The History of the Blazer

The blazer jacket is a jacket designed without its matching pants, unlike the suit jacket. Traditionally black or navy blue, the blazer plays with codes and trends, whether in the women's or men's wardrobe: asymmetrical, two-tone, rhinestoned, embroidered, short, long, fitted, oversized, the reinterpretations of the blazer are endless and continue to surprise us. Straight or double-breasted, paired with tailored pants , jeans, a skirt or a dress: the blazer dresses up all outfits on a daily basis.

The origin of the blazer is unclear, with several accounts explaining it.

One traces the blazer back to the brightly coloured sports jackets worn by the Lady Margaret Boat Club of St John's College, Cambridge, sailing team in the 1820s. In 1825, the club members chose a bright vermilion cloth, a "blazer red": a reference to the English word "blaze" which translates as fire, blaze, blaze, brilliance.

Another account focuses on the year 1837, when the captain of the ship HMS Blazer had his crew wear navy blue double-breasted jackets with Royal Navy brass buttons when Queen Victoria visited his ship.

It was in the 1950s and 1960s that the blazer really became popular and went from the elites to the streets. The blazer was reappropriated by the "mod" movement, an English subculture born in the 1950s: school uniform jackets were customized and reappropriated by young British women, in search of an identity different from that of their parents. Modern jazz was their musical choice of predilection, hence the term associated with them, "mod".

Originating from the men's wardrobe and the world of work, women began to wear suits from the end of the 19th century and the blazer became part of the women's wardrobe from the middle of the 20th century.

In the 1910s, suffragettes began to adopt the masculine costume because they needed to be comfortable for demonstrations and events. Women had a more intense, more active pace of life and therefore wore more comfortable clothes: corsets disappeared and made way for the suit. Wearing the costume was also a feminist stance.

During World War II, women borrowed the clothes of their husbands who had gone to war. A knee-length skirt, a sober jacket: a practical and elegant silhouette.

In the aftermath of the war, in 1947, Dior presented his “New Look”, in opposition to the practical wardrobe worn during the conflict. The shoulders were straight, the waist was corseted and the silhouette much more feminine. It was aesthetics before practicality, for women who were becoming housewives again.

Gabrielle Chanel opposes Dior in her idea of ​​the suit, with a suit

elegant yet practical and comfortable, with the use of softer materials such as jersey and tweed.

From the 60s onwards, the suit evolved: Courrèges with its dynamic and futuristic silhouette, Yves Saint Laurent with the tuxedo borrowed directly from the men's wardrobe.

In the 1980s, the percentage of women in the workforce increased by more than 50%, and this decade is known for the iconic “power suit,” a term still used to refer to the costume worn by a woman.

This trend of the feminine suit is spreading quickly and is quickly adopted also outside of work. The blazer and the suit jacket have freed themselves from their respective roles: we wear the blazer with matching pants, or a suit jacket without its waistcoat or matching pants...

The blazer is a timeless piece in the feminine wardrobe: every year, regardless of the trends or the flagship aesthetic of the moment, the blazer remains a must-have that we love to wear season after season.

At Facettes Studio, our philosophy is to create timeless pieces that transcend fashions and seasons. We have therefore chosen to create blazers and tuxedo jackets that are neither too fitted nor too oversized for a timeless cut. The length of our blazers is also mid-buttock, neither too cropped nor too long, similar to a coat: for a style that transcends ephemeral trends and truly timeless pieces.