There are various origin stories for the clothing. It can be traced back to the red “blazers,” or vivid sporting coats, worn by St John’s College’s boating team in the 1820s. Another dates from 1837, when the captain of the HMS Blazer outfitted his crew in navy-blue double-breasted jackets with distinguishing Royal Navy brass buttons to welcome Queen Victoria on board. Alternatively, the jacket’s name could have come from the “blazes,” or stripes, of country club coats in the 1870s. In any event, the name expanded beyond its initial context, from the sea to the shore and beyond the sports club. Colorways also expanded beyond black and navy, with the modern blazer being available in a wide range of colors and textiles.
“Now that sailing season has begun, tailors and tailors are busy finding yachting apparel,” the reporter wrote in Vogue in June 1893. “The smartest people I’ve ever seen are the ones who wear perfectly plain skirts with Eton coats or long blazers, their backs spread out a lot, and they have white faces.” Blazers were a cornerstone of the New Woman’s wardrobe around the turn of the century, worn with tailored shirts and skirts. As women’s acceptance of sports grew, leisure attire became more informal, and blazers were no longer substituted by cardigans or cardigans.
Johnson from Hastings recalls one of his classmates having his mother cut his school blazer to make him “look like a bum freezer,” while another “took off his tie and turned his collar up.”
Giorgio Armani revived the item 20 years later, releasing his first collection of unstructured men’s blazers in 1975. The jacket was unlined and unironed, making it less formal than a suit jacket but yet professional. Armani’s blazers can be worn casually but elegantly as a sweater or jacket. Richard Gere was crowned “King of the Blazer” when he donned Armani in the 1980 blockbuster American Gigolo. The blazer had attained erotic appeal.
Women began wearing colorful blazers as a fashion trend in the late 2000s. The blazer became a statement garment to wear over an evening gown during Christophe Decarnin’s stint at Balmain between 2006 and 2011. It has even made an appearance as the dress itself in recent years – trimmed to the top of the thigh, the blazer-dress is just the most recent interpretation of this traditional wardrobe staple.
