page_title: Safari jacket
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Safari jacket / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Khaki 1968, France Gift of Mary Russell, 96.84.8 YSL + Halston: Fashioning the 70s Photograph by Eileen Costa © The Museum at FIT.
context_page_description: A safari jacket or bush jacket is a garment originally designed for the purpose of going on safari in the African bush. When paired with trousers or shorts, it becomes a safari suit. A safari jacket is commonly a lightweight cotton drill or lighter poplin jacket, traditionally khaki in color, with a self-belt, epaulets, four or more expandable bellows pockets and often with cartridge loops.
context_section_description: Lightweight, light-coloured uniforms were worn by European soldiers serving in warm climates from the 19th century and, little altered, throughout World War II. They typically featured epaulettes, pleated pockets, belts and other features later found on safari jackets.
  The earliest reference to a 'safari suit' listed in The Oxford English Dictionary is from an American newspaper in 1935. In 1936, author and adventurer Ernest Hemingway designed a 'bush jacket' which was made by Willis & Geiger Outfitters. In 1939, Abercrombie & Fitch advertised safari jackets, shorts and trousers, of 'coat shirt style' for sports and leisure wear.
  In the 1960s and 1970s safari suits became fashionable thanks to designer versions for men and women by, for example, French designers Ted Lapidus and Yves Saint Laurent, both of whom are among those credited with inventing and popularising the look.
caption: Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche "Safari" jacket (1968)
exif: {"Image Copyright": "\u00a9 2014 The Museum at FIT"}