Despite what you may think, the best summer blazers are more than just an easy fix for your mid-July wedding style obligations or your return-to-office woes (thoughts and prayers!). A great summer blazer lets you remix everything in your closet: add one, and T-shirts get tonier, shorts get sharper, drapey linen pants get sexier. Though yes, of course a perfect warm-weather sport coat will crush when you’re out in Clearwater for the beach wedding of that second cousin you haven’t seen since you both thought Axe body spray was cologne.
That’s because a summer blazer does what your three-season wool suits and tweedy sport coats cannot: breathe. When you’re dealing with a swelter and a dress code, ventilation is the only thing that matters.
In pulling together our favorite summer blazers, we broke them down by fabrics: airy, open linen; crisp and sturdy cotton; loose and limber tropical wool, and puckered seersucker. Most are either half-lined or completely unlined—because that’s one less layer between you and the gentle breeze keeping your lower back from feeling like the Everglades.
Below, 16 summer blazers that will immediately upgrade the rest of your outfit, helping you look and feel as cool as the cocktail in your hand.
The Best Summer Blazers, According to GQ Editors:
In This Guide
The Best Linen Summer Blazers
Linen’s made a big comeback as the tailoring pendulum swings once again toward loose and leisurely, and we couldn’t be happier. It’s made from flax, a natural fiber with a signature crispness—which also makes it prone to wrinkles. A quick steam should bring everything back to normal, but don’t pay them any mind while you’re out and about.
Todd Snyder
Italian Linen-Silk Sport Coat in Cream Glen Plaid
Once again, Todd Snyder proves you can add flair to a jacket without sacrificing function. With its natural shoulders, double vents, and a beautiful glen plaid check woven from a cooling combo of linen and silk, this blazer practically books your next Italian getaway for you.
Alex Mill
Double Breasted Blazer In Linen
We wouldn’t want to wear a dark color while sitting in the blazing sun, but in any other scenario, a fluttery double-breasted summer blazer made of 100 percent linen works its charms. Particularly if that scenario is a coastal European vacation calling for a one-jacket solution to cover relaxed days and wine-filled nights.
Corridor
Linen Three-Button Blazer
Corridor’s blazer skews a little toward a chore coat, with linen’s texture and that olive color adding to the rustic look. Which just means that it’ll stand proud when you dress it up, but hang loose with a tee and off-white jeans.
Natalino
Double Breasted Sport Jacket
London-based Natalino makes some of the best Italian-made blazers in the biz. Everything about this one is ultra laid back; from the natural shoulder and high armhole to the elegant drape, it makes us want to shout “che bella” at everyone we meet.
The Best Seersucker Summer Blazers
Like linen, but not the wrinkles. Try seersucker, it’s southern-accented friend. Whether you’re sipping sweet tea on a sun-blasted porch or wrapping up 18 holes at the country club, the fabric’s puckered texture keeps it from sticking to skin or getting creased. Chuck it in your carry-on—or better yet, just wear it on the plane—and you’ll be set for weddings, garden parties, bayou crawfish boils, and anything else that comes your way.
Sid Mashburn
Virgil No. 2 Jacket
No surprise that legendary southern gentleman Sid Mashburn makes beautiful seersucker pieces. This jacket’s softly-structured shape and throwback stripes deserve to be at the Kentucky Derby (the stands, not the infield).
Flint and Tinder
Seersucker Blazer
Flint and Tinder has expanded from basics into higher-difficulty stuff like waxed canvas coats and this dialed-in seersucker blazer. The tonal stripes make the whole affair a little more debonair, while a teensy bit of stretch means this blazer will groove with you on the dance floor.
Buck Mason
Lightweight Seersucker Carry-On Jacket
We’ve been on the record as big believers in Buck Mason’s nicely-priced Carry-On Jacket, and the seersucker version is no exception. A barely-there five-ounce blazer that can do it all, with the option to grab matching pants for only $228 more? This is what our great-grandfathers fought for.
Stòffa
Single Breasted Shirt Jacket
Stòffa ’s relaxed, almost loungewear-like suiting is made better by the fact that the brand chooses the best colors in menswear. Chocolate wool seersucker? Can’t say we’ve seen it before; can’t stop thinking about it since we did.
The Best Cotton Summer Blazers
Cotton’s got the range—from crisp poplin to textured twill, brushed moleskin, and garment-dyed canvas—to hold down a summer jacket collection just by itself. It helps that cotton tends to be fairly casual and fairly easy to care for, too. You could wear a cotton blazer six days a week, toss it in the wash on Sunday, air dry it, and start all over again Monday morning.
Madewell
Unstructured Three-Button Blazer in Cotton Blend
A cotton-nylon blazer will keep you cool—and, frankly, we like the soft wrinkles that add a little texture. Even better, Madewell’s version will leave a few extra bucks in your pocket, since it’s on sale.
Mr P.
Unstructured Garment-Dyed Organic Cotton and Linen-Blend Suit Jacket
Mr Porter’s in-house label aced the test again with this cotton-linen blend jacket that’s been garment dyed. The higher cut of the lapels and lack of vents in the back make it a little more chill than a stuffier blazer, too.
Knickerbocker
Lane Cotton Twill Blazer
Knickerbocker had some fun with the quintessential hopsack jacket by cooking it up in cotton-twill and taking up some solid real estate with a trio of squared-off pockets. This jacket should absolutely stay in your rotation all the way through summer and into pumpkin spice season.
De Bonne Facture
Traveler Cotton-Drill Jacket
Parisian label De Bonne Facture’s jacket is made to travel—and maybe start an art movement along the way. Inspired by the Union des Artistes Modernes (an association of architects, decorators, painters, and photographers), it brings a wider lapel and a boxy fit looks even better with a vintage Leica dangling from its shoulder.
The Best Tropical Wool Summer Blazers
Linen, cotton, and seersucker can see you through most summertime dress-ups, but if the dress code is genuinely formal and the thermometer is rising fast, you’ll want a summer blazer made of tropical wool. Wool is naturally good at wicking moisture, and tropical wool’s open weave is looser and more breathable than traditional wool. With its crisp, matte finish—sometimes with a subtle sheen depending on the weave—it pairs well with a fresh dress shirt. So go ahead, suit up for summer without suffering for style.
COS
Fluid Lightweight Wool Blazer
COS has such tasteful sweaters, bags, jackets, and soft tailoring that it almost feels rude not to compliment them. Its fluid blazer, for instance, looks like it’s been stolen from a vintage Armani collection thanks to its relaxed shape, notch lapels, and (not-too-aggressively) padded shoulders.
Universal Works
Tropical Summer Blazer
This British brand cooked up a relaxed, navy-colored blazer made for summer: lightweight, stylish, and ready to multitask. It doesn’t mess around, so if you’re after something sharp but low-key for the office or date night (or both), consider this your sartorial wingman.
J.Press
Navy Tropical Weight Wool Blazer
A navy blazer with gold buttons is as Ivy as it gets, and who better to nail it in a summer-break-ready tropical wool leans than the legendary J. Press? With crisp khakis and a repp tie, this loose-wearing sack blazer will let ‘em know you’re just biding your time until you take over the family business. Or play it against type with some looser pants and a pair of chunky loafers.
Drake’s
Tropical Wool Tailored Jacket
Admittedly charcoal wouldn’t be our first color choice for a midday sun-soaked event, but Drake’s may have made the platonic ideal of a tropical-weight wool jacket: unlined, soft-shouldered, patch-pocketed and flawlessly shaped. It’s barely-there tailoring done with Savile Row-skill; the kind of jacket that begs to be paired with an oxford shirt tucked into your favorite jeans.
What to Look for in a Summer Blazer
By now, we’ve covered the fabric and construction basics, so let’s dig into the finer details that’ll make sure your jacket matches your summer state of mind—relaxed, breezy, and maybe slightly sun-kissed.
The fit should be free-breathing: The only thing that makes a summer blazer feel breezy is a breeze. Skip anything too slim or snug. Go for a slightly relaxed fit—not “family CPA” oversized, but roomy enough to let air move through. If the shoulders are even a little bit snug, go up a size. No matter how jacked you are, no one should be able to see the contours of your lats in a summer blazer.
