Asafari jacket orbush jacket is a garment traditionally made ofkhaki color lightweightcotton (drill orpoplin) with a self-belt,epaulets, and four expandable bellows pockets. Also known as asahariana, it was originally designed for going onsafari in the African bush. When paired with matching trousers or shorts, it is asafari suit.[1]
Lightweight, light-coloured uniforms were worn by European soldiers serving in warm climates from the 19th century and, little altered, throughoutWorld War II.[2] They typically featuredepaulettes, pleated pockets, belts and other features later found on safari jackets.
The earliest reference to a 'safari suit' listed inThe Oxford English Dictionary[3] is from an American newspaper in 1935. In 1936, author and adventurerErnest Hemingway designed a 'bush jacket' which was made byWillis & Geiger Outfitters. In 1939,Abercrombie & Fitch advertised safari jackets, shorts and trousers, of 'coat shirt style' for sports and leisure wear.[4]
In the 1960s and 1970s, safari suits became fashionable thanks to designer versions for men and women by, for example, French designersTed Lapidus andYves Saint Laurent, both of whom are among those credited with inventing and popularising the look.[5][6]
The safari suit is popularly associated with Australian fashion in the 1970s. It was sometimes worn by the formerSouth Australian PremierDon Dunstan.[7]
On 7 March 1974, male politicians in theNorthern Territory were given permission by the Speaker of the HouseLes MacFarlane to wear safari suits during sittings of theNorthern Territory Legislative Assembly. It was granted at the request of the Leader of the Opposition, MrJon Isaacs. The Speaker of the House said:
Honourable members, I have received a further request that the standard of male dress be relaxed to include safari jackets. I have been in touch with thefederal parliament and I find that the Speaker,Sir Billy Snedden, is allowing safari jackets with shirt and tie. He also allows one member to wear a safari jacket over an open-necked shirt. Therefore, I have decided to accept safari jackets as suitable dress in the Assembly. I must say that I do this very reluctantly because I feel that we have relaxed our standards too far. However, the precedent has been set. I might add that I will not allow T-shirts.
Charles, Prince of Wales famously wore a safari suit on his visit toAyers Rock withDiana, Princess of Wales in 1983.[citation needed]
Decades after they had ceased being fashionable, then-father of the housePhilip Ruddock wore a safari suit into theAustralian House of Representatives duringQuestion Time in 2015 as part of a charity drive.[8][9]
In India, the safari suit gained popularity through the 1970s influenced to a large degree by films (James Bond/Roger Moore) and some fashions trends from the west for warmer climates. The safari suit in India gained prominence when local synthetic fibre manufacture and supply was significantly increased in the later half of the 1970s.
Reliance Industries and other textile manufactures set up synthetic fibre plants in India significantly reducing the price of synthetic fibre and the Indian middle class jumped at the opportunity to be well dressed in a fabric which, though unsuited to India's climate was fairly cheap, easy to maintain and long-lasting.[10] The safari suit continued to be the de facto business attire, particularly in government/public sectors and the SMB arena in India, through the late-1990s. With India's growth over the 1990s, liberalization and with the middle class suddenly having more disposable income, the younger generations began to gravitate towards more modern western fashions such as suits and other business attire. Although it is still visible in some parts of India, the Safari suit is now indelibly associated with the so-calledLicense Raj—the slow, inefficient Indian bureaucracy of the 1970s and the 1980s.
.jpg)
Beginning in themid 2010s, a variant of the bush jacket, known as a shirt jacket orshacket, underwent a revival in the UK and Europe due to the popularisation of vintageworkwear by thehipster subculture.[12] These were frequently made from blue denim,cambric,seersucker, heavy cotton in olive green orkhaki, natural linen, orcamouflage cloth, and featuredpatch pockets.[13] Some had theepaulets, belt, and pocket flaps of the traditional safari jacket, while others did not.[14]
| Headwear |
| ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Neckwear | |||||||||
| Underwear andlingerie |
| ||||||||
| Tops | |||||||||
| Bottoms |
| ||||||||
| Full-body wear |
| ||||||||
| Outerwear and coats |
| ||||||||
| Legwear | |||||||||
| Footwear | |||||||||
| Accessories |
| ||||||||
| Specialized categories |
| ||||||||
| Dress codes |
| ||||||||
| Related | |||||||||
