Chanel Jackets

Vintage Chanel jackets are quintessential tweed garments that have been a wardrobe staple of chic women around the world since the 1950s.

The Chanel jacket reacted against the fitted, constricting styles of Christian Dior’s New Look, replacing them with a design that was timeless, an instant classic. It was, after all, based on a cardigan, and, as Parsons School of Design associate teaching professor Patrick Michael Hughes notes, “a cardigan never goes out of style.”

Chanel blazers allowed women to move with ease, as a young cardigan-clad Coco Chanel proved while gallivanting around Paris during the Jazz Age. The designer’s suits also reflected her efforts to create comfortable clothing for women.

In Switzerland, Chanel chafed at her post–World War II exile. It was not just that her income from Chanel No. 5 was dwindling. On top of that, as the eponymous founder of the colossal French luxury house saw it, Christian Dior’s New Look was making women dress like decorative objects. On February 5, 1954, during the showing of her first post-return collection, the Chanel jacket made its debut.

For her universally renowned garment, Chanel eliminated key elements of traditionally tailored jackets: shoulder pads, darts, interfacing and even collars. Any detail that could impede movement was scrapped. To Chanel, luxury and comfort were inseparable. She added pockets — four real pockets, large enough for a real woman’s hands (plus lipstick, keys and, yes, cigarettes). A slim chain hidden in the silk lining ensured that the garment hung gracefully from the shoulders. Golden buttons, stamped with the house’s double C, were each accompanied by a button hole, a novel feature at the time. (And how can you tell if a Chanel jacket is genuine? First, as with any luxury brand, know your logo.)

Some version of the classic Chanel jacket has likely walked every Chanel runway since 1954. Yet its attraction is undiminished.

Find a range of vintage Chanel women's jackets and other Chanel clothing and accessories on 1stDibs.