The Caban Jacket, known as a “pea coat” in English speaking countries, is a classic sailor jacket, the coat equivalent to the striped Tee. It’s a French style icon worn by the “usual suspects” – the heroines of French chic: Alexa Chung & French Vogue Editor Emannuelle Alt.
It comes in a variety of styles so there is one for every body type: From short jacket to longer hemmed coats, traditionally double breasted with gold buttons and a wide collar.
Let’s see how we style this classic in our two different styles, Romantique and Rebel:
Rebel:
For me, the best way to style this shorter length caban jacket is casual with skinny jeans and flats. This is my Sunday morning brunch outfit, relaxed yet still chic without looking over-engineered. A striped mariniere shirt is also one of my favourite combos. After all, I live in Hamburg, near one of Europe’s biggest ports so the sailor style is always en vogue here up north.
Rebel is wearing: Navy pea coat by Max & Co. Skinny jeans by JBrand. Pointy boots by Buffalo. Adorned straw bag by Sicily Bag.
Romantique:
I decided to go for a risky experiment: How about pairing the sailor pea coat with a sailor skirt? Straight cut navy twill with a double row of white buttons. At first I was afraid of the clashing buttons but it turned out well! The navy beret brings the whole outfit together, parfait!
Romantique is wearing: Navy pea coat by Max & Co. Navy skirt by Claudie Pierlot. Leopard print flats by Kurt Geiger. Navy beret bought at John Lewis. Embellished straw bag by Sicily Bag. Sunglasses by Miu Miu.
Photo location: Berlin Museum Island.
French Vogue Editor Emmanuelle Alt wearing a caban jacket with gold buttons.
Alexa Chung wearing a long navy wool pea coat
