4-Bar Blazer — Black, US 38 / TB Size 2 (M)

The four-bar stripe is the closest thing Thom Browne has to a signature, and its placement is the whole joke: four white bands ringing the left sleeve, borrowed wholesale from the sleeve stripes of athletic jerseys and varsity sweaters, then applied to the most formal garment in the wardrobe. Nothing else about the blazer acknowledges that it is happening. The tailoring underneath is deadpan mid-century American — narrow, short, three buttons, built to the same unbending template the house has used since 2003.

Cut in black with a three-button closure at the front, in Thom Browne's designer size 2, which corresponds to a US 38 or M. The house's suiting is drafted deliberately slim and short through both body and sleeve, so the shoulder sits tight and the hem lands high — the proportion is the point rather than an error of fit, and anyone between sizes will want the next one up.

It reads as the most legible object in the Thom Browne vocabulary: a serious black blazer wearing four stripes it has no structural reason to wear, which is exactly how the brand argues that formality and absurdity are not opposites. The stripe does all of the talking and the tailoring pretends not to hear it. Size US 38 / TB Size 2 (M).