Does anyone know of a good travel blazer to put with a dressy pair of nylon slacks? I have a pair of Exofficio Streamliner Pants (similar to REI Adventure Pants, only with a better fit for me) that are a nylon canvas material. They look good and go well with a button-up shirt, but I don't know how they'd look with a wool or wool/silk blend blazer. I'm just not sure the materials will "flow" right visually...does that make sense?

Any suggestions or ideas?

I like Orvis. You can often find good prices on sale at their web site or at Sierra Trading Post.

Also, for some more informal trousers like you describe, maybe something from Duluth Trading or Territory Ahead would be a good match.

PS- As a sizing tip on the Orvis stuff, I find it runs a good bit large. I have 3 jackets from them. In most brands I wear a size 40, bit on the Orvis items a size 38 is good, 40 is way too large.

You may want to consider one of the washable blazers that Travelsmith have. They tend to have nice secure inside pockets, are reasonably well-made, and can be either washed or dry cleaned (depending on where you are and what's available) if you get something spilled on you.

I remembered a post about jackets from Kevin Kelly's Cool Tools and located it. The recommendation was for the Duluth Twill Presentation Jacket.

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001470.php

I do like many Cool Tools suggestions. I'll check it out. Thanks.

I"m a little late to the party here, but I can't recommend Tilley blazers highly enough. I have a navy Adventurecloth blazer that's taken me all over the world (OK, all over the US, England, and Bermuda) and it's not only packable but machine-washable.

Interesting "thread" about "threads," aka clothes, and in particular, the one garment critical to "dressing up," but at the same time, problematic as far as actual choice, not to mention packing, without its ending up terminally wrinkled at one's destination.

I have for several years used a black Ermenogildo Zegna black single breasted blazer, not cheap, even when purchased on sale at a now defunct San Francisco store, 30 oz. in a 46L. Now I'm looking for a much less expensive blazer, medium gray, also single breasted, but hopefully lighter, i.e., not a full lining, to complement the dark gray, navy blue or black trousers that are particularly practical for trousers, and better suited to summer travel, not to mention use in my home area for the six warmer months of the year.

So far, the web search shows up a poly/.wool version from Men's Wearhouse for $100 in regular lengths, $120 in the Long length I need, BUT, I'd really prefer ALL WOOL, which drapes more smoothly, and for which one can steam out wrinkles more completely. Air crew uniforms are all wool for good reason. Sheep grow a better fabric than whatever creature sheds polyester. If anyone has a specific suggestion, please post!

Being a big Zegna fan myself (if I could afford it I would be willing to wear nothing but) I'd suggest you check out their sport line again, perhaps on a trip to Europe. Their collection is different for Europe.

Otherwise, in the high end market there is the Voyageur jacket that I have posted about before. Made of Ventile Cloth (probably heavier than 30oz). Rohan in the UK makes very nice travel suits, too.

Otherwise, check out manufactum.de . They are a company from Germany that has an everchanging catalogue of very high end products for people who value classic and artisanal products that cost a pretty penny but that provide better service for a longer time; very old school and very hip store at the same time.

Till

With the aid of iTranslate for the iPhone, it took just a minute or two to figure out that I was looking for a "Jacke," and a "Herrenjacke" in particular, but their "Herrenjackett Fresko-Reiseanzug" at 548 Euros probably is about twice what I'd want to spend, no, make that three times! The exchange rate US$ to Euros for the moment is...so cruel.

But that was surely the idea, a basic, classic, medium gray jacket, in a Super 120's all wool fabric or the like. I will look locally, and before I really can use such a jacket, we'll have trips to Las Vegas and then Phoenix, cities where I'd think that lighter weight sports coats ought to be a staple item in a higher level menswear store.

Here in Fresno, sports coats are often not worn at all during the warmer months. Still, it's nice to have a lightweight, light color sports coat, which dresses up even an open collared shirt, or the alternative, a dark colored T-shirt. The larger cities to where we travel can be dressier, and as with all travel to interesting places, the idea is to LOOK LIKE A LOCAL...NOT A YOKEL!

Alan, their Fresko wool is a looser weave than an ordinary material. It is also more in the 90-100 yarn weight category instead of the 120 because they use a 2x2 yarn - two threads taken to form a pair then the two pair threads twisted together again. The yarn are highly worsted (twisted) to give you a good springback rate which makes them wrinkle-resistant. And the 2x2 gives good overall ruggedness. The chest is lined with horsehair lining and hand-stitched. All details are fine tailor tradtion. Cloth comes from Scotland.

So this is clearly a high-end solution and very robust for travel with nice details worth the asking price. There might be an English version of the site, too. I think I've seen something like that. But don't know if they ship to the US.

You sure are right about the exchange rate.

http://www.manufactum.com/home.html

This looks like a contender for ultimate travel blazer:
http://veilance.arcteryx.com/Product.aspx?Mens/Blazer

From Arc'teryx's new urban fashion line... and fashion priced ($800). Lightweight WINDSTOPPER fabric and technical features in a casual cut.
I'm a big fan of Arc'teryx products but this is just way too much. Maybe on clearance in a few months. xD

Wow, that's a pretty radical concept. But not rad enough. It needed at least a button-up lapel against wind, possibly a hood. What were they thinking? Still a nice fashion item to go with a pair of $300 jeans. But if you actually want to be well dressed, there are better solutions. If I ever get the time to work with a tailor on a blazer I might get one made. The problem is that it would take about two weeks and I am rarely in a city with good tailors long enough.

I also recommend Orvis. I just bought one of their travel blazers and decided to test it on the way home on a 2 1/2 hour flight by scrunching it up and shoving it in my backpack. Took it out @ 5 hours later and the wrinkles fell out within a few minutes. Not too keen on the color of the buttons, but my wife will swap them out for something more subdued.

I have two Orvis blazers and love them. One is "amphibious" and will double as a raincoat. You can often fine Orvis coats on eBay for about 1/3 the new price.

I took a look at some blazers locally yesterday. Essentially all of these now come with a full lining, so they won't be great warm weather garments, but of course, the lining simplifies packing them without undue wrinkling. Actually, there are blazers, then there are sports coats with very small and subdued patterns, that can be mixed and matched in a versatile fashion. Really good ones these days are in the $500-600 range, but as a long-term investment, that can be worth it, particularly if one takes advantage of a store's tailoring...and the price can be less at seasonal sales. Alas, I did discover that one maker's sikze 46L which fits nicely in the shoulders, seems, hmm, to be a bit TIGHT around the middle. I go NO sympathy from my wife!

That "black Ermenogildo Zegna black single breasted blazer, not cheap, even when purchased on sale at a now defunct San Francisco store, 30 oz. in a 46L. Now I'm looking for a much less expensive blazer, medium gray, also single breasted, but hopefully lighter" mentioned at the top of the thread actually is a European 54L, same as an America 44L, that along the way got taken out a bit by a tailor, since my contours are not, alas, what they used to be.

Anyway, I have already concluded this travel garment search by fortuitously finding a Joseph Abboud single-breasted, double-vented, two button sports coat at our local Nordstrom's rack, $495 fully-lined 52% silk-48% wool spring-weight garment, in a tiny navy-gray medium-tone tweed, marked down to $200, and well worth paying Mrs. Torosian there another $20 for the needed adjustment at the waist.

This will allow me to travel with a pair of black and a pair of navy dress slacks, better shades than the dark and medium gray, for coordinating with other items. Weight likely will be similar to or a few ounces less than the 30 oz. Zegna, and I think the jacket will work well for spring, summer and slightly less formal wear than the darker jacket.

Morale: If you have "outlets" in your area, a few minutes real life rack browsing probably beats many hours cyber surfing on the Internet...and there is NO substitute for a Mrs. Torosian, who can tell you what will and will not work, with or without alterations. Before she helped me, she was polite but unequivocal with a non-suit-savvy young man, whom she encouraged to consider a DIFFERENT garment.

Finally, having yesterday watched a dismal documentary about the rise and recent fall of the American garment industry, particularly New York's "schmatta" trade, I was very happy to b able to buy a jacket to match my Redoxx Air Boss, as both are MADE IN AMERICA! (Redoxx is located in Billings, MT, Joseph Abboud in New Bedford, MA.)

Alan, glad you found something that suits you. A good tailor or even sales person is worth gold. I saw the NY garment industry documentary, too. Very interesting.

The item I use as a travel blazer is actually dark brown. Goes surprisingly well with all pants colors including khakis and jeans.

I don't need it and won't buy one, but as another option, I note that Jos. A. Banks carries a single-breasted, center vent "Travel Blazer," mulitple sizes, fabric is a wool plus some Spandex, which ought to be very wrinkle resistant, available in black (likely the most useful color), navy blue, and khaki. Current sale price $177...so I suspect that their "regular" price of $495 must be so inflated that they sell few at the list price.

I probably travel with a blazer most, but not all of the time, as we tend to eat at better restaurants where one looks more in place so dressed. In New York City, I wore it virtually every night. In New Orleans, I used it perhaps half the time. In Wyoming I think I wore it maybe one or two nights out of nine, and could have gotten by without it. And for our last trip to Maui of course I didn't take one at all; the aloha shirt reigns as formal wear most places across the islands of Hawaii.

It all reminds me of the opening number in "The Music Man," where the chorus of traveling salesmen on the train that drops Professor Harold Hill into River City sing, "But you gotta know the territory!"