Orlebar Brown’s 007 Heritage Collection was released to a lot of fanfare among the Bond community. The collection has several stand-out pieces (which will be covered in future blog posts) and a clear favorite is the Bond Linen Jacket.
The Bond Linen Jacket is inspired by Bond’s cream linen suit from On Her Majesty’s Secret Service. The Orlebar Brown jacket features a tailored fit, two-button closure, and flap pockets. The Orlebar Brown color, listed as “matchstick,” appears more like a shade of tan than the screen-accurate cream look but either color is great for a linen suit jacket.
The Orlebar Brown Bond Linen Jacket looks like a great suit jacket when you want a refined look during the warm summer months. But at $525, it costs more money than I’m willing to spend for a suit jacket. (When you add the trousers, the whole suit will cost you $900.)
There are a lot of budget-friendly options that will help you get the same look as the Orlebar Brown jacket at a fraction of the price. None of these are exact replicas but they will give you a similar look and, more importantly, give you the functionality of a linen suit jacket. The key features to look for are a light, neutral color (somewhere between tan and cream), two-button closure, flap pockets, and a linen or linen-blend construction.
Because we’re looking at suit jackets, you should still expect to spend up to a couple hundred dollars even for the budget-friendly options, but that’s still a fraction of the Orlebar Brown jacket’s $575 price tag. With that in mind, here are my budget-friendly picks for Orlebar Brown Bond Linen Jacket alternatives:
Under $100
H&M
Slim-Fit Linen Blazer in “Light Beige”
This is the only option on this list that is regular price at under $100. Because of that, you can expect it to be pretty basic but that doesn’t mean there’s anything wrong with it. This particular jacket is closer to a cream color than the Orlebar Brown version, and it has brown tortoiseshell buttons instead of monochromatic ones. But it features a two-button closure, flap pockets, and it’s 100% linen, making it a great budget-friendly option for a summer suit jacket.
Under $200
Banana Republic Factory
Slim-Fit Neutral Linen Blend Blazer
Even though its regular price is almost $250, I put this blazer in the “Under $200” category because it’s been on sale at various discounts for the past month or so. Like the H&M blazer, this is more cream colored than the Orlebar Brown jacket, but that does put it closer to the movie version. This linen-blend blazer features a two-button closure, flap pockets, and a single vent, so it has most of the same features as the Orlebar Brown jacket at a much more budget-friendly price. I have another suit from Banana Republic Factory and I’ve been pretty pleased with the quality, so I’d say this definitely seems like a good option for the money, especially if you can get it for under $100.
J. Crew Factory
Slim Thompson Suit Jacket in Linen in “Hemp Cross Dye”
Like the Banana Republic Factory option, this jacket from J. Crew Factory is currently available at a steep discount. Again, it ticks all the right boxes with a two-button closure and flap pockets, although the color is more of a cream than the Orlebar Brown’s “matchstick” color. This particular suit jacket also has double vents instead of the single vent. From my own experience, I can tell you that the Thompson suit jackets from J. Crew Factory seem to run a little long, so it might not be a great option if you have a short torso.
Mango
Slim Fit Linen Suit Blazer in “Beige”
This blazer from Mango shares the same key features as the other alternatives on this list –– a two-button closure, flap pockets, and a linen construction –– with a couple of key distinctions. The blazer’s beige color is closer to the Orlebar Brown version. And the buttons are a close match to the jacket’s color, which gives the Mango blazer a monochromatic look similar to the Orlebar Brown jacket. I have two linen blazers from Mango Outlet and I’ve been extremely pleased with both of them, so this blazer seems like a safe budget-friendly option.
Under $300
J. Crew
Ludlow Slim-Fit Stretch Cotton-Linen Jacket in “Cream”
This jacket is definitely a budget stretch. Honestly, $298 is more than I’d spend for a suit jacket, but I wanted to include it because it’s a good option from a solid brand and still almost half the price of the Orlebar Brown jacket. The cream of the J. Crew jacket seems a little more yellow than some of the other options on this list, which puts it closer to the Orlebar Brown jacket’s color. It also has a two-button closure, flap pockets, a double vent, and pickstitching, giving it many of the same details as the Bond Linen Jacket. I really like this jacket’s buttons –– they’re a light tortoiseshell so they provide just a touch of extra detail without the stark contrast of darker buttons. If the $298 price tag doesn’t bother you, this seems like a great choice.
There you have it! My picks of budget-friendly alternatives for the Orlebar Brown Bond Linen Jacket. (I originally had three more on the list but they sold out completely before I published this post.) Like I said before, these aren’t exact replicas, but they give you the same look and function as the Orlebar Brown jacket –– a good, light-colored, well-tailored suit jacket to get you through the summer.
What do you think of my recommendations? Are the colors too different? Do you have others for the list? Let me know in the comments below!
Bond on a Budget 