What’s a Blazer?
It’s a form of jacket which looks similar to a suit jacket but with a more casual cut about it. The blazer is distinguished from a sport coat as being more formal and solid color fabrics are used for its tailoring.
Frequently, blazers will come with naval-style metal buttons which is intent on reflecting one aspect of their origins as an English boating man’s jacket.
The cloth used to manufacture a blazer is of a durable nature. Blazers are often worn as part of a uniform, such as by airline employees, sports club members, or a particular team’s athletes. They are also popular wear among schools.
Who Wears a Blazer?
Blazers can be worn together with a large variety of other clothing, which ranges from an open-necked polo shirt to a dress shirt and necktie, to a plain tee shirt. They also can be worn with trousers of any color or fabric, from grey flannelling to classic white linen or cotton, to beige or brown chinos, to jeans.
Many schools use blazers as part of their uniform. These blazers are more traditional than the present-day standard, and usually come with a single-breasted pocket, and in bright colors together with vertical piping.
The style is also donned by various boating clubs, like those of Oxford and Cambridge in England, where the piped blazer may only be worn for certain, more special occasions, such as a boating club dinner. Given this scenario, the piping represents college (university) colors.
Two famous American sporting events utilize the blazer in order to convey a sense of victory. Those events are the Congressional Cup Regatta at the Yacht Club at Long Beach, and the Augusta, Georgia Master’s Golf.
The Congressional Cup Regatta awards the winner with a crimson blazer, while the Master’s blazer is green.
Although the green blazer at the Masters event may not accentuate the height of fashion, the jacket awarded to the winner of the tournament is in fact one of the sports’ most coveted prizes.
That particular blazer was not always used as a trophy, but instead, at the tournament’s instigation in 1933, the founder, Clifford Roberts, had intended it to be worn by members so they would stand out among the crowd.
Further History of the Blazer
The term “blazer” originated with the Lady Margaret Boat Club in 1825, which was St. John’s College, Cambridge rowing club. The rowing club’s jackets were termed this way given the bright red cloth used in their construction, the color hailing from “Redcoats” which was the color used previously for the British army.
The name was not derived from HMS Blazer, as many assertions have been made, although, apparently, prior to the British Royal Navy’s standard uniform, the crew of HMS Blazer did wear jackets that were striped in blue and white.
Notwithstanding, the reefer jacket, which was of British naval origin, is considered to have been one of the original inspirations for the blazer. These reefer jackets were short, double breasted jackets which were worn in harsh weather conditions by sailors whenever they were to carry out duties such as reefing the sails.
In the early 1960s and the late ‘70s and ‘80s, striped blazers were popular among British Mods, particularly in thick or thin striped format with three colors. They were also common-place among mod-oriented and other bands of the same or slightly later era such as The Who, the Small Faces, The Yardbirds, The Animals, The Troggs, The Kinks, The Rolling Stones, and also The Beatles.
The earlier format of the striped blazer was used in the notorious British film, Quadrophenia.
More latterly, Austin Powers adopted the blazer as part of the Swinging London look.
Moving into the 2000s and the blazer became popular wear in terms of fashion among trendy females. These blazers normally came with shorter lengths than traditional blazers, had rolled up sleeves, various lapels, and were manufactured in bright colors.
Albeit a rather untraditional style of blazer, over at Ugly Christmas Sweaters, there’s a harmonious selection of blazers which are ideal for Christmas and New Year wear. Amaze all your family and friends by choosing from either the Sequin Humping Reindeer Blazer Jacket or the Sequin Ginger Bread Man Blazer Jacket.
