When you grow up in the British schooling system, you wear a school uniform with a blazer for twelve years of your life. When you compete in dressage, you wear a riding jacket, which is a blazer, to shows. If you loved the ‘80s, you wore blazers with linebacker shoulders to look as broad as possible up top. When you suited up in the ‘90s, you wore black pinstripe blazers with just about anything. And if you enjoy Modern Classics, Preppy looks, and Tomboy style at some point along your style journey, you’re going to like blazers. All this to say that blazers have been part of my life since I was five years old, and that probably won’t change.
As a straighter hourglass with a slight frame, I find blazers easy to fit as long as the silhouettes are narrow. That might be one of the reasons they’ve featured as a wardrobe essential or statement piece for my style for what seems like forever. I also like the structural, dressy, versatile, professional and authoritative integrity that comes with a tailored blazer.
Autumn has hit Seattle, which means that toppers are the order of the day, and heavier weight blazers are perfect for this time of year. I’ve been weening myself off leather jackets and motos, I don’t wear cardigans, and bombers aren’t my thing. This leaves me with the fabulous blazer, which I’m happy about since I’m craving structure on this leg of my style journey.
I kept on reaching for a fun blazer to wear with jeans and trousers — but I didn’t have one. I had three Fall weight blazers: two tweed Smythes, and an ink blue Theory blazer. The exact items are shown in the collection. I love them, but they aren’t “fun.” They are strict, neutral, and missing a playful component. I had a wardrobe hole.
I set out to find a playful Fall-weight blazer and found exactly what I wanted at Boden. A velvet floral blazer, and an ink blue blazer with self-colour velvet polka dots. They both fit like a dream, and are absolutely impeccably made. The quality is WOW. I thought long and hard about which one to keep. The velvet floral ticked off all the boxes. It’s a nice nod to the velvet and floral trend, gorgeously Modern Retro, unique, non-neutral, and will cheer me up on a grey Seattle day. Slam dunk. But the ink blue, despite being neutral, stole my heart because of the self-colour polka dots. It looks very sharp, and also fably equestrian. It qualifies as “fun” because of the dots. They both earned a place in my wardrobe.
I like tailored blazers with fluidity. I don’t want my blazers too snug. I like a lot of structure around the neck and shoulders, but a slightly more fluid fit around the torso, hips and sleeves. To my eye, the fit looks more luxurious and chic than a very tailored blazer. More comfortable too.
I love these new blazers. I’ve worn both of them frequently over the last few weeks. With a wardrobe rich in both neutrals and non-neutrals, as well as my love for pattern mixing, creating many ready-to-go outfits with the darlings is easy. They also work seamlessly well with my new olive capsule, and can be layered under most of my coats. That way I can wear them right into the dead of Winter, and give my big chunky pullovers a break. I’m back to layering sleek, fine gauge knitwear under blazers and wearing them under coats. Refreshing.
