Originally Posted by
mmack
One of the reasons I'm questioning is that when we go into some restaurants in Italy(Ie Alle Testiere) half the men are in sweaters/shirtsleeves and vest: they look like locals or at least European. We don't want to seem "overdressed"
From long experience, a man in a blazer will not seem overdressed in any restaurant. Even in a casual place, he can always take it off, drape over a chair, and he's in shirt sleeves.
And in a world of men wearing sports jerseys with someone else's name on it as clothing (isn't it really a costume) that jacket sometimes accrues benefits.
(As an earlier poster mentioned, I always wear a blazer - well, more accurately a sports coat - when I travel. Pockets.)