A short cut to summer chic? Bung on a blazer

How to dress like a grown up with Shane Watson: A short cut to summer chic? Bung on a blazer

  • Shane Watson shared advice for embracing this season’s blazer trend 
  • The style expert advises investing in masculine designs that aren’t too fitted 
  • She suggests pairing a blazer with either jeans and a sweater or a midi dress 

Whenever I see a woman and think, ‘Now she looks good. Is it the hair? Is it the flippy skirt?’, it turns out that what I’m admiring about this woman’s look, nine times out of ten, is her blazer.

If only everything in fashion could be as simple as the blazer trick. French fashion editors have relied on it for decades (navy or black, and usually double-breasted), with jeans, white trousers or a LBD.

If you asked the editor of French Vogue to name the most useful item in a woman’s wardrobe, guaranteed she would say a blazer, bien sur!

‘I can wear it over lace or silk in the evening to feel less exposed and more collected. I wear it to the office with a crisp blue shirt and trousers and it gives me shoulders and definition. My blazer smartens up jeans and a sweater at the weekend, or sharpens up an old summer dress.’ Blazers are the chic woman’s best friend.

Actress Sarah Jessica Parker (pictured) recently teamed an oversize blazer with a floaty dress and heels for an event honoring Oscar de la Renta 

For some reason, they slipped off the radar for a while. Then, last winter, we were — oh, the relief — back in proper ‘oversize’ ones.

I’ve spent the past six months wearing a navy cord, double-breasted blazer from & Other Stories. It’s smartish and flattering, but also not too smart to stop me wearing it all the time.

And now that one is looking a little too heavy (only just), I’m moving swiftly on to the brand’s dark grey Prince of Wales check in an oversize, double-breasted style with peak lapels, (£129, stories.com). It also has a corduroy blazer in pink (£85) — and why not? I’ll sling that over a dress and wear it like a summer coat.

Don’t be put off by talk of ‘oversize’. No one wants you to look like an American football quarterback, but proportions are all-important, and the style now is structured but roomy. That’s what makes a blazer modern.

It can be either double or single-breasted, but it’s always sharp-shouldered, even slightly padded, and longish in the body. The length should be from the bottom of the hip to mid-thigh grazing.

It’s got to be cut like a man’s suit jacket — not too fitted or waisted or narrow in the arms — with bone buttons, rather than fabric-covered.

The idea is that it looks smart, but is still easy to wear casually: you can push up the sleeves or drape it over your shoulders. It’s your cover-up, your fashion statement and right now everything is solved by a blazer.

BLAZERS: THE NEW RULES 

  • Proportions must be masculine: never too fitted or waisted.
  • A checked wool blazer adds texture to a plain look.
  • Oversize jackets work best with a lean, narrow bottom half.
  • Treat your blazer as a spring or summer coat.

That animal-print dress that can feel ten degrees too much? Sling a smooth navy blazer (£98, boden.com) on top and it’s instantly calmer.

Jeans and a sweater too plain and insubstantial? Not if you top them off with a pale blue blazer from River Island (£65, riverisland.com) or M&S’s navy single-breasted jacket (£99, marksandspencer.com).

A floral midi dress that’s threatening to float away? Tether it with a cream or pale yellow blazer (£34.99, hm.com). The same goes for a silk top and midi slip skirt: a blazer makes it more grown-up and gives you structure, too.

The classic blazer this year and every year, which you’ll be wearing through to autumn, comes in pale grey (£69.99, mango.com) or Prince of Wales check (£258, allsaints.com). It’s ideal for pairing with bright white and light blue, and lets you wear your summeriest colours without feeling the chill when the sun goes in.

A beige check, (£68, riverisland.com) or cream check (£79, marksandspencer.com) are other easy options.

But you can get a blazer in any colour this season. Mango does one in butterscotch (£79.99, mango.com), Whistles in red or green (£139, whistles.com). But the ones that will work hardest for you are navy or cream — try Cos’s elegant, sharp-lapelled, single-breasted style (£135, cosstores.com). Or those classic greys.

Your blazer should look polished but casual, somewhere between Princess Diana in the Eighties, nipping between Kensington Palace and the Harbour Club, and those French Voguettes sashaying between shows.

How nice is that?

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