The album was received favourably by the majority of music critics, although opinions have become more negative in subsequent decades and it has rarely been featured in "Best Albums of the 1980s" lists since. It won three Grammy Awards including for Album of the Year in 1986. Stephen Holden of The New York Times wrote that Collins was "quietly revolutionising and expanding the role of the drums in pop record making". Rolling Stone reviewer David Fricke wrote that, "Like his '81 and '82 outings, Face Value and Hello, I Must Be Going!, No Jacket Required is not an album that waits to be liked". Collins' most commercially successful solo album, it reached number one in several countries, including the US (where it was at the top of the charts for seven weeks), the UK and Canada. According to the RIAA, the record sold over twelve million copies in the US, and in the UK, the album sold over two million copies, and was certified 6× platinum. It was the second-best-selling album of 1985 in the UK, beaten to first place by Dire Straits' Brothers in Arms. Worldwide, the album has sold over 25 million copies, making it one of the best-selling albums of all time.
Many of the songs, including "Take Me Home", and "Long Long Way to Go", have been featured in episodes of Miami Vice and Cold Case, and "The Man with the Horn" was re-written and re-recorded for the episode "Phil the Shill". "We Said Hello Goodbye" was remixed for the film Playing for Keeps.
Following the release of the album Collins embarked on the successful No Jacket Required World Tour. At the end of that tour, Collins performed at both the London and Philadelphia Live Aid concerts on 13 July 1985. During the tour, Collins recorded the song "Separate Lives" with Marilyn Martin for the movie White Nights, which was a number-one hit in the US and a top-ten hit in the UK. Remixes of six songs from the album were later included on the 12"ers compilation album, released in 1987.
Some of the songs from the album emerged from Collins' improvisations with a drum machine, including the singles "One More Night" and "Sussudio". Collins started singing "one more night" to an attempt of making a beat similar to The Jacksons, and improvised "sus-sussudio" in another. Collins tried to replace the lyric with another phrase but decided to keep that way, leading to lyrics about a schoolboy crush on a girl at his school. Another song created mostly through improvisation, "Don't Lose My Number", was described by Collins as having been written mostly during the recordings for his first solo album, Face Value. Collins added that he does not fully understand the meaning of the lyrics, described by reviewer Stephen Holden of The New York Times as "vague, sketching the outlines of a melodrama but withholding the full story".
Other songs were written with a more personal message. "Long Long Way to Go" is often considered one of Collins' more popular songs never to be released as a single (although it received considerable airplay), and was at that point in his career his most political song. Former Police lead vocalist Sting provided backing vocals for the song. Sting and Collins first met through Band Aid, and became good friends after performing together in Live Aid. Collins was working on a song, and thought that Sting, having played at Band Aid, would relate to it very easily. Collins asked Sting to help him provide vocals for this song, and Sting accepted.
"Doesn't Anybody Stay Together Anymore" is another song in which Collins was making a personal message. The song was made in response to everyone around him getting a divorce, including his manager, friends and himself years before. Collins later said that he sang this at Charles, Prince of Wales' 40th-birthday party, not knowing that the Prince's divorce from his wife, Diana, Princess of Wales, would happen a short time later. The Phil Collins Big Band played this live on tour. In later years, Collins performed a re-arranged version of the song as a ballad as part of his Seriously, Live! World Tour, differing considerably from the original up-beat album version.
"Take Me Home" is another song in which the meaning was originally very vague. At first listening, it appears that the song is about going home, but this is not true. Collins has stated that the song lyrics refer to a patient in a mental institution, and that it is very much based on the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Peter Gabriel, Helen Terry and Sting all provide backing vocals. The music video (shot during the NJR tour) features Collins in multiple cities around the world, including London, New York City, Tokyo, Moscow, Sydney, Paris, Chicago, St. Louis, Los Angeles (Hollywood), San Francisco, and Memphis (Graceland). At the end of the music video, Collins arrives home and hears a woman (presumably his wife) from inside the house asking him where he has been. He replies by saying he has been to some of the cities mentioned above. The woman replies "You've been down at the pub, haven't you?", as Collins grins at the camera.
"We Said Hello Goodbye" appeared as a B-side to "Take Me Home" and "Don't Lose My Number" originally, and as an "extra track" on the CD release of the album. Producer Arif Mardin composed the beginning portion of the song. A remix of the song with additional guitars and without an orchestra was released the following year (1986) on the soundtrack for the movie, Playing for Keeps. This remixed version received some radio airplay around the time of the soundtrack's release (which coincided with the No Jacket Required period), though it did not chart. Collins has mused that the song is unfairly classed as a "second class citizen", stating that the song would have been looked at differently if it were added to the album. According to The New York Times reviewer Caryn James, the song is "a straightforward comment on leaving home".
"The Man with the Horn" was originally recorded during sessions for Collins' second solo album Hello, I Must Be Going! in 1982. However, the song was not released until it appeared as the B-side to "Sussudio" in the UK, and as the B-side to "One More Night" in the United States. Collins has said that he has "no emotional attachment" to the song. Music by The Jackson 5 inspired Collins to write the song "I Like the Way", which also did not appear on the album, originally appearing as the B-side to "One More Night" in the UK and "Sussudio" in the US. He called the song "dodgy" and has cited it among his least favourite songs.
The album is named after an incident at The Pump Room restaurant in Chicago, Illinois. Collins, entering the restaurant with former Led Zeppelin lead vocalist Robert Plant, was denied admittance because he did not meet the restaurant's dress code of "jacket required" for dinner while Plant was allowed in. Collins was wearing a jacket and argued about it. The maître d'hôtel argued that the jacket was not "proper". Collins said in an interview with Playboy that he was, at that point, never so mad in his life.
After the incident, the singer often appeared on shows such as Late Night with David Letterman and The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, denouncing the restaurant and telling his story. The management of the restaurant later sent him a complimentary sport coat and an apology letter, stating that he could come to the restaurant wearing whatever he wanted.
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