Style

Actor Joshua Jackson puts his spin on a modern stalwart: the navy blazer

By: Michael Slenske; Photograph: Kurt Markus
Published: March 2009   [ Updated: Feb 27, 2009 - 12:24:24 PM ]

On-screen, he's a risk taker, but in real life, Joshua Jackson sticks to the classics. As the leading man on Fox's Fringe, Jackson plays Peter Bishop, an amoral, if likable, "gun for hire" with an IQ of 190. And this being J. J. Abrams's new thriller, the FBI has tapped him and his Einstein—meets—Timothy Leary father to help solve a series of unexplained events.

"What's interesting about Peter is that he's limitless," says the 30-year-old actor. "There's nothing he's not willing to do." Jackson, however, has his limits. "I don't think I'll ever be the guy in the skintight suit," he says, "but I don't mind dressing up and looking good." Good thing he's a blue-blazer man.

This season, everyone from Thom Browne and Tom Ford to Louis Vuitton and Bottega Veneta is putting a spin on the classic sport coat. It doesn't matter if you favor notched or peaked lapels, bone or gold-tone buttons, two-button or double-breasted cuts...just make sure you get a proper fit. Resist the tendency to buy a sport coat that is too big. While it should be comfortable, the jacket should also trace the line of your body.

"We all love to wear sport coats because they're easy, but they've also become a real fashion statement," says Tommy Fazio, men's fashion director at Bergdorf Goodman, who jokes that he was born in a blue blazer and actually has six of them in his closet. "It's the easiest thing to travel with, and it really dictates authority," he says. "I like dark navy because it can be dressed up or down. With jeans, a white shirt, and a rep striped tie, nothing is more classic.