Claire’s Pick of the Best Beige Jackets

For years I was convinced beige was the wall skirt of clothing colours. Bland, nothing. Invisible. What you wore when you couldn’t be arsed picking out a colour. I need to apologise to beige properly for saying that because right now, a good beige jacket is working harder than almost anything else on the rail but in silence, which I mistook for laziness.

The thing is beige isn’t beige, it’s about eleven different colours. Beige that’s faded to stone, camel, oatmeal, it just hugs your face in a way black or navy will never quite achieve. It gives you lift without seeming like you’re trying too hard. What makes a good one isn’t the colour so much as fit. Allowance for movement in the shoulders, a collar that wants to stand on its own, fabric that has weight so as it doesn’t crease when you sit down on the tube.

Cheap beige will fade to sad grey within a season. A good one will get softer, like a well-loved coat should.

Wearing it is also the easiest part. Truly. Hence why I now own enough beige jackets to stop me from ever having to count them aloud. Throw it over pretty much anything. Jeans and a plain shirt if you’re doing the school run. A slip dress if you’re fancying something post-work. Tailored trousers if you’ve got a meeting where you want to at least give off the impression you have your shit together. Honestly. My one piece of creed I will say about jackets is to always add contrast underneath. Beige on beige topped with more beige and you’ll melt into a sand dune. Throw something with colour on it, a pattern, even just a classic dark denim jeans, and your jacket has something to do.

Speaking of things doing, occasion wise it’s my jack of all trades. Sunday brunch? Maybe, but likely it’s the school run that’ll turn into coffee. Meeting up with friends for drinks? Could be, but maybe you’ll end up at work first. It’s going to look good on you flying somewhere and landing somewhere colder than you’re expecting. It’ll also take you from most backgrounds. I hate to say it but it photographs incredibly well which when you’re stood outside a restaurant at golden hour, you’ll be grateful for. It’s not a showstopper jacket. It’s a jacket that makes everything else you’re wearing look more intentional than it probably was. Trust me, that’s the best trick there is.