Picture the scene – you lock eyes with it from across the room. A jacket more wondrous than all your wildest dreams combined. Its immense beauty immediately causes you to go light-headed, but you manage to muster enough courage to introduce yourself. Your meet-cute seems to be going well… until disaster strikes. You spot the price tag and almost go into cardiac arrest. You curse yourself for frittering away all that moolah on those bi-weekly chicken dinners, and leave the situation unfulfilled.
It’s a scenario we’ve all unfortunately found ourselves in. To swerve further priced-out heartbreak, here’s a crop of mint jackets that’re all discounted to some degree or another.
First up, we’ve got this collarless number from Japanese down-devotees Taion.
This lot have a real knack for deploying down with a bit more restraint than most, and this doozy is a prime example of that dexterity in action. It’s the sort-of thing begging to be thrown over hoodies in the spring, as well as snugly fitting under bulkier jackets when the mercury drops.
Geometry nerds should be slack-jawed at that collar circumference too.
Meanwhile, this behemoth from Holubar is sitting pretty on the opposite, burlier end of the jacket spectrum.
This boasts a head-spinning amount of nifty features, intriguing details and heat-hoarding properties, and also looks like something Kurt Russell might wear while knocking back mugs of whiskey while waiting for the sweet embrace of the void in The Thing.
Any item of clothing that makes us think of Kurt Russell, whiskey, the sweet embrace of the void and The Thing is a winner in our eyes.
Blasting buck shot into a quail’s head is hardly a pastime we approve of, but it can’t be denied it’s produced a fair chunk of decent clobber… and the Barbour Bedale might just be the crème de la crème of hunting gear.
This curious specimen here is the camo SL version – a slimmer, smarter, more streamlined iteration of the Bedale, with an earthy paint job that’s bang-on for clandestine exploits in the undergrowth.
‘Smart camouflage’ might sound a bit like an oxymoron, but even Elmer Fudd-types deserve to look classy every once in a while.
Next up we’ve got the varsity-seasoned splendour of FrizmWORKS’ Wool Stadium Jacket.
Originally designed for baseball in the mid-19th century, adopted as an easy way to promote school pride by savvy school staffers in the 20th century, adored by sporting royalty and Ivy League cool cats alike, these types of jackets have a long and storied track record of looking damn good.
Although if you happen to live in in a 90s American high school TV drama and are frequently at the receiving end of swirlies you might disagree.
We’ve sung the praises of the Y.M.C. Brainticket Jacket for donkey’s years now, and if you’re looking to cotch in the lavish lap of luxury, these are still your best bet.
Trying to capture this kind of opulence with meagre words will probably require the aid of a thesaurus, so to spare you from having to read words like ‘resplendent’ or whatever, we’ll let the photos do the heavy lifting here.
Finally, we’ve got the A Vontade BDU Tropical Jacket reporting for duty.
Toking on all the mid-century Americana on display here is all well and good, but this beaut’s 21st century applications shouldn’t be ignored. The high pocket count should house your arsenal of phones and tablets with ease, the ripstop fabric should offer ample protection during an M&S reduction scuffle and when you’ve run out of visual detritus to watch on Netflix, you could always ponder those sturdy buttons.
If you want to see more sale jacketry, keep on scrollin’ scrollin’ scrollin’.