The Souvenir Jacket (featuring Brooklyn Cloth)

The Souvenir Jacket

I’d like to think World War II veterans would roll their eyes upon seeing celebrities in souvenir jackets, which walked runways last year and kept on walking right into spring/summer 2017. What I think veterans would find exasperating is that celebrities in souvenir jackets are attention-seekers. They are peacocks. But the souvenir jacket’s purpose isn’t to showboat. Like that tattoo of your ex’s name or a wine country hangover, the souvenir jacket’s purpose is to commemorate an experience. If you choose to wear one, you’re saluting World War II veterans and 1960’s Japanese counterculture, not Kanye or Katy Perry. 

\\\\The Origin Story\\\\

The souvenir jacket (sukajan in Japanese) emerged following World War II, during America’s occupation of Japan. As souvenirs of their time serving in the Pacific War, American soldiers had jackets hand-embroidered with maps, cherry blossoms, dragons, geishas, and less stereotypical images like a perfect SAT math score. The souvenir jackets were cut like American baseball jackets and were sometimes fashioned from the excess silk of military parachutes. Like millennials, each jacket was a special snowflake, one-of-a-kind. They were keepsakes of men who served their country. But they would later transform into a symbol of resistance. 

In the 1960’s, American fashion trends seeped into Japanese society, the youth embracing preppy pieces like Oxford shirts and bluejeans. As an act of nonconformity, the Japanese working class youth appropriated the souvenir jacket. (Spoiler alert: America fires back at Japan years later with a culinary insult, the Lion King Roll).

Today, a proper souvenir jacket carries the spirit of the originals, documenting the wearer’s travels or rebellion or both.

\\\\Brooklyn Cloth\\\\

So let’s talk about Brooklyn Cloth’s Signature Embroidered Souvenir Jacket. Full disclosure, Brooklyn Cloth sent me this jacket. Full disclosure, I sincerely like it. 

I like this jacket because Brooklyn Cloth acknowledges the jacket’s history. They’re not blindly piggybacking on a current street style trend; according to their website, they’re taking a piece of history and “[transforming] it into something…anyone traveling to New York would always remember.” The jacket features New York’s five boroughs embroidered across the back—a design that harks back to the maps of Japan that American soldiers had embroidered on the jackets of yore. Additionally, the jacket is reversible. This means two things: you’re getting two styles for the price of one, and you can use the jacket to trick a Trader Joe’s employee into giving you two samples.

Even if you’re just buying a souvenir jacket for grocery store hijinks, it’s important for you to choose a jacket that speaks to your experiences. In doing so, you’re honoring the jacket’s history—the soldiers that brought them home as keepsakes, and the blue collar youth that donned them in rebellion. In other words, do not buy just any flashy jacket. When you dress yourself in a way that doesn’t reflect who you are, you’re not wearing clothes—you’re wearing a costume. You’re masquerading. You’re a celebrity. The best clothes, and the best souvenir jackets, say something about you, the person wearing them. 

By that reasoning, Brooklyn Cloth’s souvenir jacket is just okay on me. Don’t get me wrong, I like its colorway and construction, but just because the seams fall in the right places and it hangs on me just fine doesn’t mean it’s a good fit. 

I do, however, have a nephew who braved the New York boroughs as a boy, who emigrated to California and left Brooklyn behind. This Brooklyn Cloth souvenir jacket is going to suit him well. Now that’s a good fit.

Buy the jacket here. And do not procrastinate. Brooklyn Cloth only produced 150 units and, like the affection of a cat, these jackets will disappear. As a thank you for checking out my blog, use the code BKCLUVK at checkout for a 10% discount. 

\\\\The Look\\\\

The Brooklyn Cloth souvenir jacket is a lightweight layer that will serve you well spring through fall. I wanted to channel the rebellious spirit of the 1960’s Japanese working class. The Oxford-style shirt by Publish Brand and Levi’s bluejeans are a nod to the preppy American fashion trends that seeped into Japanese society in the 1960’s. Converse sneakers are iconic Americana and round out the theme.

The jacket is the star, so keep your shirt and pants simple. It’s a Destiny’s Child situation. The souvenir jacket is Beyonce. Your shirt and pants are those other two.

\\\\Where To Wear\\\\

Try wearing this outfit to a movie date. The Oxford shirt says you’re dapper and the jeans suit the casual setting. It might be chilly in the theater, so you’ll be glad you wore a jacket to keep you and the Ziplock bag of popcorn you’re smuggling in comfortable. Just be sure to share (the jacket, not the popcorn).

\\\\The Threads

Souvenir Jacket: Brooklyn Cloth • Purchase here • Use code BKCLUVK for a 10% discount
Gerrit Oxford-style ¾-Sleeve Shirt: Publish Brand • Website 
510 Skinny Bluejeans: Levi’s • Website 
Low Top Converse: Converse • Website

\\\\Extra Credit\\\\

I designed these souvenir jackets and had them made in the Philippines. The black “K” on the left jacket incorporates a traditional Filipino textile pattern, and the jacket on the right is made from Philippine fabric. They reflect who I am because they blend American style and Filipino culture. And they eat their feelings.

Other jackets I like:

This jacket by Standard Issue has gorgeous embroidery. The phoenix represents rebirth, placing it year-after-year at the top of the list of classiest spirit animals.

Cockpit USA made this jacket, which references the designs of the original souvenir jackets with its embroidered map of the Hawaiian islands.