Romesh Ranganathan's Celebrity Traitors Jacket, and How to Get It
Romesh Ranganathan turned up to The Celebrity Traitors in a jacket that looks like a tartan blanket was turned into a bomber. It's a knitted zip-up in mustard,...
Romesh Ranganathan turned up to The Celebrity Traitors in a jacket that looks like a tartan blanket was turned into a bomber. It's a knitted zip-up in mustard, green and navy check, with a dark corduroy collar, and he wears it over plain dark layers. In the Telegraph's piece on the cast's wardrobes, the show's cast stylist, Catherine Moran, summed up his approach as "streetwear-meets-heritage".
That label is a useful one to steal. The check is the heritage half, the sort of pattern you'd expect on a country-house armchair (fitting, given the castle). The shape is the streetwear half: a short zip-front jacket with the soft, boxy feel of a varsity or a Harrington. On their own, neither half is unusual. Together they look deliberate, which on a show where everyone is being watched that closely is half the game.
The check knit jacket from his cast portrait
Check knit zip jacket, dark layers, beads
In his cast portrait the jacket is basically the whole outfit. The check looks knitted in rather than printed, so it has the texture of a jumper and the structure of a jacket. The collar and cuffs are a dark cord that ties it back to the black underneath, and the only other details are tortoiseshell glasses and a stack of black beaded bracelets. No outlet has named the label, so treat the rail as the spirit of it: checked and knitted jackets that zip or button up.
Shop check and knitted jackets
The trick is how little is going on underneath. In the castle he wore it over a dark navy textured knit and black trousers, so the eye goes straight to the jacket and stays there. If the jacket you find is loud, keep everything else dark and plain.
The streetwear half: a short zip-front jacket
If a full check knit is more than you want, start with the shape. A Harrington is the obvious one: short, zipped, sitting at the hip. Mods wore it, then the football terraces did, and that history is why it reads casual rather than smart. Wear it with the same dark layers and you're halfway to the look.
The heritage half: check overshirts
Or come at it from the other side and take the check without the knit. A brushed or wool-look check overshirt does the same job in a quieter way. Wear it open over a black jumper, like a light jacket. Browns and navies keep it closer to the castle than to a lumberjack.
How to wear streetwear-meets-heritage
Choose one loud piece
The check jacket gets away with it because nothing else competes. If your jacket is busy, your jumper and trousers should be almost boring.
Match the dark colour in the check
His jacket has navy running through it, and the knit underneath is navy too. Pick out the darkest colour in your check and wear that underneath. It's the easiest way to make an outfit look planned.
Keep the shape short
A hip-length zip jacket reads as streetwear. A long check coat in the same pattern reads as a country walk.
Add something small and personal
The beaded bracelets and tortoiseshell frames are what make it his rather than a mannequin's. A watch you love or a ring you always wear does the same thing.
Of everything in the castle this series, his jacket is the piece most likely to work on a normal Tuesday. Stock and prices on the rails above change as things sell, so if a check jacket catches your eye, look for your size while it's there.