Walk on the wild side: How to wear the safari jacket in style

The environs of Ibiza Old Town aren’t known for their discreet sense of style, next to the stalls of Day-Glo T-shirts and peasant skirts. But it was here earlier this week that I happened to spot a rakish hotel owner sweeping through a glacially minimalist hotel bar in what might just be one of the chicest summer ensembles I’ve seen in a long time.

Against a sea of saggy T-shirts and crumpled shirts (I include myself in that line-up), this fellow swept by in a safari jacket, in sharp gauzy linen, offset with nothing more than neat blue chinos and loafers.

That’s the safari jacket, the rustic attire of Sir David Attenborough (who we should all aspire to, but was employing it for functional means purely) remixed as an urbane, easy garment that’s a winner for transitional summer weather.

Tom Ford cotton-blend twill jacket, £1,885, Mr Porter

Of course, the idea of taking a nuts ‘n’ bolts outerwear garment and recasting it as a fashionable item is nothing new – look at the trench coat or the aviator jacket – but the safari jacket seems an unlikely piece to trickle through to the style-conscious.

It evolved for European soldiers venturing into exotic terrain, the pleated pockets and epaulettes aping features on military uniform. It then became the chosen attire of Ernest Hemingway and was adopted by Yves Saint Laurent.

Cotton gabardine and linen safari jacket, £1,110, Saint Laurent 

But even the most cursory glance across the more sartorially switched-on waters of Instagram proves that safari jackets can be appropriated into an everyday wardrobe; the showgoers of bi-annual Florentine trade fair Pitti Uomo are no stranger to their allure.

Worn with a loose-fit shirt, they are less formal than a blazer but still a fluid, breathable cover-up. As with that suave hotelier, the best place for them is undoubtedly out of their original context, elevating their rustic natural state.

Mr. P slim cotton shirt, £155, Mr Porter

Avoid pairing with other utility items and instead don with a pin-sharp pair of trousers, perhaps a silk scarf tucked into the neckline for evening, and a pair of loafers or espadrilles, and while linen is the obvious choice as the mercury creeps higher, a dressier option would be silk as an alternative to the blazer when the time for Balearic cocktails come.

Even if the only adventuring you’re doing is to the deepest end of the pool this summer, the safari jacket maintains an explorer air.     

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