The British Club Blazer

The club blazer is an intrinsic part of British colleges and universities, and goes hand in hand with the deep-rooted sports traditions of these prestigious public schools. This blazer has been part of British cricket and rowing clubs since the end of 19^th century, with the 1930’s as its most emblematic era.

They say that the name blazer, being derived from the word “blaze” meaning “bright flame” or “display of bright colors”, comes from the colorful stripes of the cricket clubs and the bright red shade worn by St John’s College Rowing Club in Cambridge (founded in 1925).

In any case, the blazer’s sporty elegance, adopted by all leading British sports clubs, quickly gained fame beyond the sports world as a relaxed but well-cut alternative to the suit, and the first jacket not worn with matched trousers. Whether it was rowing, cricket, golf or tennis, the blazer made its way into every sports and gentlemen’s club and became the symbol of each college and university that it represented.

At the beginning of the 20^th century, the blazer became the signature of a new style, the casual chic, as young graduates started to wear it, unmatched, outside the school walls and its traditional sports context. The blazer then knew a huge success in fashion, at a time when the suit was the only male option.  

Wealthy Americans adopted the new trend massively in the 20’s and didn’t let go of it until the end of the century, however, using the blazer as formal attire. Maybe because they worshipped it a little too much, forgetting that the elegance of the blazer was, and is, above all, casual. 

The blazer is intended for personalization according to its wearer’s position in the club or school, from its crest to a range of buttons selected according to personal preferences (there is an actual market for buttons for blazer enthusiasts).

It is commonly believed that the origins of the blazer are linked to the Royal Navy, although it is actually the Navy who adopted the blazer from the rowing and cricket clubs after Queen Victoria, in the mid-20^th century, decided that the Royal Marines needed a change of uniform. Gieves & Hawkes on Saville Row remain one of the best (military) references in the history of the upmarket blazer, although they stopped supplying colleges and clubs long ago, and you won’t find the colourful stripes nor the contrasting braiding that once made their reputation.

It would also be wrong to think of the blazer as a formal jacket or to the contrary, an everyday garment. No, this is a sports jacket, the jacket of great green lawns and the seaside. It is properly worn with a pair of calfskin Derby shoes, or for a more contemporary style, a pair of Vans, sneakers, espadrilles, boat or tennis shoes… On holidays and weekends.

So, how to match it? First, break its formal style (after all, it is the blazer’s primary role to turn the informal formal). For men, a pair of white trousers or some worn-out chinos for those who prefer a relaxed look and, in the winter, a nice pair of grey flannel trousers for the gentlemen.

In urban fashion, our minds go straight to the science-fiction TV series “The Prisoner” where Patrick McGoohan wears the blazer with an elegance so typical of the 60’s and of the Swinging London. The mods also adopted the blazer which became an essential piece of their “posh” selection, thus completing their lanky look together with Sta pressed trousers and pointy boots. They say that Andy Warhol was one of the first to wear the blazer with a pair of jeans, during the Studio 54 era. Everyone in his surrounding would then, permanently, adopt this new casual chic…

For girls, once past the age for preppy tennis mini-skirts, white and pleated, the blazer is perfectly paired to any wide, white trousers, knee-length skirts or liberty dresses, and knows how to tone down and add some class to a (too) short outfit or a low cut. It will also do the job of covering whatever that you would like to reveal on a dance floor later in the evening.

Ralph Lauren and Tommy Hilfiger made the blazer one of their classics and the haute couture, who are experts in reliable sources, revisit it regularly. Chanel, with their love of white piping, will honor it forever.

In tribute to the British club culture, deTOUJOURS went to the source of the blazer, to a traditional English tailor and supplier to clubs and schools. Today Perry Uniform continue to make uniforms for British colleges in the colours of their histories and is the privileged partner of sports and private clubs, who are one of the pillars of Anglo-Saxon culture.

Welcome to the source of style, to the authentic and the chicest club blazer there is.