair of shoes with the right jacket.
If you’re considering pulling the trigger on it this autumn, we surveyed the market for the best ones around.
Shop our favourites
Calvin Klein suede jacket
Polo Ralph Lauren suede jacket
Mr P. suede jacket
Nudie Jeans Dante II suede jacket
Entire Studios suede blazer
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