The Nehru wedding jacket: is it right for you?

The Nehru wedding jacket is really something special. Such a striking difference from a traditional western suit. Historically, it was modeled on the Indian achkan or sherwani, a garment worn by Jawaharlal Nehru, the Prime Minister of India from 1947 to 1964. It has a beautiful minimalist aesthetic.

Although the jacket, and its variants, have been popular at traditional Indian weddings for some time now, many of you may remember the James Bond film Dr. No, where the villain (Dr. No) immortalized the jacket.

One of our clients recently made a great looking Nehru wedding jacket, and one that we think, has a very modern look in this dark navy cloth.

So, aside from the obvious difference in cut when compared to a Western suit, is a Nehru jacket really all that different? Clearly, there is no lapel and in its place, a banded collar. But otherwise, there aren’t too many differences.

For instance, here’s a picture of the chest pocket, just like on a traditional suit. I suppose you could even wear a pocket square!

Side pockets are besom style for a clean look and are the same size and shape that you’d expect on a traditional western suit.

This jacket had a fun paisley jacket lining in a luxurious red hue, but you could choose any one of our fun jacket linings.

Subtle blue accent stitching was a careful nod to the navy blue cloth, while also showing off the jacket’s construction.

But there’s plenty of room for creativity if you wanted to change some details. For instance, we can easily adjust the height of the collar, the side pocket style, and the lining, just to name a few. Also, any one of our fabrics can be made up in a Nehru style: plaid, striped, cashmere, etc.

Wrap up: the Nehru wedding jacket

All in all, this is one cool jacket. The clean lines of the Nehru style are perfect for a modern aesthetic and work well for today’s fashion forward groom. Skip the dress shirt, grab a pocket square, and you’re good to go!

Looking for some other unique alternatives to the standard suit? Here’s a thought on wearing a cardigan in a dressy color. And when you’re ready to pick out a fabric for your suit, here’s a little background on fine woolens.