Adding the best men's jean jacket to your closet is like drafting Lebron to your rec league team: you’ll end up with a ‘ship no matter how bad the rest of the squad is. Whatever you want to call ’em—jean jackets, denim jackets, trucker jackets—the all-American stalwarts are the layering MVPs of every outfit on the brink of an L. Makes sense considering blue jeans, the jacket’s southern equivalent, can do the exact same thing for your wardrobe.
Workwear roots bestow the humble piece of outerwear with utilitarian features, durability, and classic proportions—a surefire formula that churns out menswear icons like double-knee pants and chore coats. What started out as a work jacket to accompany the blue jeans made from the same burly denim material, jean jackets have grown out of their pragmatic uniform and are more of a fashion statement these days. Be it a luxurious runway riff, an upgraded take, or a down-home workhorse, every flavor of denim jacket has the potential to make every outfit pop.
Of course, the trucker jacket is what comes to mind first. But denim jackets come in many forms and aren’t limited to the Levi’s version you likely have in your mind’s eye. Denim’s enduring appeal and boundless applications have seen it merge with chore coats, trenches, Harringtons and more, expanding the scope of jean jackets.
That’s great news for anyone looking to find one that truly speaks to themselves, but terrible news for anyone attempting to wade through all the options. So we did the denim digging for you. We went out and scraped the market for the absolute best men’s jean jacket, from the tried-and-true to the new-age startups and everything in-between.
This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone. And if it is, as this company’s self-proclaimed Denim Guy, it’s definitely my fault for not teaching you. Levi's is the grand daddy of all jeans which puts them on a rarified level few others could ever hope to approach.
The brand’s iconic 501 jean gets most of the (deserved) praise, but the Levi's trucker jacket also warrants recognition. The very first iteration of the Levi's trucker jacket debuted in 1905 and has since gotten several updates, but the one most ubiquitous today is known as the Type III. It's the picture you have in your head when you think of a trucker jacket and it's great for so many reasons.
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