The Navy Blazer - Topic of the day 9/14/23
Everyone who has read fashion advice on the internet has heard that a navy blazer is the ne plus ultra of tailored jackets. Do you own a navy blazer? Do you wear it often? Is it truly more versatile than a brown sport coat, or a gray herringbone tweed jacket? Do you prefer navy blazers with brass / metal buttons or something more understated, like horn or enamel? What's your favorite navy blazer fit from yourself or someone else?
37 Replies
Honestly a herringbone tweed blazer is probably the most versatile in terms of what trousers you can wear with it, though it’s a bit more informal than the classic navy blazer, which is more versatile in formality I feel.
I finally got my first “normal” navy blazer a couple of weeks ago. I’ve managed to fit it with a couple different vibes so it’s seems quite versatile.
Before this my only “navy blazer” was a DB heavy corduroy blazer. I got the other one as a summer jacket
Cord blazer slaps
obligatory ethan essay on this: https://alittlebitofrest.com/2020/10/18/the-navy-blazer-with-brass-buttons/
Ethan M. Wong
a little bit of rest
The Navy Blazer with Brass Buttons
I haven’t stepped into a country club, played golf, nor am I a WASP, but I’ll still wear this slightly obnoxious, preppy garment.
i love it, i actually dont wear my navy sportcoat as much since the blazer just leans into things more
but i guess it also depends if i want to be ivy-trad or not
this is the way. i love that good menswear can be this versatile
Mostly avoided navy blazers as an adult because of PTSD from Lutheran elementary school. However, I did recently pick up a Polo University Club one and am fairly excited to see what I can do with it. Sleeves are getting shortened right now, or I would post a pic.
Imo a navy blazer is pretty versatile, but I don’t see it as necessary unless you really take a lot of inspiration from Ivy
My 
is that a navy blazer is not the most versatile tailored jacket you can own - a brown sport coat is
is that a navy blazer is not the most versatile tailored jacket you can own - a brown sport coat isYou’re not wrong
Brown sport coats are easier to pair with casual pants like denim and fatigues, so they're easier to dress down, but still very capable of being dressed up. Plus navy blazers come off as quite preppy (esp with brass buttons), while brown sport coats can be preppy if they want to be, but they can also play into rugged fits, ALD-esque-ivy fits, or full on trad
Go off
haha that's about all I got
The biggest thing for me is that it’s really easy to look like a tool in a navy blazer and really hard to look cool in one
Yeah. I eBay'd a Southwick navy blazer with brass buttons and a J Press navy blazer with horn buttons, maybe as the weather cools down a bit I'll try playing with them a bit more. I wore the Southwick one around Boston earlier in the year and definitely felt weirdly WASPy
Just talk a lot about clam bakes and tennis and you’ll be fine
I had a pod where I said I lucked out being filipino so I can wear trad stuff without being a wasp lo
I went to anglican school so I also can't get over some of my associations with navy blazers... I'm getting my first mtm sportcoat made up in a brolive-y gun check to replace an extremely ill fitting tweed one I got for 8 bucks at a goodwill years ago. For where my style is at rn a navy blazer would just feel too serious/preppy
Gotta love those rare moments of Brown Privilege
@sioku in your article you mentioned thrifting in OC, which places would you recommend? for navy blazers or otherwise
I’ve gone back and forth on gold buttons over the years but I’m swinging back towards gold. I think the key to a good blazer is the cut - it’s what separates your grandpa’s blazer from a contemporary blazer. For me it comes down to open quarters and a 3/2 roll (in a perfect world the lapels have a touch of belly). Patch pockets or patch/flap pockets are a must for me.
I love the contrast between a super ivy blazer and casual everything else. Washed/distressed denim and olive fatigues contrast so well with a navy blazer
yeah washed/distressed denim and navy blazer is good, clean indigo denim and a navy blazer I'm kinda ehhh on
i love the old town anitique malls
I had some fun with a navy DB blazer years before my committal to a black wardrobe.
I didn’t find it any more versatile than the other jackets I owned and it ended up being as situational as the rest
but i honestly also just check random thrift stores in OC
theres old white people there, presumably there are blazers there too
savers or salvation army might be better than goodwill because those are christian and i think old people donate to christian stuff
ive found better tailoring at salvation army
like RL or even trad stuff
but i still find decent OCBDs at goodwill
i dont go often but i sometimes go to just check out
ty ty
Genuinely gotta go the spots that dressed up church goers would send stuff
I associate navy blazers pretty closely with New England boarding schools so I think you have to be doing something to fight that a little bit for me to like it
Never owned one and never felt that I had to own one for any particular occasion
Even when I was in my SLP/rocker phase, the blazer I had then (that I still wear when I need to suit up) is a black one (with a very subtle pinstripe, but black none the less…)
I guess it all depends if one’s style leans preppy at all or not. For most people nowadays, I don’t think it’s necessary at all
I have one but it's shitty so I never wear it. Bought it for $35 on sale at Gap 12 years ago and it's obviously polyester and attracts lint like nothing else.
Had a nicer one in the intervening years where I was fatter but I donated it when I lost weight again. Probably should have tailored it instead but too late.
Imo Navy blazers can feel a bit boring, but nobody looks bad in them and it's an easy way to dress up without a full suit. They're a bit limiting in the outfits you can wear vs other types of blazers, but they're also a idiot proof which is why I think they get recommended so much.
I had a brown sport coat for a while but it's long gone
My only true suit is blue floral corduroy, and then I've got a fake Rick Owens suit (as in Rick jacket plus pants custom made with an identical blend fabric)
I'd rather wear a fun black jacket than a blazer, but I'm sure the opposite is true for many, in mostly curious if people have a jacket for "dressing up"
Navy blazers are cool
I especially like them when they’re worn in interesting ways, outside the lines
We did navy blazers for a MFA group challenge a while back
I thrifted this vtg brooks sack jacket months back. May be my best clothes thrift honestly. It has all the right details. 3/2, flap/patch pockets. Its a really soft wool, maybe even cashmere? It feels amazing. I find that i like having it in my back pocket but feel a bit fuddy duddy just wearing it around so i tend to only grab it when the fit really requires it. And since o got it for $15 i dont feel all that bad when i dont wear it for a spell
Jacket good, fit fire
This makes me think I need some light wash jeans. But also a blazer I can wear with dark new denim.
Doesn't it get wrinkled in your back pocket?
Yea but i have a steamer