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?