Now and then while watching TV, I find myself rewinding and pausing (and rewinding and pausing) to get a good look at something a guy is wearing. It then becomes less about the show that's on than the look I've zeroed in on. The grey shawl collar leather-lapel blazer Jude Law wore on Saturday Night Live a few nights ago presented one such example (see top photo above). He also wore it to the Tokyo premier of "Sherlock Holmes" back in February (see bottom photo above).
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This jacket is outrageously cool for a number of reasons... It's a unique statement piece that you won't find in just any store or clothing line. It shows his (or his stylist's) sharp eye for the distinctive. The jacket is a smart combination of elegant grey suiting fabric with the edgy black leather lapel and therefore presents a fun and compelling mix of styles. On top of that, grey is a universally flattering color, so most people who wanted to could wear this jacket and look great in it. And grey mixed with black is a no-fail color pairing.
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Jude definitely made improvements to the styling of this item since wearing it as a complete suit back in February. [Note: it's best not to split up your suit in this way. It causes the jacket and pants to wear out at different speeds, so when you put them back together, they no longer match each other perfectly. Of course, it's possible that Jude has a whole closet full of this suit across the pond, and he can therefore afford to break it up as he pleases.] He appears to have had its sleeves shortened since the "Sherlock Holmes" premier, which was a smart move. They were much too long there, at least in the image above (jacket sleeve length should never reach lower than where the thumb meets the base of the wrist). I also much prefer the black tuxedo pants as seen on SNL to the grey suit pants. Because the jacket is such a statement piece, the simple dark bottoms ground it and allow it to pop on its own. In contrast, wearing it as a complete suit with this much skin feels like he's trying too hard in a Miami Vice meets The Sopranos way, and therefore draws away from the jacket's cool factor.
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As for what he's wearing underneath, the look is strikingly better with the henley than with his heavage-happy u-neck shirt (also, I'm not sure what that excess black fabric poking out of the bottom of the jacket in his premier outfit is...another top, perhaps so low-cut we can't even see it?). We know Jude likes to show off his chest hair, but it feels misdirected with a suit. I'd also like to see the jacket-tux pants combo with a simple, crisp white v-neck (higher cut please).
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I haven't yet been able to figure out who the designer of this jacket is, but if and when I come across anything similar in my Tastehunting, I'll let you know!