The ’Shacket’: A Modern Ode to Roger Moore, Ernest Hemingway and Other Distinguished Luminaries.
As is true of most sartorial garments, the safari jacket (and indeed the safari suit) were first conceived by the British military - designed to withstand the rigours of warmer climes in which troops were serving.
Traditionally cut from lightweight cotton - often in some variation of beige, cream or khaki - the safari jacket was distinctive in its design, often featuring epaulets, bellow pockets and a self belted closure.
Although initially intertwined with British imperialism - a trend which endured in part thanks to the sartorial decorum of Prince Charles - the safari jacket’s uptake by luminaries such as Roger Moore and Yves Saint Laurent gave rise to its synonymity with more ‘enlightened’ pursuits, which consequently popularised the garment.
The demise of the safari jacket
But alas, the safari jacket eventually passed through the proverbial revolving door that is fashion, leaving in its wake an era in which synthetic materials and mass production reigned supreme. Rendered ‘archaic’ both stylistically and for what it had come to signify of colonial Britain, the safari jacket lay dormant for decades.
Fast forward to the new millennium though - an era of profound sartorial enlightenment - and the safari jacket had found itself a new lease on life.
The rediscovery of tailoring and the various subcultures - like vintage workwear - it encompassed, would lend itself to the resurrection of the safari jacket.
Only this time, it would be refracted through a set of more modern sensibilities. And so, the Safari shirt, or ’shacket’ as it is now colloquially known, was conceived.
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The dawn of a new era - the ‘shacket'
Typically cut from lightweight linens - often in earthy tones of beige, olive and brown - the ‘shacket’ reinterprets the safari jacket as a lightweight over-shirt.
While less formal than its predecessor, the shacket eschews the ‘bohemian-grunge’ aesthetic propagated by the fashion community (think; Rick Owens, Yeezy and various other streetwear-inspired labels), and instead, offers a sophisticated alternative in the realm of casual dressing - perfect for wear over a tee-shirt, but equally at home over a shirt and tie ensemble.
It is befitting then, that Drakes - a company who straddle and blur the lines between sartorial tradition and contemporary relevance - would also be at the forefront of this re- emerging trend.
Designed for comfort and versatility, the shacket bespeaks a certain effortless, rendering it the ultimate companion for everything from travel to summer saunters along the beach.
To this end, the words of Yves Saint Laurent - who was, befittingly, a safari jacket devotee - have perhaps never rang so true as they do here as the bookend to this article, “Isn’t elegance forgetting what one is wearing?”.
And therein lies the beauty of the shacket...
This is a guest article by Aidan Chappell from the Sartorial Journal