Yes! The metal buttons are the all important distinction that makes a jacket a blazer. A sports jacket ought to be something tweedy, that you wear to watch sport (I suppose). Sports coats in the USA.

eBay is the place for erroneous garment nomenclature with jackets often being described as ‘suits’, any shirt you don’t pull over your head is a ‘button up shirt’ and any leather shoe with laces could be called a ‘brogue’.

I assume we're talking about 'The Blue Wale': 'limited edition'.  Very nice, too.
The OED is somewhat flaccid in its definition of a 'blazer' (which I think is a French word, so Vetra may think they're onto something), but I always assumed they had metal buttons (with the possible exception of what we were obliged to wear at my grammar school, which would have been plastic).  I remember pissing off someone on here years ago by saying I didn't like them with brass buttons.  I still don't.  A restrained grey would have been my option.  In fact, I've only owned one, quite a long time ago, not 'Ivy League', more 'smart Mod'.  It came from Hector Powe and was pretty heavy in its construction.  It would not pass muster here.  I went over, rather briskly, to 'jackets'.  Don't even wear those now, favouring raincoats instead.  I could amass quite a collection if I so desired.  But I don't.

Merc. I went in there a few times in the mid to late 1980s when it was a popular far right hang out. (It was also popular with mods and non-racist skins of course.) Then BBC undercover reporters exposed them for selling under the counter banned videos by a certain neo Nazi band.

Years later I went back (although a different location) when the Britpop thing had made mod cool again, and, unsurprisingly, they had completely reinvented themselves.

Arseholes.

I have bought quite a lot from Oi Polloi in the past. Only sale items and a few bargains. Generally good quality products.

I see what you mean with eBay descriptions but I suspect few people get rich being an eBay seller.

Hi all. Been lurking on here far too long without contributing. Now the site's (semi) up and running again. Now seems like a good time!
Merc were indeed the masters of reinvention. I used to receive their mail out 'catalogues'. The first few I had - when they were mainly going for 'mod' sales - they were proudly established since 1964. During a short lived, mini Ska revival (around '89) they were proudly established since 1969! During Brit pop times they seemed to plump for 1967 for some reason.
I visited their Carnaby St shop a few times, and at the end all that was on offer was a raft of (presumably snide) Londsdale and band T shirts. Along with very under par, overpriced harringtons

Roberto Carlo. Very popular with a certain crowd at a certain time. Never to be worn near a naked flame.
Merc I’m sure catered to a few with undesirable tastes. Although I believe it was ‘Cutdown’ round the corner that were ‘outed’ for their under the table sales. If I remember rightly they were actually picketed by the ANL etc?

This was 1988 or maybe 89. When they were in one of the side streets (I think opposite Sherry's, which is probably still there).

Last edited by Yuca (2021-11-11 09:26:44)

Those shops around Carnaby certainly attracted more than their fair share of that type. It must have been an uneasy arrangement with the boneheads being forced to buy Skrewdriver records under the counter from those guys. And those guys having to ‘stock’ that sort of material, probably to make up for lost sales as other customers came to the realisation that the clothes they sold were complete tat.

Agreed. I dropped into the street for the first time in twenty odd years the other week and even though I wouldn’t say it came anywhere even close to a shadow of it’s former self, what was missing was the air of general menace that hung around in the late 80’s/ 90’s. Although there was nothing of interest to me there, it was a happy place and people seemed to be enjoying it!

Back to the subject.  I'm becoming tempted again by plaid, even Madras, jackets.  Sport coats, right?  (Or sport coats, wrong?).  The last time I wore anything like that was circa 2009: cotton Madras, teamed with a white Brooks shirt, jeans and loafers.  No socks.  Heads turned in the local Co-Op.

Looking at jackets/blazers/sport coats/what you will last night on Ebay (both UK and US sites).  Amazing how cheap some are, exactly like in the 'vintage' shops I sometimes wander into.  A lot of uninteresting (to my eyes) darted Harris tweed.  I had a brief phase of delirium when I almost pressed the button on a Woolrich madras jacket - not too loud but loud enough if you catch my drift.  Then I looked at glen plaid and wondered. 
I'm not surprised TKMaxx was finding few takers.  Buy one - as I once did - and it'll probably get fewer outings than a restrained seersucker.  Even they can be eyecatching in England, especially if worn with white or saddle bucks. 
Still pondering this one.  Those darts, though.  Not nice.