Outfits in Motion: Blazers and Such with Pivots and Such

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If Edmund Hillary climbed Mt. Everest in a sport coat, you should be able to ride a bike wearing one.

All you need is a pivot in the shoulder. Or a gusset in the back seam. Something, anything!

Without something built into a dressier garment to give it range of motion, you’re bound up tight.

I was shooting pistols and rifles the other day while wearing a blazer — Whew! It was tough! I kept having to scrunch and wriggle. And I’m sure my sleeves were up to my elbows before I was comfy enough to pull the trigger.

Then I recall seeing a photo in the NYT about the new trend in bike commuting — it showed a guy riding a road bike with drop bars, all bent over with his dress jacket up to his elbows and way up his back. Ugh!

Of course, Hillary knew how to crack the nut. The Brits have had this figured out for awhile. They have the Norfolk Shooting Jacket. You can get one, too, for tons of $.

I actually have a tweed shooting jacket that someone gave me. …With hinges, bellows and pivots! It’s GREAT! But it’s a heavy coat for outerwear so it only occasionally comes into play. (I have gone hunting wearing it.)

I’ve been pondering as to whether there’s a DIY way to sew a flap of excess material into strategic locations in a blazer and have it not look half bad.

Anyway, here are links and pics of a few goodies on the market right now that’ll do the trick…

*Duluth Trading Company’s Presentation Jacket, as low as $99: www.duluthtrading.com/store/clothes-workwear/mens/mens-presentation-jackets-blazer/mens-presentation-jackets-blazer.aspx

*Outlier makes a Pivot Shirt for $120: outlier.cc/2009/12/pivot_sleeve_shirt_-_an_experiment_in_form.php

*Orvis has its Travel Jacket, on discount at $150: www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=0G8P

*Bookster of the UK owns the Tweed World with its Shooting Jacket, approx $400 in US$ (custom, I mean “bespoke,” is an option): www.tweed-jacket.com/JACKET%20PAGE/Tweed%20Shooting%20Jacket.html