Dress Codes and Blazers

These days everybody is confused.  Have you received an invitation with dress requirements lately? “Elegant Casual,” one says, or “Business Dress.” And at the far end of the confusion scale there is “Black Tie Optional.” Not only do these creatively worded instructions confuse a man, but what exactly does “Black Tie Optional” mean to a woman? It is supposed, and perhaps rightly, that women have an innate understanding of dress requirements; they are born knowing that if a party is in such-and-such a place at such-and-such a time, that the required dress is such-and-such. Plus they have the added advantage of having friends whom they are not in the least embarrassed to ask. Can you imagine Mr. America? “Hi, Bill. What are you wearing tonight? Oh. Really?  Which one? The blue one or the green?” Sure thing.

Nevertheless you might expect, in this day and age, a woman might show up at a “Black Tie Optional” affair wearing a man-tailored dinner suit, cummerbund, and black tie. It is her “Option,” right? Guys, on the other hand, have no clue. But we’ll get to the Black Tie question later on. It’s a Level 5 deal.

This is a good thing for the manufacturers of navy blazers. When in doubt, that’s the ticket. You can pretty much expect that an event at a venue like a country club, or in a friend’s home, if it is an evening affair, and unless (or even if) the invitation specifically says “Casual Attire,” you’ll be okay with a blazer. And it goes with just about everything. From jeans to crisp fine worsted slacks and every thing in between; over a polo, a crew neck, a button down collar or even a dressy striped spread collar with a tie. Imagine a man in clean shoes, neat trousers, good belt, neat pattern shirt, subtle necktie and a dark blue or a black jacket. Level 3 personified. Lose the tie, same level.

FYI   Legend has it that the captain of a nineteenth century English ship of the royal line, the H.M.S Blazer by name, required his crew on formal occasions to dress in dark blue jackets with brass buttons. (It is further speculated that none other than the Emperor Napoleon initiated the jacket’s sleeve buttons in order to keep his troops from wiping their noses – sorry – on their cuffs.) Anyway the blazer is nevertheless a dark, solid color sport jacket. It may have any number of buttons, either of brass, pearl or bone, or any style of vent, even be double breasted. We extend the definition to black, since some navies, particularly those from English weavers, are almost indistinguishable from black. We’ve heard that the valet to the Prince of Wales refers to those quirky striped jackets worn by cricket players as blazers also; the prince’s valet has some poetic license. But it is unfortunate that the term is beginning to lose its meaning, that even in the clothing industry do we hear patterned sport jackets referred to as blazers. Maybe we should restore some traditions. Let’s start with blazers being exclusively solid, and dark blue.