Tips Using Blazers for Men

The total of buttons and the function where it was worn. Don’t laugh about the buttons, I have an article from 1926 decrying modern men slip-on the wrong number of buttons to the office!

Let’s go back to the twenties when these differentiations of formal were quite important for every well dressed man to recognize. Blazers were originally colored with a badge or patch from a private school day or club. They were normally navy blue, or the authorized colour of the club school some. Now it means a solid colored jacket, three buttons in two rows (double breasted) worn with non-matching pants. A sport coat was dignified from a business suit or formal suit by having three or more buttons in the front and a less bound fit, There would be pouch flaps, extra pockets, and top-stitched details. The sport jacket was also ready-made in colours such as white, beige, stripes, light blues, pale greys and browns, and others. It was also made from less formal materials such as tweeds, linens silks etc back when business and formal suits were always dark fleeces in either black or dark grey. It was deliberated informal and for casual wear, such as boating, golfing, walking, afternoons, but not evening or business. It wasn’t necessary to combine the pants. Matching pants and sport jackets were known as “dittos” back in the 20s. Today’s sport jackets are fancy jackets, looser cut than a business suit jacket, with or without pocket flaps worked on varied fabrics and colours. They may or may not have elbow patches. Business suits are made of fine fabrics, fitted, customised, lined, and the pants and jacket are made from the same fabric. Business suits usually have two or three buttons, some modern cuts have four, but only two or three are secured.

In fashionable times the designations have all blended into one. A solid color blazer is more formal than a tweed sport coat. Solids are always consiered more formal in men’s wear. If the jacket coordinates with the pants, then it’s suitable for daytime or office wear. If your problem is a nice jacket with worn out pants, then keep the jacket and buy new pants that coordinate.