The Corso Jacket: Mid-Century Style, Made in Los Angeles

[Epaulet]

Hey guys!

I'm a long-time affiliate on the SW&D side. All of my clothing is made in the United States, with quite a bit of it produced in Los Angeles.

I designed the "Corso" jacket earlier this year, and ran a preorder project for it. This was quickly our best-selling project of 2024, and I'm thrilled with how they came out. The concept is to split the difference between a tailored sportcoat and a casual outerwear piece. It has an easy fit, button front, lined interior with pockets, and two way hip pockets that can be accessed from the side and the top.

I produced some open stock in four really beautiful wools. They're all either lightweight or four season and each one has something special about it.

Stock sizing runs from 38 to 44. If you're outside of this, don't worry, I'll certainly do another preorder round later in the year and I'll be able to offer smaller and larger sizing on demand.

Here's the official text, with pics, links, and info below. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here, DM me, or use the chat function of my site.

Thanks!
Eva

**************************************************

The Corso is an elegant casual jacket with a mid-century vibe. Inspired by Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley, it's a brilliant match to dress trousers, casual chinos, and lightweight denim.

The Corso Jacket has one-to-one sizing with the Doyle Jacket. It's fully lined with two interior pockets. The 2-way hip pockets have opening on the side. Its front and cuffs close with light horn resin buttons.

For this delivery, we have four varieties of lightweight and four-season wools. Inventory is limited and these won't be restocked, so definitely check them out! Use the code below to take 15% off for the next few days:

corso15

And if you ordered trousers or chinos in Pendleton Wool or Jade-Turquoise... these are the exact same fabrics in the exact same dye lots. So you can easily craft a rad 2-piece look by adding this jacket.

Corso Jacket in Jade Turquoise Tropical Wool & Silk: $285​

Woven in Italy by DiPray, this is a gorgeous blend of 80% wool and 20% silk. The yarn has an intricate micro raindrop herringbone pattern with a mix of teal, smoke and ecru tones. It's a mid-weight fabric with a great drape, and it's wearable all four seasons. The silk content gives it a soft hand and a nice subtle sheen.

Corso Jacket in Pendleton Navy Mid-Century Wool: $285​

Imagine getting a flawless vintage garment from the 1960s. The cloth has that old-school weight and matte finish. It drapes perfectly and has a inimitable style that you simply can't find today.
This beautiful pure wool gabardine from Pendleton delivers that exact vibe. Although it was woven in the early 2010s, it's heart and soul are firmly planted in 1965.

We've sourced a limited quantity of this handsome deadstock cloth. It was woven in Pendleton, Oregon of 100% virgin wool, sourced in the USA.

Its has a distinct twill weave, a dark navy tone, and a smooth matte finish that exudes vintage American style. Its 9oz weight is just a touch heavier than the typical suiting cloth, and its comfortably wearable all year round.

Corso Jacket in Italian Lightweight Ghost Donegal Wool: $285​

Woven in Italy by DiPray, this donegal tweed is a lighter weight weave of pure lambswool. The base tone is pale light grey, and it has subtle multi-colored flecks of scarlet, gold, and royal blue. It's wearable for three seasons.

Corso Jacket in Cafe Latte Gingham Tropical Wool: $265​

Woven in Italy by Delfino, this beautiful lightweight tropical wool has a soft medium brown tone and a micro gingham pattern. It's perfect for warmer days and makes an excellent outwear piece from early Spring to mid Fall.

Its tones are a brilliant match for khaki, olive, and navy chinos - and it looks fantastic with lighter denim.

 

[Epaulet]

And here's some pics of the interior....

 

[comrade]

View attachment 2193015

Hey guys!

I'm a long-time affiliate on the SW&D side. All of my clothing is made in the United States, with quite a bit of it produced in Los Angeles.

I designed the "Corso" jacket earlier this year, and ran a preorder project for it. This was quickly our best-selling project of 2024, and I'm thrilled with how they came out. The concept is to split the difference between a tailored sportcoat and a casual outerwear piece. It has an easy fit, button front, lined interior with pockets, and two way hip pockets that can be accessed from the side and the top.

I produced some open stock in four really beautiful wools. They're all either lightweight or four season and each one has something special about it.

Stock sizing runs from 38 to 44. If you're outside of this, don't worry, I'll certainly do another preorder round later in the year and I'll be able to offer smaller and larger sizing on demand.

Here's the official text, with pics, links, and info below. If you have any questions, feel free to post them here, DM me, or use the chat function of my site.

Thanks!
Eva

**************************************************

The Corso is an elegant casual jacket with a mid-century vibe. Inspired by Dickie Greenleaf in The Talented Mr. Ripley, it's a brilliant match to dress trousers, casual chinos, and lightweight denim.

The Corso Jacket has one-to-one sizing with the Doyle Jacket. It's fully lined with two interior pockets. The 2-way hip pockets have opening on the side. Its front and cuffs close with light horn resin buttons.

For this delivery, we have four varieties of lightweight and four-season wools. Inventory is limited and these won't be restocked, so definitely check them out! Use the code below to take 15% off for the next few days:

corso15

And if you ordered trousers or chinos in Pendleton Wool or Jade-Turquoise... these are the exact same fabrics in the exact same dye lots. So you can easily craft a rad 2-piece look by adding this jacket.

View attachment 2193007

Corso Jacket in Jade Turquoise Tropical Wool & Silk: $285​

Woven in Italy by DiPray, this is a gorgeous blend of 80% wool and 20% silk. The yarn has an intricate micro raindrop herringbone pattern with a mix of teal, smoke and ecru tones. It's a mid-weight fabric with a great drape, and it's wearable all four seasons. The silk content gives it a soft hand and a nice subtle sheen.



View attachment 2193011

Corso Jacket in Pendleton Navy Mid-Century Wool: $285​

Imagine getting a flawless vintage garment from the 1960s. The cloth has that old-school weight and matte finish. It drapes perfectly and has a inimitable style that you simply can't find today.
This beautiful pure wool gabardine from Pendleton delivers that exact vibe. Although it was woven in the early 2010s, it's heart and soul are firmly planted in 1965.

We've sourced a limited quantity of this handsome deadstock cloth. It was woven in Pendleton, Oregon of 100% virgin wool, sourced in the USA.

Its has a distinct twill weave, a dark navy tone, and a smooth matte finish that exudes vintage American style. Its 9oz weight is just a touch heavier than the typical suiting cloth, and its comfortably wearable all year round.



View attachment 2193013

Corso Jacket in Italian Lightweight Ghost Donegal Wool: $285​

Woven in Italy by DiPray, this donegal tweed is a lighter weight weave of pure lambswool. The base tone is pale light grey, and it has subtle multi-colored flecks of scarlet, gold, and royal blue. It's wearable for three seasons.



View attachment 2193009

Corso Jacket in Cafe Latte Gingham Tropical Wool: $265​

Woven in Italy by Delfino, this beautiful lightweight tropical wool has a soft medium brown tone and a micro gingham pattern. It's perfect for warmer days and makes an excellent outwear piece from early Spring to mid Fall.

Its tones are a brilliant match for khaki, olive, and navy chinos - and it looks fantastic with lighter denim.

Corso in Italian:

corso - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.wiktionary.org

In other words, meaningless. As for the garment :

The downside of "midcentury"

 

[FlowableFill]

Gregory Corso was famous beat poet in the 50's. He could be the inspiration for the name.

 

[Epaulet]

I mostly took the name from Corso Como in Milan. It's a big pedestrian street with stores, cafes, and night spots.

Coming up with names for clothing models, individual fits, and colors is a big part of this job. I think that "Corso" is pretty good - as it's short, easy to say, easy to spell, and gives off an Italian vibe which is in keeping with the garment.

But believe me, I've made some terrible names in the past. My worst take was most likely a varsity jacket with Vanson leathers and I called it the "Lenny."

This was named after Lenny & Squiggy from Laverne and Shirley. I had sold a bunch of clothing to Michael J. McKean.. the actor who played Lenny - and who has also been in Spinal Tap, Better Call Saul, Best in Show, and a bunch of other things. He was so cool in person that I spent some time watching his older work. Laverne & Shirley was a bit before my time, but I enjoyed it with youtube clips.

I thought that the name would give the jacket this cool greaser connection. And I couldn't have been more wrong LOL. I think that name was so bad that it single-handedly ensured the retail failure of that piece.

 

[zippyh]

TBH, I thought the Lenny name was amusing and appropriate.

 

[Epaulet]

TBH, I thought the Lenny name was amusing and appropriate.

I appreciate that! Man, I had people straight up emailing me and saying "I like that jacket, but I refuse to be Lenny."

I guess it's possible that these guys weren't the best reference point for a cool jacket...

 

[comrade]

Gregory Corso was famous beat poet in the 50's. He could be the inspiration for the name.

Not likely:

 

[Thin White Duke]

Did Dickie Greenleaf ever wear a jacket anything like this one? Maybe in the book but I don’t recall anything like this in the film - Jude Law was much better dressed.

I lament the way Epaulet has turned away from their original Mod roots with jackets named ‘Weller’ and ‘Caine’. (‘Daltrey’ wasn’t such an inspired choice as Roger hated the Mod phase of The Who). I see an endless array of these chore jackets from Epaulet these days which hold zero interest for me. but I suppose its in keeping with the race to the bottom in terms of casual everything and I’m clearly in a minority. All about the Benjanins eh?

 

[pendragon]

What a lot of snide remarks. Give the guy a break.

 

[mhip]

Lame to crap on something someone is excited about making because you don't like it.

 

[barutanseijin]

Did Dickie Greenleaf ever wear a jacket anything like this one? Maybe in the book but I don’t recall anything like this in the film - Jude Law was much better dressed.

I lament the way Epaulet has turned away from their original Mod roots with jackets named ‘Weller’ and ‘Caine’. (‘Daltrey’ wasn’t such an inspired choice as Roger hated the Mod phase of The Who). I see an endless array of these chore jackets from Epaulet these days which hold zero interest for me. but I suppose its in keeping with the race to the bottom in terms of casual everything and I’m clearly in a minority. All about the Benjanins eh?

There is more than one film version of the book.

Maurice Ronet may have had nice clothes, but Alain Delon looked better in them — even in Dickie’s tacky boating jacket. (Of course he did. He was Alain Delon and a young one at that.) Maurice Ronet‘s characters have all the stuff but always come off as schlubs. In that sense, Ronet was a better Dickie than Law because Dickie should be unworthy of all he has, just an ash hole with money.

All cinephilic pedantry aside, the Epaulet jacket is more in tune with the general aesthetic of the Dickie Greenleaf character than any one bit of costuming.

 

[Epaulet]

Whoa was fun to see this notification.

Honestly, I miss the days of people debating and discussing clothing on styleforum - and I'd prefer critical feedback over no feedback, so kudos to Thin White Duke for posting.

As barutanseijin said, the Corso is merely inspired by the Dickie Greenleaf idea than the costumes of the actual movie. It's elegant but still a bit casual and youthful. If a remake was being done and if they (improbably) commissed me for the casting and wardrobe then I'd pick Austin Butler and make him a mid-scale check Corso jacket for one of the scenes. But yeah, there's no direct tieback to something shown in the movie or explictly described in the book.

 

[Epaulet]

And, believe me, I'm still down with those mod roots! I'm in a Vespa scooter club. I flew to Pennsylvania in April to reunite with my college ska band and go to a two day ska festival.

Which is frankly kind of weird. Both the fans and the bands have aged in tandem so it's largely fans in their 40s watching bands in their 50s, with a surprising amount of moshing and stage diving given those age dynamics. I'm personally a lot more boring and I spent most of the show noddling and smiling whilst drinking overpriced "Liquid Death" sparkling water.

But anyway.. I maintain two sides of my business, and over 50% of my sales comes from custom tailored garments and custom shirts. Both of which are pretty formal. I delivered a lot of 3-piece suits this year. About a dozen tuxedos. Quite a lot of camel hair overcoats. And since the business is custom, the client can style the garment as mod as he likes.

Case in point... a client ordered this amazing grape Harris Tweed check sportcoat. He designed it as an Ivy-style sack with 3-roll-2, center vent, full liner, standard pockets, etc.

But.. I have the patterns on hand to do a more tapered cut, 3-button, slimmer lapels, hacking pockets with ticket, dual rear vents, butterfly liner... all of that stuff. You could get a slim trouser with a narrow leg opening to match.

Also.... stripes. I almost never offer them online clients almost never order them. But I have access to AMAZING striped wools of pretty much any color or weight. So if Thin White Duke or anyone else wants a super mod striped suit.. such things can be done. I'd love to make it! My website (epauletbrand.com) has a chat function which goes straight through to my phone, so you guys can always reach me there.