On Your Marks: A Guide to Games Tailoring

A true piece of do-it-all tailoring, the Games suit is our romantic ideal of what casual tailoring can be. Unstructured, unlined, and functional in the extreme.

Dress it up, dress it down, throw into a suitcase and wear into the ground, it looks better each and every time you put it on. 

What’s more, the cotton Games suit is machine washable, so there is no need to mollycoddle it as with other tailoring. As the name implies, the Games series was inspired by the athletic clothing of the early 20th century (think rowing blazers, cricket flannels, and the like) and therefore can withstand the employment and mileage that comes with everyday wear. 

From the Mk. I’s debut in 2019, there have been seven iterations of our Games suit, and here we shine a light on the details that go into each model.

Mk. I

The original Games suit - sharp, slouchy, and cut for ease, with a slightly shorter and fuller silhouette than our traditional tailored jackets. Retaining the patch pockets and 3-roll-2 button stance, we added flaps to the hip pockets and completely removed any structure and padding for a classic workwear-inflected design.

The trousers, along with subsequent ones to follow, are styled on a classic chino, with a higher rise, single pleat and a fuller leg. A wealth of pockets, belt loops and side adjusters keep the utilitarian nature to the forefront, while a gentle taper below the knee, affords a clean, stylish silhouette.

Comfortable, practical and resilient, this is the Games suit in all of its versatile glory. A suit for all shapes and seasons.

Mk. II

Constructed with the same roomy, mid-century silhouette as its predecessor, the Mk. II offers a soft, boxy shape, but this time with a nostalgically charged peak lapel, and five functional keyhole buttonholes - reminiscent of classic workwear garb.

We also eschewed the flap pockets of the original model, in favour of patch pockets with chevron facing (which also feature the signature Drake’s ticket pocket on the right-hand side).

Mk. III

The third entry in our Games Blazer trilogy marks a departure from the previous two iterations with a double-breasted silhouette. Keeping the chevron detailing, the hip pockets are reverted to patch format, marrying the versatile durability of our chore jackets with the easy wearing, slouchy elegance of a 6x2 fastening and peaked lapel.

As our Creative Director, Michael Hill, puts it: ‘When you take a DB and remove the structure completely, you get this wonderful juxtaposition of high and low. It retains that timeless appeal, but becomes something a little more slouchy, a little more easy to approach.’

Mk. IV

The Games family is defined by a specific sensibility: one that, in an earlier time, may have been referred to as ‘sportswear.’

The Mk. IV is no different. Essentially, it is a variation on the theme of the original Games Blazer, the Mk. I. It’s a simple, single-breasted jacket with no lining or structure. Where the Mk. IV differs from the Mk. I is, firstly, in its pockets. The Mk. IV (in line with its name) has four patch-flap pockets on its front, we also broadened the lapels out slightly, to make it a touch more redolent of the 1970s.

A key feature of the Mk. IV are its pin buttons, which are removable for ease of washing, or to swap out the galalith buttons for military-inflected crest buttons.

Mk. V

A few festive seasons ago, we decided that evening wear needed an update, and so we developed the Mk. V - an irreverent take on the dinner suit, featuring a contrasting cotton sateen lapel and trouser piping.

Elsewhere, it’s business as usual, with patch pockets and a louche, unlined construction, combining the rugged sensibility of the Games series with the elegance and enduring appeal of a double-breasted dinner suit.

Mk. VI

A rarely-seen beast, the Mk. VI has fallen into legend of sorts, a single-breasted take on our dinner suit, this variant features patch-and-flap pockets, four button fastening, and silk faced lapels. One that may return, but for now is consigned to the annals of our archive. 

Mk. VII

Our Mk. VII Games suit was developed with woollen fabrics at the forefront, as such, it is slightly more sartorially-inclined than it’s kin (so no machine washing here) and features lined sleeves and slanted pockets on the hip and chest - reminiscent of the Barchetta pocket on our house block of sartorial tailoring and inspired by tweed sporting jackets.