How to Wear a Trophy Jacket: Military, Peplum and Brocade
A trophy jacket is the piece that does all the talking: brass buttons, a waist that flares out, a woven floral so dense it could reupholster a chair....
A trophy jacket is the piece that does all the talking: brass buttons, a waist that flares out, a woven floral so dense it could reupholster a chair. Net-a-Porter's style guide calls it the finishing touch, which is the useful way to think about it. You build a plain outfit, then you put the trophy on top.
They're back for autumn 2026, and quieter than the sequinned versions you'll remember from the 2000s. Marie Claire put trophy jackets at the top of its AW26 jacket trends, with military and peplum leading the way, and on 8 October it ran a piece on the formula Dua Lipa, Céline Dion and Sarah Pidgeon keep wearing: trophy jacket, jeans. It's 'jeans and a nice top' with the nice top promoted to outerwear.
Trophy jacket colours
Parade black and navy, khaki, brocade gold and oxblood, plus ivory to calm it all down.
Parade black
#141414
Navy
#1F2A44
Khaki
#6B6A3A
Brass
#B5893B
Oxblood
#5C1A1B
Ivory
#EFE8D8
Military jackets with brass buttons and braid
The military jacket is the easy way in, because you already know the shape. The AW26 runways went full parade with it. FashionUnited's round-up has Khaite running gold rope across a cropped black wool jacket, Balmain adding epaulettes and crest buttons to a cropped pilot jacket, and George Keburia sending out hussar jackets with rows of gold braid and faux poodle-fur trim. Skip the poodle fur.
On the high street it mostly means drummer jackets and khaki twill with metal buttons. Wear one over a white T-shirt and barrel-leg jeans, or with a satin slip skirt if you like a bit of friction between hard and soft. I'd keep the buttons as the only shiny thing near your face. Gold hoops, a gold chain and gold buttons all at once and you look ready to inspect the troops.
Peplum jackets with a nipped waist
Peplum makes people flinch, because they remember the 2012 peplum top. The jacket is better. Elisabetta Franchi's AW26 version was navy, with a stand collar, gold buttons and a pleated peplum at the waist: a military jacket that went to finishing school.
The flare does the shaping, so keep everything underneath straight and plain. Who What Wear's peplum advice applies here too: cropped and fitted shows off your waist, longer and slimmer gives you more cover. Choose by what you'll wear it over rather than how it looks on the hanger.
Brocade, jacquard and tapestry jackets
This is the loudest of the lot, and my favourite. Bustle called brocade and jacquard the season's most decadent jackets back in August, and Kim Shui showed one in moss-green jacquard with red and black faux-fur trim. A woven floral jacket looks like something your nan kept for best. Over jeans, that's exactly why it works.
Make the rest boring on purpose: blue jeans, a black roll neck, flat boots. If the jacket has a few colours woven in, take one of them for your bag or shoes and leave it there.
Sequin jackets, the original trophy
The 2000s trophy jacket was all sequins, and it never fully went away. It's the night-out option. Because the jacket is doing the work, a black vest and jeans underneath is plenty, and the jewellery can stay at home.
What to wear with a trophy jacket
Marie Claire's formula is jeans, and it's the right one. Straight-leg in a mid blue is the safest bet. Black wide-leg tailored trousers take the same jacket out to dinner or into the office. Either way, your bottom half should be the plainest thing you own.
How to wear a trophy jacket
Let the jacket be the loud part
Plain T-shirt, plain trousers. Jewellery stays in the drawer unless the jacket itself is plain black.
Match the jacket length to your trousers
Cropped jackets sit best over high-waisted jeans or a long skirt. A hip-length cut works over slim trousers, where a crop would chop you in half.
Repeat one colour, once
With brocade or tapestry, pull a single shade from the weave into a bag or boots.
Wear it on a weekday
A brocade jacket with jeans and trainers on a Tuesday is more interesting than the same jacket saved for one party a year, and you get far more wear out of it.
If you're after a jacket for every day rather than one people comment on, our funnel jacket guide and the transitional jackets edit are the ones to read. This one's for the jacket that makes you grin on the hanger. Prices and sizes move fast on statement pieces, so if one catches your eye, don't leave it in the basket for a fortnight.