Fashion Friday: When To Wear A Blazer

April 30th, 2010 | Author: Parker Mason

A couple of months ago, I asked readers of BlogCampaigning when it is okay to take off your suit jacket in a meeting.

There was some great discussion around that topic, and I’ve decided to follow it up with what I hope is another question that can help me out:

When is it okay to wear a blazer?

Not being incredibly fashion-forward, my original phrasing of this question to a friend was, “What’s the deal with guys that wear suit jackets with different coloured slacks? That just looks tacky.” My friend quickly pointed out that these guys are wearing blazers, and that these are less formal (“sportier”) versions of the suit jacket.

My take on it is that if you’re going to bother putting on a suit jacket (sporty or not), match the pants to it. Otherwise, it looks like you just pulled out the first two things you saw in your closet. The fact that 3 of the first 10 results in Google for “When is it okay to wear a blazer?” are for how women should wear them doesn’t instill a lot of confidence in me that this is an appropriate look.

AskMen.com has an article titled Men’s Blazers: 6 ways to wear them. In order, these ways are:

1. With a deep V-neck cardigan

2. With a plaid shirt

3. With a chunky patterned knit

4. With heavily distressed denim

5. With cargo pants

6. With combat boots

And none of these six ways seem like good ideas, despite coming from “The Number 1 Canadian Men’s Lifestyle Portal”.

So what’s the right situation for wearing a blazer? Am I completely wrong to think that it isn’t a professional look?

Posted in Et cetera, Getting Started | Tags: Askmen, Blazers, fashion, Fashion Friday, suits, tacky

4 Tweets

• BlogCampaigning:

  April 30, 2010 at 9:02 am

  Fashion Friday: When To Wear A Blazer http://bit.ly/9a3dyZ

  This comment was originally posted on Twitter
• edlee:

  April 30, 2010 at 11:14 am

  i rock the jacket + jeans look fairly frequently (with minimal success) how do you match your blazer +pants/trousers http://bit.ly/aWBYIq

  This comment was originally posted on Twitter
• Adam Gorley:

  April 30, 2010 at 12:03 pm

  Funny question Parker! I agree with you that that AskMen list is terrible. No one should ever wear cargo pants period!

  But I often wear “mismatched” blazer and pants, like with denims, and rarely wear a complete suit proper.

  It can be a pro look, but it’s probably best to wear a blazer with an oxford or button-down shirt or a polo—at the office at least.

  But my office is strictly casual. I’m the only one who ever wears a tie!
• parkernow:

  April 30, 2010 at 12:09 pm

  When is it okay to wear a blazer? http://bit.ly/cXWQzz

  This comment was originally posted on Twitter
• Greg Blazina:

  May 21, 2010 at 11:05 am

  You’re not wrong, it isn’t a professional look, regardless of how much people would like it to be. If you’re going to wear a suit jacket, and dress pants… why not wear a suit?
  Everytime I see the mismatched “blazer/pants look” I think… this guy needs to invest in a suit.
• Wolfpack:

  March 30, 2012 at 5:36 pm

  your source: http://www.askmen.com/fashion/fashiontip_400/473_6-ways-to-wear-a-blazer.html

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