So, I just bought a second blazer, the exact same as the gray one I got last year, only black this time. Oh blazers, where have you been all my life? The gray one was my first, and I can't figure out why I haven't been wearing them all along. And then I started wondering if "blazer" was even the correct term, since the garment I bought was in fact listed under the J. Crew suiting section. So I googled it, and the first page of hits contained articles all aimed at men. The upshot: if you wear it with matching pants, it's a suit jacket. Ifyou don't, it's a blazer. Except if you want to get pedantic about it, in which case a blazer should be more of a nautically-inspired item that has brass buttons etc. One GQ article actually stated that a suit jacket looks goofy with jeans, as if you spilled your coffee in your lap at lunchtime and had to change.

So here's my question: are the rules the same for women? Because I wear my blazer (suit jacket) exclusively with jeans. I can't wear a suit. My life circumstances have never permitted regular suit-wearing. I was first a science teacher, then a housewife, and next September, an art student, for crying out loud. I'd look like a loon. But I just love the way the blazer looks with jeans and short boots, and I can't imagine giving it up. Please tell me the rules are different for women! Or at least tell me that GQ is wrong.