The difference between the blazer and the suit coat

Well, you already know where does the word 'suit' come from and which are the different types of men's suits. So, today we'll talk about the difference between the blazer and the suit coat.

The term 'blazer' originated in 1825 and then meant only 'the red flannel boating jacket worn by the Lady Margaret, St. John's College, Cambridge, Boat Club'.

Nowadays, a blazer is a type of jacket resembling a suit coat cut more casually, typically with metal buttons. It is intended as an outdoor jacket and always solid-colored - usually blue, black, camel or dark green. It is single- or double-breasted and made of sturdy material.

During the 1960s and 1970s many bands - for example Small Faces, The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, The Kinks, Georgie Fame and the Blue Flames, The Animals, The Yardbirds - had band members wearing striped blazers or later, brightly colored blazers with wide white or other light edging. The earlier style of striped blazers can be seen in the film 'Quadrophenia'.

Blazers often are uniform garments - for airline, school, yachting and rowing clubs. On the places, where boats are commonly used (parts of Europe and the USA), people call 'blazer' a patch-pocket, navy-blue jacket with gold or silver buttons, which is the usual clothing for messing around in boats.

Blazers can be worn with a variety of other clothes, such as shirts and ties or open-necked polo shirts. A blazer can be combined with trousers of all colors and fabrics - white cotton/linen, grey flannel, brown/beige chinos, jeans.

In North America and the United Kingdom, blazers are now frequently used in business casual and business informal wear. Some gentlemen accept it as a suitable attire for any situation.