... I can only dress mine down in England these days.
Can you still rock the blazer in the USA without looking priggish & repressed?
I do the standard old navy blazer with:
khakis
white oxford button down
regimental type stripe tie
black belt and weejuns
I try to vary this but it doesn't feel right yet.
Do you feel, the repression?
And, the, stigmata of the prig?
I suspect that the Blazer is still OK in the USA.
In England it has become a problem...
I think if you're young, wearing a blazer shows you care, but not too much. Caring too much was always something to be avoided growing up, it meant you were either a dandy or a sissy. I try not to buy into any of that stuff anymore.
I like to dress down my blue blazers (SB & DB) with...
Denim shirt with necktie or open neck
Well-worn jeans
Shoes ranging from John Lobb bespoke to Converse Chuck Taylor hightops
Navy blazer
Dark denim trousers
Spread collar dress shirt in blue/pink/white w/top button untbuttoned
Ribbon belt
Suede tobacco brogues
Best worn with shapeless old flannels, worn-out penny loafers, and a poorly-knotted tie.
H&K chambray BD (open neck), dark khaki chinos, Monks, alligator belt, pocket squares with some golden yellow in them, lilac socks. I know it sounds weird, but it works for 'Saturday lunch at the club' kinda crap.
ETA: Faded 501's + Weejuns also works, but it is a mite too traddy for me...
Last edited by flannel (2008-01-07 10:06:57)
When singer Jack Jones rocks his blazer, it's more classic rock...
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/20/arts/music/20jone.html?fta=y
Mostly worn with beer and food stains after club functions.
white, blue, pink or yellow OCBD with no tie for casual
black tie with orange stripe or black tie with silver diagonal stripe for parties, art shows or dressed down restaurants
charcoal gray wool, khakis or dark jeans
burgundy on burgundy saddle shoes
Occasionally at my office I hear "Ahoy admiral" when the blazer is worn. The best reply to this is usually "Swab those decks ye lubbers!" or "A ration of Grog for the entire crew!".
Women seem to like it if the tie is a complementary color against the shirt color. Orange stripe tie on a blue shirt.
http://www.newyorksocialdiary.com/shoppingdiary/shoppingdiary4.php
I wore mine (actually top half of navy suit) a lot this summer with old chinos or faded red jeans. Driving mocs or chelseas and white-based stripy shirts. Never with a tie. The blazer has to look lived-in.
Gin & Tonics (unless you are a woman) have an image problem too which is linked to that of the Blazer I suspect...
Is there a word for all this? Not proletarianisation or embourgeoisement (sp?), but the concept of things becoming horrid and middle-class from both above and bellow...
It's that awful middle-management culture again...
Last edited by David (2008-01-08 06:17:07)
I wish I were middle class - sigh.
I want to live in Paris now...
The English class system has finally broken my spirit - I want to live where I can be the alien that I know myself to be.
Finally free from 'fitting in' I can pee in the streets and people will accept me just as 'David'...
Their talkative friend.