Blazer, originally inspired by the sea, was reserved for the upper class. But today, blazer has become a treasure that enhances the elegant style of anyone who knows how to use it.
Blazer or Vest
In Vietnamese, some people use the word vest/suit, some call it blazer, all of which are used to name a vest-collared jacket. If it is a jacket worn with matching trousers or skirt, it is called suit/vest. And a jacket without matching trousers is called a blazer.
Basically, these two products are quite similar. However, there are still many small differences, lying in the shape, fabric material...
The Birth of the Blazer
The blazer is a variation of European court dress for men.
The word jacket comes from jaquette, a long coat worn by European royals from around the 14th century. The jaquette is knee-length and embroidered, padded, or lined with fur for warmth.
Then the coat got shorter. Different materials and colors were used to make coats. The nobility created a similar style to the jaquette, but shorter to the hips and made of tweed to keep them warm when hunting. This is the sports coat that is still popular in men's fashion today.
Many sources say that the blazer first appeared as a uniform for women. In 1825, the Lady Margaret Rowing Club at Cambridge University adopted a tight-fitting button-up jacket as their uniform. This jacket was a blazing red color, so it was conveniently called a blazer.
Today, sailing clubs still wear blazers as uniforms. However, with the evolution of fashion, sailing blazers are no longer limited to the red color scheme.
Lady Margaret Boat Club of St. John's College, Cambridge University. Photo: Cambridge
Another source claims that the blazer was a creation of the British Royal Navy. The name blazer comes from the battleship HMS Blazer, which received a visit from Queen Victoria in 1837. To welcome the queen, the soldiers changed their uniforms to something more formal. They wore a navy blue double-breasted jacket with the ship's crest.
At that time, the Royal Navy had no standard uniform. Each ship had complete control over its own uniform. Legend has it that Queen Victoria loved the design of the HMS Blazer so much that she ordered the Royal Navy to adopt it as a uniform. When it was officially adopted in 1857, the blazer became a phenomenon in the UK and from there spread around the world.
The products of the upper class become the clothes that the young people imitate.
The history of the blazer shows that it was once a uniform that identified a powerful segment of the British Empire. These included prestigious universities, which had the funds to sponsor an expensive sailing club. And the British navy, which was selective in its selection of elite sailors.
However, the jacket gradually entered the working class from the 20th century onwards. In the 1910s and 1920s, the striped blazer was especially popular with dandies in America, thanks to advertising from the Brooks Brothers brand.
The straight silhouette of the blazer was also favored by the British Mods in the 1960s. Since then, the blazer has become an item that defines the elegant British style.
However, the blazer has not completely lost its luxurious character. Nowadays, competitions favored by the upper class such as boat racing, rowing, horse riding, etc. still use blazers as uniforms. These blazers are always embroidered with the badge of the racing team, the family, or the financial support unit for the team, demonstrating the social status of the wearer.
What are the characteristics of a blazer?
Soft straight shoulders . Vests/suits have shoulder pads, sleeves are slightly puffed compared to the shoulders. Blazers usually do not have shoulder pads, sleeves are straight.
Comfortable fit . Blazers are designed to be worn over multiple layers of clothing, such as a hoodie. Therefore, they are loose fitting, not as tight as a vest/suit. In addition, they are not lined with thick fabric to avoid causing bulk when worn.
Designed to be worn with mismatched pants . These can be jeans, sweat pants, joggers, cargo pants, linen pants…
The material is more diverse than the suit . The suit needs to be consistent. Therefore, the fabric must be durable and resistant to tearing to be suitable for sewing pants. On the contrary, the blazer does not need to be consistent so you can freely experiment with many materials, even fragile ones like silk.
There are many modern variations . Nowadays, blazers are also transformed into dresses for women to wear to the office. Besides, this type of shirt has many button styles, lengths and lapel designs.
Blazers are suitable for the relatively relaxed dress code of business casual and casual chic, or for fine dining. However, they are not suitable for formal meetings, black tie or white tie dinner parties.
Blazer selection tips
No longer the traditional vest style that seems too “rigid” for women, the blazer style in recent years has breathed new life into the elegant and liberal fashion style of modern ladies. However, the advertising images we often see are too perfect while most Vietnamese women do not have that dream body shape, so how should you choose?
Although it is not a picky item, and is even hailed as a secret to hiding body flaws, the way to mix & match outfits with blazers for women also has its own principles. Especially, when you have passed your youth with a slim figure or inherently have some flaws, you need to pay attention to the following 3 important things to be able to wear a blazer beautifully no matter what your body shape is:
Watch your waist!
A beautiful figure is not about whether you are tall or short, but the balance between the parts, especially the length of the legs compared to the height of the body. When you are no longer too young, most women will no longer be slim, causing the legs to seem shorter whether you are tall or not. Meanwhile, blazers with a long, loose shape can easily make your body wider horizontally. Therefore, when wearing blazers for mature women, even if you do not like to button them to enjoy the feeling of freedom under the shirt, you should prioritize using a belt to create an accent for a slimmer waist. The belt color should be dark enough to emphasize the waist but not too prominent and dividing the body into two parts will create the opposite effect to the effect you are using.
If you are still determined not to wear a belt, you should choose blazers with deep hems to help the bottom of the shirt flare out, creating the feeling of wider hips and a slimmer waist. At the same time, you should also combine them with high-waisted pants or skirts to "cheat" visually, both lengthening your legs and making your body look slimmer.
Choose soft materials!
Blazers with stiff fabrics are only for slim or tall people. If you are not in that "standard", you should choose a material with moderate softness to avoid being "swallowed" into the shirt. The material should not be too loose, which will not create a shape and elegance for the wearer. If you are not tall, you should not choose short or too long blazers. The ideal length for a blazer to suit all body types is just past the hips.
No tight shirts inside!
When your figure is no longer slim, it means your waist is no longer as toned as before and in many cases is often joked about as a "bread" waist. Unless you exercise regularly, otherwise you need to have a way to hide that defect when wearing a blazer. In a loose outer jacket, you certainly do not want that waist to stand out more with a really tight shirt inside. Therefore, follow the "loose shirt" rule when choosing to wear under a blazer. At the same time, the fabric of the shirt should also be very soft like silk or chiffon to create a contrast that honors the personality of the blazer worn outside.
In addition to the usual collared shirts and blouses, you should prioritize choosing V-neck shirts to wear inside. Along with the V-shape of the blazer lapel, the harmony with the V-neck of the inner shirt will help create a gentle layer transition while helping to lengthen the ivory neck, highlighting the radiant face, attracting the eyes of the opposite person instead of paying attention to the lower part.
Blazers were previously considered a rather boring fashion item because they were only suitable for formal events. However, in the contemporary fashion cycle with new style variations, blazers have become one of the great items to create a trendy style for women.
Blazer dress: A new feminist manifesto in contemporary women's fashion
Luxurious and sexy, the blazer dress is considered a feminist statement in the new era with a hard shoulder structure, a tight waist that creates a slim feeling, helping women show off their beautiful hourglass figure. In addition to combining with turtlenecks, shirts or sheer or transparent silk shirt designs, today the trend of wearing a blazer dress to hide underwear is also extremely loved by many beauties in the Vietnamese and world entertainment industry.
In addition, when it comes to accessories, women often choose a classic, luxurious handbag style when wearing this blazer dress. However, to create more novel combinations when wearing a blazer dress, women can choose a fanny pack or replace it with a wide belt worn around the waist. And finally, blazer dresses are most beautiful when combined with high-heeled boots, especially boots that are close to or above the knee.
Color Block: Unique color combinations for stylish outfits
The way to coordinate clothes with many tones on the same set of clothes is considered one of the ways to highlight the fashion style of ladies. With at least two different tones, ladies can freely fly with their stylish mix & match ideas. However, not everyone is confident with the combination of outfit colors without the overall imbalance, to solve that worry, the color wheel will be a great assistant for ladies in choosing the most suitable color.
In general, to have a beautiful color block outfit with a blazer, you need to know the following 3 basic combinations. The first is how to combine two or more color shades close to each other on the color wheel. Ladies can choose a standard color tone, then choose one or two more tones in the adjacent position of the standard color tone. For example, with the standard scarlet red tone (5), the suitable color gamut to create a color block outfit is orange (5) and pink (5).
The second is the way to combine two or more contrasting tones. With this color combination, you can choose two color shades in two opposite positions on the color wheel, which are a warm tone and a cool tone. For example, the color pair of mustard yellow (4) and lilac (4).
The third color combination used by many famous fashion houses in the past seasons is the color combination in the perpendicular position. This combination creates new and modern outfits. With only one standard color tone, ladies can compare it in the perpendicular position on the color chart to find the right color shade. For example, the color pair of olive green (3) and sandstone orange (2).
Shine with trendy minimalist outfits
For those who love minimalism but still express their own fashion personality, minimalism is the style that women are looking for. Especially this Fall and Winter, layering with a minimalist blazer is the perfect choice to go to any event or event.
With minimalism, ladies can choose a blazer design accented with a structured belt for a more personal, luxurious look.
Très-chic: The Americana of chic Parisian girls
The image of graceful Parisian girls gracefully strutting their stuff in luxurious floral silk dresses or simply turtlenecks combined with pleated skirts and loosely draped cardigans has captivated many eyes. No longer simply the luxurious beauty of timeless fashion items, the très-chic style also brings a youthful spirit and a distinctly American personality to modern girls.
The combination of blazers and classic fashion items according to the très-chic formula promises to reign this Fall Winter fashion season. Ladies can choose for themselves structured or unstructured blazer styles to combine with pleated dresses, turtleneck dresses, T-shirts, wide-leg pants...
Monochrome: The outfit trend that never stops being "hot"
Monochrome is one of the styles that is always on the wish-list of ladies every fall and winter. Monochrome is not only limited to the tone-sur-tone range for the overall outfit, but is varied with many different shades of the same color to create outstanding accents. Ladies can choose materials to highlight the monochrome outfit such as leather, suede, silk fabrics... or color shades such as green including olive green, pine green, seafoam green... This fall and winter, in addition to warm tones such as earth tones (ivory, brown, beige...), pine green, purple, ochre yellow will reign in women's fashion.
Personality and youthfulness with normcore style
A normcore outfit for an afternoon coffee date or picnic with friends is the perfect idea. Randomly combining items available in the wardrobe has never been easier when women already own a stylish blazer. You can combine a blazer with a hoodie, t-shirt, skirt or wide-leg pants to have a youthful, dynamic and extremely individual look with normcore style for the Fall-Winter fashion season.
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