Journal ·
The best fall overshirts under $150
Italian Donegal wool for $144, Japanese denim for $134, and two cheaper layers for days that are only a little cold.
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Buy the Todd Snyder Donegal Military Overshirt in charcoal. It's $144, down from $298, in 100% wool Donegal woven in Italy, and every size from XS to XXL is in stock. It's the one layer here that can stand in for a sport coat at the office and still look right over a T-shirt on Saturday.
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What an overshirt is for
An overshirt is cut like a shirt and worn like a light jacket. It buttons up the front, has real chest pockets, and is roomy enough to go over a shirt or a thin sweater. In October and early November, when a coat is too much at noon and a shirt is too little at seven, it's the most useful thing in the closet.
The good ones have weight. A thin overshirt is just a big shirt. Wool or a heavy cotton holds its shape when the buttons are open, which is how most people wear it.
Why the Donegal
Donegal is a weave named for the county in Ireland where it started: small flecks of colored yarn are woven in at random, so from a few feet away it reads as a soft heathered grey and up close it has bits of color. This one is woven in Italy. Todd Snyder gives it a boxy military cut, pleated chest pockets that button through, self-fabric elbow patches, melamine buttons and a hidden placket, so the front looks clean when it's closed.
Wear it open over a white oxford with grey trousers and it does the blazer's job without the structure. Close it over a T-shirt with dark denim and brown boots for the weekend. It's dry clean only, which matters less than it sounds; a wool layer over a shirt rarely needs it. Todd Snyder also sells matching trousers, if you want the full unsuit.
Same shirt, Japanese denim
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The Todd Snyder Denim Military Overshirt is $134, down from $328, in dark-wash Japanese denim with the same pleated pockets, elbow patches and concealed placket, plus a locker loop at the neck. The denim is light enough to wear as a shirt and solid enough to wear as a jacket. Unlike the wool, it goes in the washing machine on cold. It will fade at the elbows, pocket flaps and collar the way good jeans do. XS through XL are in stock; XXL is gone. The model on the store page is 6'2" in a medium, so the classic fit runs roomy.
Denim on denim scares people for no good reason. Keep the two washes far apart: this dark overshirt with light grey or ecru jeans, or with black ones. Two medium blues is where it goes wrong.
A shirt that layers
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The Taylor Stitch Conrad in heather oat pincord is $82.80, down from $138, in organic cotton corduroy with a very fine wale. It's a shirt, not an overshirt, but pincord has enough body to wear open over a T-shirt on a mild day, and it's soft the way flannel is without the bulk. Oat is a warm off-white that goes with olive, navy and brown. Every size from XS to XXL is still there.
The cheapest layer
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The NAADAM Soft Denim Jacket in milk is $69, down from $148. It's garment-dyed cotton twill with a little stretch (98% cotton, 2% spandex) and big chest pockets. Milk white is a bold color for a jacket, and it's best with navy, charcoal or olive underneath so it doesn't wash you out. The catch is sizing: only XS, S and M are left. If that's you, it's the best $69 on this page.
Which one
One layer for work and weekends: the Donegal. Want something you can throw in the wash: the Japanese denim. Not sure an overshirt is your thing: start with the Conrad and wear it open. For the rest of a fall wardrobe, the boots in welted boots and loafers under $175 finish the weekend version, and the work wardrobe for under $500 builds the office one. Everything else is in this week's steals.