Should You Wear a Tie Without a Jacket?

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The combination of a jacket and tie has been a staple of menswear for nearly 200 years and whether it be a suit jacket, sport coat, or blazer, the purpose of a jacket is, of course, to flatter the male form.

A well fitting jacket will make your shoulders and your chest look broader and your waist look slimmer thus idealizing your silhouette but these days, as the average daily outfit for a man is becoming less and less formal, the temptation does arise to leave the jacket at home. This does beg the question then, should a man skip the jacket if he so wishes and wear just a dress shirt and tie?

Our short answer here is that this isn’t a look we would recommend for most men. We will cement that position shortly but first, let’s at least give a little bit of time to some potential arguments in favor of the look:

Shirt and tie look, no jacket
Shirt and tie look
  • It is, of course, more casual to skip the jacket and just wear the shirt and tie than to have the jacket on. Although if you are going for a more casual vibe, we’ll have some suggestions on better ways to pull it off.
  • Practically speaking, it can get hot during the summer months and by removing your jacket, you’d have one fewer layer on your body and thus theoretically, stay cooler. With that said though, we also have a workaround for this.
NASA Engineers
NASA Engineers
  • The shirt, tie, and no jacket look have become something of an established dress code for a few different professions over the years. Of course, for many people, it conjures up images of the aerospace engineers at NASA in the 1960s and it remains a popular dress code in the Engineering profession, even today. What’s the reasoning behind this then? Well, according to various comments from Engineers in different menswear forums online, it’s about striking a balance between white collar and blue collar aesthetics. While wearing true business casual attire in an Engineering setting might be seen as too self-conscious and vain, going in full-out work wear would still be seen as too unprofessional. In other words, it’s about looking like you would be ready to get your hands dirty if you needed to even though you might just be spending most of your day at a computer. So in the case of this specific industry, we do think it’s okay for the engineers to uphold their unique sartorial traditions. But if you’re in another line of work, we would suggest the following alternatives instead.
Pink shirt and gray tie without a jacket

Why Isn’t It A Good Look?

Simply stated, it’s because doing this is usually going to make your overall outfit look incomplete. The trifecta of a shirt, tie, and a jacket has been the standard for men for centuries and it’s still the default in most people’s minds. Even though things are getting less and less formal these days, subconsciously, having all three of those elements is still seen as the standard. Therefore, if you remove one of these three key elements, your outfit isn’t going to just be less formal, it’s also going to feel lacking.

In our past video, we said that you could wear shirts with jackets and no ties but it was best to do this in less formal situations with individual garments that are more casual, overall. The biggest difference here though and why we think wearing a shirt and jacket is better than a shirt and tie is because, on a fundamental level, a jacket is outerwear or a core piece of your wardrobe whereas a tie is ultimately still going to be an accessory. As such, while you won’t be completing the trifecta when just wearing a shirt and jacket, you’re still going to look more complete and more put together than if you wear just the shirt and tie. Remember also that the jacket is going to flatter your form more, so that’s another plus for including it when you’re only going to choose two elements.

Returning to the arguments we made at the beginning, let’s get into our specific rebuttals of those points:

  • There are going to be very few situations outside of these selected career fields that we mentioned earlier where a man would need to dress formally enough to have a tie on but informally enough to not wear a jacket. In other words, if a jacket is required in a given situation, wearing a tie would almost never be prohibited and if you are still trying to look casual, there are a number of different more casual jacket styles available in terms of colors, patterns, textures, and so on. Meanwhile, if a tie isn’t required as part of a specific dress code, a jacket almost certainly isn’t going to be either. So in those cases, we’d simply recommend that you don’t wear the jacket or the tie and just wear your shirt with an unbuttoned collar.
Bottle Green Sweater with V-neck and brown stripes tie by Fort Belvedere
Bottle Green Sweater with V-neck and brown stripes tie by Fort Belvedere
  • If you’d like to strike an even more delicate balance of formality and go for something firmly within the smart casual dress code, you could consider wearing a shirt and tie and then also wearing a sweater as the outer layer. And while wearing vests as their own outer layer has become a popular look in the last couple of decades, we’d advise against doing this as well. After all, waistcoats were designed to be a middle layer and as such, they give off a similarly incomplete vibe when worn otherwise.
Seersucker Fabric
A lightweight Seersucker Fabric
  • It’s all about the weave. There are a number of breathable and lightweight weaves available for jackets that would keep you just as cool as if you forewent an outer layer.

The Best Way To Pull Off A Shirt & Tie Look

Deoveritas Horizontal Striped Shirt
SRS wearing a Deoveritas Horizontal Striped Shirt with a tie and no jacket

If you are dead set on doing it, we will say that you can but you just have to make sure that you can get some key details right. In the broad strokes, you’re going to need a shirt that fits you well and the appropriate type of tie. Throughout the 19th and 20th centuries when the jacket was a mandatory part of a man’s everyday wardrobe, it was expected that the jacket would flatter a man’s silhouette and because of this, shirts could be more generously cut.

A great fitting shirt will allow you to move around without getting untucked
A great fitting shirt will allow you to move around without getting untucked

Today though, as jackets are increasingly left at home and shirts are worn as an outer layer, it’s most important that you have a shirt that fits close but comfortably to your body with no collar gapping or muffin top at your waistline. As such, buying slim fit shirts would be a wise choice for many men, as well as taking the shirts in to get further alterations as necessary.

Turning now to the tie, solid-colored ties with some texture in the weave, perhaps a grenadine, shantung silk, or a knit would be a good choice. Also, casual patterns like dots, checks, and some varieties of repp stripes will be similarly casual. Just make sure that your patterns between your shirt and tie as well as your colors between the two are working harmoniously.

Preston Schlueter wearing a dress shirt and tie minus the jacket
Preston Schlueter wearing a dress shirt and tie minus the jacket

Wearing a tie bar in this circumstance would serve you particularly well. Part of the reasoning behind having your jacket buttoned when standing or moving around is that it will keep your tie in place but if you don’t have a jacket to accomplish this, wearing something like a tie bar would be even more important. After all, you don’t want your tie flapping around in the wind or getting caught in your soup.

Finally, let’s talk about the best way to pull off a shirt and tie with no jacket which is actually to have the jacket with you but just to take it off at appropriate times. Stated another way, if you have all three of your core elements on hand at the beginning of the day or when greeting people for the first time, it will cement in their minds that your outfit does in fact have three pieces so you’ll be at liberty to take one of them off if you so choose.

Following this strategy pays mind to the classic tenets of menswear and make sure you’ll be prepared for different kinds of situations throughout the day but you can also indulge in that wish to wear a shirt and tie without a jacket if you so choose.

What’s your assessment of this and do you think that there are any key points we missed? Whatever the case may be, share with us in the comments section below!

Reader Comments

  1. From my experience: once the jacket goes, so do good manners… I have witnessed often enough that the more informal the attire gets the more informal and outright rude the tone becomes… In a way it seemed to lower the inhibition level.

  2. Don’t wear a tie with a short sleeved shirt, even if you are a NASA engineer
    Don’t wear a shirt with a pocket, ditto
    Sorry if I missed something but what has David Gandy got to do with anything?

  3. Is that the David Gandy who works at Marks and Sparks? We are moving in exalted circles.

  4. Jacket, shirt and tie are to be regarded as a form of Holy Trinity by those who either are obliged, or like, to dress formally and elegantly.

    If formality can be abandoned, then the tie may be dispensed with.

    In many men this secures a higher level of elegant coolness if and only if the suit is cut properly and the shirt is both immaculate and pressed to perfection.

    On the other hand, if it is style that one decides to toss, then the shortest, least expensive and most effective manner to secure this sadly uncouth objective is to do without the jacket, appearing in public in dress-shirt and tie, the look on unfortunate and over-worked Mid-Western sales-rep of the 50s.

    The absolute sadness of this look can be improved upon only if one were to wear a short-sleeved shirt (ideally with a chest pocket), a sartorial offence equivalent to strangling a baby panda in front of a classroom of seven years old on a zoo outing.

    A thing that is not done because it is both evil and unnecesary, but above all unnecessary.

  5. Preston has it right regarding the engineering field. I spent a number of years as an engineer at a defense electronics company (we made anti-submarine warfare equipment). It wasn’t NASA (that was the next county south of us) but it was close. When I started there, the standard dress code for engineering staff was a polo shirt. There was a custom among the ladies on the assembly lines to dress up the week before Christmas, so we started doing the same. One year, I said to another engineer on our product line, “let’s just keep wearing a tie.” We did, and it spread throughout the company after several months. We wore both long sleeve and short sleeve shirts with a tie.

    Wearing a jacket in that production environment would not have worked and would not have been appropriate. We all spent much time on the production floor solving problems and finding out from the assembly folks what would make their jobs faster and easier. Lots of tools and machinery and grease and oil (this stuff had to be water tight at great depths). Short sleeves were popular, and long sleeves were usually rolled up most of the day.

    Bottom line:
    1) The situation and environment often dictates what is customary and proper.
    2) Success often means making the right impression on those who are farther down the totem pole than you, since they often come up with great ideas. They will make your job easier if you respect them and listen.
    3) In the end, those above you on the totem pole are more impressed with how good you make them look than how good you look. Clothing is a tool – use it wisely.

  6. Considering the fact that most men nowadays look for any excuse not to wear a tie, I would argue that we should appreciate anyone who’s wearing one, even if he’s not wearing a jacket.

  7. When Britain Ruled the Waves and the Royal Navy was the largest in the world (pre-WWII), in warm weather it was common to relax the rig in the Wardroom to ‘Planters’ – shirt, tie & long trousers (except in Bermuda where tailored shorts were perfectly acceptable) and proper shoes. This would also be approved for less formal events ashore; this remains the case today and in many London Clubs.

    The increasing lack of ties is a major error in sartorial elegance started by Richard Branson and espoused by politicians such as Bush, Blair, Obama, Putin, Macron etc. Ties add the opportunity to make a style statement, they give an air of relaxed formality, the majority of formal shirts are not cut properly to wear with a jacket but no tie, as gentlemen age necks are not so well suited to gaping collars and last, but no means least, wearing a suit without a tie looks sloppy, cheap and appalling

    1. Richard, When I was at sea in HMC Ships the wardroom dinner dress very often was uniform shirt, cummerbund, long trousers and no tie or uniform coat. Officers coming off or going on to duty stations wore their duty rig. I read in this column some time ago that this was called “Red Sea rig,” though we never called it that. The exception, of course, was when guests were entertained or on special occasions such as the Queen’s Birthday. A bit off topic here, but I appreciate your comments.

      1. Red Sea Rig it certainly was and still is – tropical shirt with short sleeves and epaulet boards. I was really talking about Stone Frigate Wardrooms but on reflection I shouldn’t be commenting as I spent most of my time in pirate rig under the Atlantic.

  8. Of course a shirt and tie with no jacket is appropriate—if you’re a waiter or work at a discount furniture store.

  9. Perhaps I’m missing something – can you tell me why my comment appeared but was then deleted? You have my email address for a private reply if you wish.

  10. I would suggest one more occupation where the shirt-and-tie look makes sense: K-12 teacher. I’m retired now, but when I was teaching I felt the need to dress somewhat professionally but still practically. Most teachers move around a lot, and jackets interfere: they get caught on desks, and are easily damaged. I wanted to look clearly more formal than my students, and I thought that the shirt-and-tie combination did that. The sweater and tie look worked well in cooler months. I never taught in a school that required the young men to wear ties, and perhaps if I had I would have made a different choice.

    1. I agree with this completely. I’m a high school teacher too. I used to wear a sweater and tie in colder months, and a shirt with tie and no jacket in hotter months (to be more formal than the students). After learning about summer sport coats on this site, I’ve started experimenting with wearing them because they do look better than without. However, it’s not always very practical in the classroom, for the reasons stated in the comment above.

    2. Office dress codes and social norms have changed whether we like it or not. Formal authority or the perception of one is almost a dirty word now. Politicians feel compelled to appeal to the everyman these days. Even a jacket and tie can go disastrously wrong if the tie hovers over your crotch.

      I have never liked the tie and shirt no jacket look. Either jacket and tie or neither. Any thoughts on neckerchief /cravat in lieu of a tie? It’s a little more subtle than a tie and could be a better accessory to a shirt with no jacket look, allowing for open collar. Silk feels cool in the summer too.

  11. Here I have an interesting observation . At my Turf Racing Club the male members requested a far less formal dress code for our hot Summer months ; ie no jackets ans ties . It was warmly well received with many men turning up with open neck and shirts tucked out .

  12. Excellent comments. I noticed Dior had many suits on the runway for fall/winter 2019. Although ties were optional, it shows a backlash heading our way against the casual/sloppy we are becoming too familiary with.
    I train professionals for media interviews. I tell them to wear a suit (men and women) if they can, with a shirt and tie. To adjust the back of the jacket by pulling it down when sitting to avoid the collar gap and other problems.
    Why do I recommend suits? Not because I am a fashio slave. No, it is because your credibility is perceived as being greater if you are wearing a suit on television, than if you do not.
    I was watching a TED talk and the speaker looked like he had just gotten out of bed. I stayed tuned to see who he was and while his talk was interesting, he was hard to take seriously because he looked so sloppy.
    Same reasoning applies to business and social situations. Dress up! Not down to be taken seriously.

  13. I live in the desert. Summer temperatures are oppressive. Would a linen waistcoat be an acceptable substitute for a jacket?

  14. A very good video. I look forward to the promised video on warm-weather jackets, as I don’t own one yet. Where I live, in summer it is just too hot to wear a jacket, even though I am expected to wear a tie. Even with just shirt and tie I sometimes struggle to avoid perspiration. I’m not against undoing my top button and loosening the tie a little, although I know some readers will disapprove. I think that labeling a shirt as an undergarment is rather old-fashioned these days.

  15. If I remove my jacket, I’ll loosen the tie at the neck, undo the top button and tuck the tie into my shirt between the 2nd & third button – I don’t like the thing flapping around without a jacket….or waistcoat.

    “-‘What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this?’
    There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter”

    ― P. G. Wodehouse

  16. I too live in hot climes.

    If I remove my jacket, I’ll loosen the tie at the neck, undo the top button and tuck the tie into my shirt between the 2nd & third button – I don’t like the thing flapping around without a jacket….or waistcoat.

    “-‘What do ties matter, Jeeves, at a time like this?’
    There is no time, sir, at which ties do not matter”

    ― P. G. Wodehouse

  17. I really like your videos, which I find very interesting and informative. They are also beautifully presented. I would like to add a point regarding other professions; have you thought about Scientists ? Scientists often are in shirt and tie only because of the lab coat over the top. The Howie style lab coats are fire retardant thick fabric and buttoned up to the top for protection so are very warm to wear. So if I may, I would widen your advice regarding established trend of shirt/tie only to include Engineers and Scientists. I look forward to seeing more of your excellent videos soon.

  18. I love the balance of supperclub pleasantry and courtroom argument composure in these videos. Sven and Preston, you both bring and blend your backgrounds terrifically into these videos, and I always appreciate the content… Thank you!

  19. What happened to the matching tie and handkerchief? I always bought mine a Montgomery Wards at Christmas.

  20. My perspective has been touched on by other previous respondents, but perhaps needs to be called out. Specifically, most of the ‘rules’ you cite were developed in Great Britain, in a climate in which outdoor temperatures rarely rise above what most would call ‘warm’ and then generally for a short duration. I think it rather provincial and arrogant to require the rest of the world to conform to standards that are manifestly unfit for the local climate. I have not-so-fond recollections of meetings in Chicago during the summer heatwave of 1995 – wearing a jacket (linen), tie, and long-sleeved dress shirt and would have been much happier wearing a polo shirt, or some other outfit more appropriate to the weather. I guess perhaps sartorial gentlemen have non-functional sweat glands? Unfortunately, most of us do not…

  21. I don’t think that ties go well with jackets. Tie is meant to have a formal or gentlemanly look. You have explained very well that how a person can pair tie with different outfits.

  22. As an old school pharmacy director, I wear just a shirt and tie to work. Exceptions maybe days when I’m staffing, I’ll wear scrubs or days at the university or professional meetings then I’ll donn jacket or a suit. The jacket I wear most often is a lab coat when I see patients.

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