Match Fitness: Return of the Mac (Jacket)

Jordan Morris (above) put in another good showing this weekend. He may not have added a goal or an assist to his two goals from last week, but this look shows some savvy and understanding that he may have been lacking previously. It’s not a head-to-toe tonal look, but he’s mixing oatmeal-on-oatmeal-on-white with his shirts and jacket (another great work wear-influenced jacket from JMo) with black and grey in his pants and backpack in a way that makes it feel more accessible than the versions you might see at a Yeezy runway show.

Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications

I don’t have a ton to say about Kim Kee-Hee this week. The man’s look is casual, but stylish. On Saturday he looked a little bit like he’d just dropped his kids off at their first snowboarding lesson, but I’ll say this: what little of that sweater we can see is really interesting — it seems like it’s a mixture of white and black, rather than a somewhat reflective grey, and the contrast of textures between the sweater and jacket is really nice. Simple and clean, just like you want from a CB.

Mike Fiechtner / Sounders FC Communications

Three players, three very different looks and approaches to their games. I did some research and Brad Smith is wearing both a DSquared2 sweatshirt and jeans, which combined cost around $1,000. He looks good, which you’d expect, given the cost. That said, there’s not a lot going on here. It’s not a bad look, but there’s little creativity or originality. He’s got a pretty big, expensive bag, and he bought a lookbook outfit from a trendy brand. You could see that and assume he’s spent the most money on his outfit, but that might actually be wrong.

I can’t speak definitively on the rest of Chad Marshall’s clothes here, as I couldn’t make out enough detail to identify the rest, but that’s a $699 Arc’teryx parka he’s wearing; quintessentially Dad, not flashy, but an elite way to get the job done.

Gustav likely spent the least of the three of them on his outfit, although he’s got a pretty nice watch and a very classy wedding ring, and jewelry is expensive. That said, in general terms there’s not a lot of difference between his look and Chad’s — an untucked button-up shirt with slacks or chinos, a light-but-warm jacket — but the difference is in the details. Gustav opted for a quilted bomber that appears to be from Zara, the sleeves of which he then adjusted to allow a healthy bit of his shirt cuff to show, styling the jacket as if it were a sweater or a suit jacket. His fit is a little slimmer — this all may just be that European class showing through — and he finished it off with (I think) a pair of Nike Huaraches. It’s all very thoughtfully done.

Mike Fiechtner

Nico didn’t come as strong this week, in my opinion, as he did last week — the all-black look was world-class — but there are aspects of this look that are being executed at a very high level. While Kim worked a high contrast in textures with his sweater and jacket, Nico took a more subtle touch, as you may expect. His sweater and hat are similarly weighted knits, making a connection between the two of them that goes beyond just the color black. Even the shimmer of the logo on the hat is sort of reflected in the sweater in the way the knit catches the light. The size and fit of the hat are cool and a little bit unexpected with the jacket, but I personally don’t love the logo on it. It’s a little bit big and garish, and seems out of place, and I felt that way before I spent over an hour trying unsuccessfully to figure out what brand it was based on the logo. I still don’t know the answer to that.

I really like this jacket. It’s an unstructured blazer, you can tell from the softness of the lapels, and the way the sides and arms move. Given the fact that he’s moving and holding things, it’s hard to tell, but I think it might be a little bit too small to have layered it with the sweater, as it’s pinching a little bit in his shoulders. Other than that, the fit is great, sleeve length is perfect, the texture is really cool, and the color is really nice — somewhere between camel and beige.

Bryan Babcock / Sounders FC

Finally, grabbed from Bryan Babcock’s entrance video, we have Raúl Ruidíaz and Will Bruin. It’s a grainy screen grab, but they both look great. They’ve both got great coats/jackets here, Raúl’s being a camel topcoat, and Will’s being a dark olive Mac jacket. The lengths on both are perfect, hitting right around mid-thigh, and both fit exceptionally.

Both men reflect a little bit of their game in their outfits here. They’re both goal scorers, and there are plenty of similarities, but the differences are more notable. RR’s a little bit flashier, his coat’s a bit dressier, and his shirt, the way it’s tucked in, the way it’s unbuttoned, suggests a slickness, a smoothness. He sort of bookends the outfit with a high-top sneaker and a hat — he loves a hat.

Will doesn’t feel the need to tuck in his shirt, he’s just going to be taking it off. The Mac jacket seems a bit more everyman, and the look is grounded with a sturdy boot. That doesn’t give Will the credit he deserves, though. The choice of color on the jacket does show some boldness, as a more expected version would likely be navy or black, or maybe a khaki color. The fit of his pants is slim and stylish, and I think his boots, if you could see them, are actually more of a Chelsea boot than a work boot. RR is going to keep knocking goals in, and if confidence is any indication, I think Will is going to do the same when he gets his chances.

I spent five years working for Nordstrom, with the last three spent working as a Visual Merchandising Stylist primarily focused on men’s fashion.