Once GQ magazine, in a feature on velvet jackets, had the headline “This Jacket Is Basically Foreplay”, meaning that this jacket is the foreplay of foreplay, implying that the feel of velvet is so attractive that it is impossible not to want to be touched repeatedly by the wearer’s companion. He even went on in the text to say that a soft velvet blazer not only suggests stylistic boldness, but invites the person next to us to approach it, to touch it, to caress it. Anyone who has one of these in their wardrobe I know agrees with the above statement and subscribes. The ways to wear it vary. The most common, which is appropriate for the holiday season, is with black pants, white shirt, leather lace-up shoes. Let’s say that this is the choice James Bond would make. The very daring would choose a total velvet look in the shade of burgundy. The classics might have preferred blue. The rockier types have the option of pairing the velvet jacket with a T-shirt, skinny black jeans and Chelsea boots. Even sneakers can match – brands like Saint Laurent and Tom Ford suggest it. In general, the velvet jacket has become versatile and adaptable, shedding its reputation as the formal, over-the-top, super-glamorous garment of the men’s wardrobe. Try it on this year… and let us know how the foreplay went!