How to wear velvet blazer

Lee Hovey

I love wearing blazers for the obvious reasons (layering, immediate hourglass, day-night potential), but I have one blazer that has stumped me.

My mother bought me a blazer very similar to this one, only mine is a deeper green, and a shinier velvet. I believe it is also a single button.
http://reviews.boden.co.uk/604.....geNumber=4

I adore it, but the first and only time I wore it I was told I looked like a lepprechaun. So I stuffed it in the back of my closet and haven't worn it since. It's been at least 2 years and now I am trying to squeeze as much creativity out of my wardrobe as possible and would love to use it.

How would you wear that blazer in order to banish the lepprechaun impression?
I typically dress in "smart casual" with some modern or edgy touche sometimes.

Thanks!

16 years ago

Dressing

13 replies

Latest reply was from Lee Hovey

taylor

Veteran

I really love how the model put this with black and then threw on the scarf to tie the colors in...is that something you could do with your exsisting wardrobe? Also this color would look great with a white tee and a pair of jeans I think.

16 years ago

bella

(website)

Veteran

It sounds like it could be a wonderful statement piece with black jeans, black turtleneck and even a black scarf.
Could you also wear it with skinny jeans and boots?

16 years ago

Lee Hovey

Active Member

You're right, I think the black mellows out the green a bit. I don't own any scarves (I know, the horror), but I will try it with the black at home and take pics to see how it looks.

16 years ago

Lee Hovey

Active Member

bella: I don't own any knee high boots right now, but I am about to get a pair of brown ones. I am not sure it would look good with brown though... hmmmm

16 years ago

shiny

Veteran

I like it with the black as well, to tone it down, but I would probably wear dark-wash jeans and add a black and white checked scarf - or my black and white houndstooth newsboy hat. I like the black, white and green - but I don't think the scarf in that picture really coordinates with the outfit underneath. It looks like "which one of these things doesn't belong" to me.

Another idea that popped into my head is to go super-preppy in a Lilly Pullitzer sort of way. I.e., add pink and lemon and other citrusey colors. Not sure if that's your thing though; I have always admired this look - on the right person - but it's not something I can personally pull off. (I bet Ana could!)

Or wear this over an all-cream outfit. Cream wool slacks, cream blouse, with metallic belt, shoes or purse.

If you could find a paisley scarf that had the same shade of green plus other colors, that could be great inspiration to tie an outfit together. You might try Talbots... I've often seen this shade of green there.

Otherwise, if I owned this jacket, let's see.... what would I do... I probably wouldn't own the Boden jacket because while I absolutely LOVE green, this particular shade doesn't work very well on me. But, you said yours was a deeper shade. Hmmm...I would see how it went with my tartan scarf, which has hints of green, light blue, navy in it. If it worked well together, then perhaps I'd go with an all-navy outfit underneath, either a navy sheath or dark wash jeans and navy top (shoes - probably black).

16 years ago

hanna

(website)

Active Member

i had the same dilemma with a mustard yellow cord blazer i bought on a whim a while back, heh. i'd go with black, navy or cream as base colors - mustard yellow, brown, a deep pink or turquoise seem like they'd be great accent colors too. i can even imagine it with some casual plaid! in deeper warm tones, maybe a dark brown and green base. how i'd wear it:

- over a black casual dress, with high black boots (flat or low heel) and a colorful or patterned scarf with a hint of green in it
- with a cream sweater tunic and dark skinnies, with a pair of dark brown boots - or a denim skirt and mary jane heels if it's warmer
- with flared or wide khakis and a casual cream knit top, one of those floaty, slightly billowy ones so the jacket can provide some waist definition

16 years ago

Tanya

Veteran

You have already gotten some amazing ideas. I just have one extremely simple one to add: great fitting dark wash jeans, beautiful white blouse, killer heels and statement necklace.

16 years ago

Antje

Veteran

My suggestion would be similiar to Tanya's - dark wash jeans, white blouse, and then I'd add a scarf or a brooch to accessorize. A scarf especially would be good, to help "blend" the blazer into the rest of the outfit, as it covers it up a bit if that makes sense.

16 years ago

Ana

(website)

Veteran

Sorry someone said such a mean thing about your blazer.

Oh, I love Shiny's suggestion of the citrusy Lilly Pulitzer colors. That's probably exactly what I'd do!

Also, you could incorporate a lot of shades of cream and bright pink into the outfit, with maybe a touch of soft yellow or gold, to make it kind of the colors of a rose (photos for inspiration):

http://www.commissionersam.com.....review.JPG
http://z.about.com/d/gardening....._Rose4.jpg
http://z.about.com/d/gardening....._Rose8.jpg

See how the green foliage and the rose offset eachother? This is kind of along the lines of Shiny's suggestion, only maybe a little softer, if a lot of bold colors scare you. You could even layer scarves. I made an outfit idea for you in Polyvore:

http://www.polyvore.com/green_.....id=5730395

16 years ago

Anonymous

All of you are brilliant to look at a jacket and envision so many beautiful ways to wear it. I just had to say that.

16 years ago

Lee Hovey

Active Member

Wow, thank you all so much!! You have certainly helped me make of list of MUST have pieces I need to add to my wardrobe to help build in bolder pieces like the jacket. Things like scarves, cream blouse, belts... etc... I have just recently started really caring about my fashion so I lack these... sad I know!!

The Lily Pulitzer idea just gave me a thought... I have a cotten bluse with a rouched scoop neck in a really soft yellow floral pattern on a creamy yellow base and it has a yellow ribbon belt.

So how about dark jeans, yellow top with the belt around the outside of the jacket, and cream heels? Or would you prefer inetgrating a third sherbett-y color?

16 years ago

Lee Hovey

Active Member

I apologize that these are horrible pictures, I forgot my digital camera in the car so I had to use my cell phone. I will post better pictures tomorrow if desired.

Blazer with yellow top and ribbon belt.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ke.....0288418882

When I dug through my closet to find the yellow top, I found this top too, though it was a possibility. It's fushia sheer with touches of cream and teal with a wide pink satin hem.
http://picasaweb.google.com/Ke.....4754074066

16 years ago

Lee Hovey

Active Member

I found a better example of the jacket I have. The color is pretty exact, my jacket just has a thicker, slightly shiny velvet.

http://www.nyandcompany.com/ny.....=cat720020

16 years ago

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