Boating Blazers

[JMADSENK]

Boating Blazer

In a previous post, some members showed an appreciation for the Brooks Brothers "Regatta Striped Sportcoat". Therefore, I thought I would let whomever know that there are currently several Levi's LVC "Boating Blazers" for sale on Ebay. They are listed under the title "Levis Vintage Closing Suit", and are priced to buy at $55.74. Best Regards.

 

[Edward]

So, I'm thinking ahead towards the Summer, and I'd like to pick up a boating blazer (or perhaps two) for informal wear. Strangley, no matter what combination of search terms I use on Google, all I can find are sixties mod-style jackets, which aren't what I'm interested in. I'm after something with a much more thirties cut, and which doesn't have that crazy-high neckline of the sixties efforts. Struggling even to find images that aren't the sixties-type... Can anyone point me in the right direction? I'm not in an immediate rush to buy now (unless some good deals fall my way...), but I'm looking ahead. I did look at the Bookster site - they could make me something ideal, but it seemed, when I perused it, that it would be in the region of nearly three hundred sterling, which is more than I'd be wanting to spend. Try closer £150.... In almost every respect the Merc mod repros would be ideal, save that they just look too high gore, to my eye, to pass for a thirties type look. Ideas?

 

[John in Covina]

Here in the US while the term blazer is used most people call it a sports coat. Maybe see if anyone caters to the Yatching Club crowd for a Blazer.

 

[Charlie Huang]

Hmmm, you won't get a regatta/boating blazer for less than £300 in London. They only other way is to wait for the sales when they could drop in price considerably.

This one I got for £175 (down from £350) during the E&R summer sales in 2008:

Unfortunately, the day I first wore it properly at the punting trip (above), a bird decided to do its business on it...

 

[Prof Branestawm]

Charles Tyrwhiit are selling a few different styles of boating blazer:
http://www.ctshirts.co.uk/ym-gbpdef...=Relevance&page=1&back=False&canned=&browse=Y and http://www.ctshirts.co.uk/ym-gbpdef...=Relevance&page=1&back=False&canned=&browse=Y and http://www.ctshirts.co.uk/ym-gbpdef...=Relevance&page=1&back=False&canned=&browse=Y

Ede and Ravenscroft also have some very nice ones, but these are much more expensive.

 

[billyspew]

I rather like the ones Bookster has for blazers currently...

How would it come out at £300?

 

[Edward]

Billy, those are exactly the cloths I was looking at from Bookster (at the right price, I can see me gonig for one of each...!). I'm not sure what the issue was with the price, I'm sure I only checked the hacking jacket option, unless it was quoting me for a full suit?? I particularly like the red / white / navy option. The Bookster stuff has a nice cut, what I've seen in person anyhow.

Charlie - nice jacket, I was really looking for something a bit more rakish like the Bookster stuff, but I haven't ruled out something classy like that too. Actually, I think I might have found a half-price offer on one.... I'll be checking that out in the next couple of weeks.

Prof, I'll have a look into those links, cheers.

ETA: Checked out the Bookster site again, I definitely did go by the jacket alone. It's coming out at £219, plus options, plus VAT.

 

[HoundstoothLuke]

My girlfriend and I are having the same issue as we want some fora boating trip over the summer. We've been trawling through the net, but the only ones available are dire 1960s style jobs, and bookster has apparently sold out.

Anyone know a good website where a striped blazer can be ordered from?

 

[billyspew]

My girlfriend and I are having the same issue as we want some fora boating trip over the summer. We've been trawling through the net, but the only ones available are dire 1960s style jobs, and bookster has apparently sold out.

Anyone know a good website where a striped blazer can be ordered from?

Bookster are doing them again now - see the cloths I posted above.

 

[pipvh]

Edward, have you checked the various Hornets shops on and around Kensington Church Street? They had a few nice (not mod) blazers last time I looked. Also worth checking the vintage shops on Portobello, the stretch just beyond the Westway.

 

[Edward]

I should do that, yes... thanks.

 

[boushi_mania]

Somewhat off-topic, but...

I wasn't feeling up to making an entire new thread about this, so I stuck it in here.

With spring less than a week away (and with me having recently gotten a very nice straw boater for relatively cheap), I've been looking into filling a hole in my wardrobe by purchasing a plain ol' navy blazer. (The one I brought with me to Japan is a 42, which is rather unhelpful because I am now a 37.)

Unfortunately, this is turning out to be easier said than done: all of the truly well-made examples I've seen around Osaka are at least ¥35,000 (which is a lot when you're getting ready for a wedding), with ones under that being at least partly polyester and mostly fused. (This wouldn't have bothered me before I started reading up on sartorial topics; you guys are a bad influence. )

I do know of one option that's probably my best bet right now: there's a made-to-measure outfit where I can get an all-wool jacket with full canvas, for just under ¥30,000. (I bought their absolute cheapest offering a year and a half ago when I was flat broke, which has fused lapels and was made in China. I wouldn't do that again, but their higher tiers are made in Japan with proper construction, and are quite nice for the money. And the fiancée may be underwriting this purchase instead of the boater.)

That said, I've got questions:

• What sort of material should I be looking for? Some of the nicer blazers I've seen are made of coarser stuff than the average suit, but I wouldn't know what to call it.
• How many buttons on the sleeve? I've seen 2, 3, or 4, with no clear indication of whether there's a "correct" number. Also, surgeon's cuff: yea or nay?
• What the heck is AMF stitching, and should I bother?
• The cut: I gather that the traditional "Ivies" style is a single-breasted 3-button configuration (rolled to the middle button), with unpadded shoulders and a center vent. Does that sound right? What about if I get a double-breasted jacket instead?

In conclusion, I apologize for hijacking this thread. But your responses are most appreciated, nonetheless.

 

[billyspew]

I wasn't feeling up to making an entire new thread about this, so I stuck it in here.

With spring less than a week away (and with me having recently gotten a very nice straw boater for relatively cheap), I've been looking into filling a hole in my wardrobe by purchasing a plain ol' navy blazer. (The one I brought with me to Japan is a 42, which is rather unhelpful because I am now a 37.)

Unfortunately, this is turning out to be easier said than done: all of the truly well-made examples I've seen around Osaka are at least ¥35,000 (which is a lot when you're getting ready for a wedding), with ones under that being at least partly polyester and mostly fused. (This wouldn't have bothered me before I started reading up on sartorial topics; you guys are a bad influence. )

I do know of one option that's probably my best bet right now: there's a made-to-measure outfit where I can get an all-wool jacket with full canvas, for just under ¥30,000. (I bought their absolute cheapest offering a year and a half ago when I was flat broke, which has fused lapels and was made in China. I wouldn't do that again, but their higher tiers are made in Japan with proper construction, and are quite nice for the money. And the fiancée may be underwriting this purchase instead of the boater.)

That said, I've got questions:

• What sort of material should I be looking for? Some of the nicer blazers I've seen are made of coarser stuff than the average suit, but I wouldn't know what to call it.
• How many buttons on the sleeve? I've seen 2, 3, or 4, with no clear indication of whether there's a "correct" number. Also, surgeon's cuff: yea or nay?
• What the heck is AMF stitching, and should I bother?
• The cut: I gather that the traditional "Ivies" style is a single-breasted 3-button configuration (rolled to the middle button), with unpadded shoulders and a center vent. Does that sound right? What about if I get a double-breasted jacket instead?

In conclusion, I apologize for hijacking this thread. But your responses are most appreciated, nonetheless.

Depends what you're after and where you'll be wearing it.

My favourite style of navy blazer is the double breasted:

This works in more formal situation and only with a bow-tie/tie/cravat.

I do like the single breasted 2 button for a slightly more casual look:

Which can be worn with an open shirt.

Of course that's just my opinion!

Cheers,

Bill

 

[boushi_mania]

Depends what you're after and where you'll be wearing it.

My favourite style of navy blazer is the double breasted:
http://www.gievesandhawkes.com/shop...9eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/1/2/12194-4500.jpg

This works in more formal situation and only with a bow-tie/tie/cravat.

I do like the single breasted 2 button for a slightly more casual look:
http://www.gievesandhawkes.com/shop...9eda06f020e43594a9c230972d/1/2/12193-4500.jpg

Which can be worn with an open shirt.

Of course that's just my opinion!

Having relatively few resources, I prefer the flexibility of the single-breasted. On the other hand, I'm drawn to the double-breasted model, if only because I don't have one I can use on a regular basis.

How about buttons, then? I notice that the double-breasted one doesn't appear to have metal ones...

 

[AntonAAK]

Edward, have you checked the various Hornets shops on and around Kensington Church Street? They had a few nice (not mod) blazers last time I looked.

I too would recommend Hornet's of Kensington for your boating blazer needs, Edward. They often have a decent stock.

A

 

[billyspew]

Having relatively few resources, I prefer the flexibility of the single-breasted. On the other hand, I'm drawn to the double-breasted model, if only because I don't have one I can use on a regular basis.

How about buttons, then? I notice that the double-breasted one doesn't appear to have metal ones...

They both have metal buttons, I feel a blazer should - if it has standard buttons it looks too much like an orphaned suit jacket.

 

[Edward]

They both have metal buttons, I feel a blazer should - if it has standard buttons it looks too much like an orphaned suit jacket.

I tend to lean this way myself, when it comes to the navy blazer. From what I see, it seems that sb often (but not exclusively) have ailvertone buttons, db goldtone (but not exclusively). This may just be coincidental to what I've seen, though. I have four navy blazers:

- one 1980s (probably), really nice, traditional cut, notch lapel, two button (silvertone). I like this a lot.

- one 1950s, sb, heavier wool, three button, silvertones.

- one 1950s db, silver tone (six on two)

- one modern Marks & Spencer, gold on navy. I do quite like this one - it's a looser fit than would be ideal, but not unpleasantly so. Being picky, I'd rather the sleeves were an inch shorter, though I believe that a slightly longer sleeve is a Navy tradition (don't recall the details...). It's a lighter wool than the vintage examples, which is useful in the Summer.

I'm unlikely to buy another navy blazer for a while now, but if and when I do, I'll probably be looking for vintage or bespoke. I would like to have a nice thirties-style sb, two button peaked lapel front....

Contrasting buttons do help to avoid the 'orphan suit jacket' look; for a change, if buying anothher, I'd like to go with a contrast horn button. That said, while contrasting buttons are appropriate for the traditional blue blazer (and, I should think, were you to go with black, save for a Stroller), my understanding is that pairing a suit jacket with contrasting trousers was a popular look back in the thirties (born, perhaps, of the fact that a man might own one suit but a few pairs of trousers?), so it's not without "historical validity" as a look.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

Contrasting buttons do help to avoid the 'orphan suit jacket' look; for a change, if buying anothher, I'd like to go with a contrast horn button. That said, while contrasting buttons are appropriate for the traditional blue blazer (and, I should think, were you to go with black, save for a Stroller), my understanding is that pairing a suit jacket with contrasting trousers was a popular look back in the thirties (born, perhaps, of the fact that a man might own one suit but a few pairs of trousers?), so it's not without "historical validity" as a look.

Even more so in the teens and 20s, too. Not only would you see suits marketed as coming with multiple styles of trousers (long trousers, breaches, plus-fours, etc.) but coats could be worn with odd trousers perfectly legitimately.

I think the current fashion "faux pas" of pairing of a suit coat with odd trousers can be discarded within reason. Part of the problem, though, is that modern suits have become more and more standardized over the years since the 1920s with fewer and fewer cloth options. Modern suit coats tend to have a "flat" look which is often incompatible with the casualness or more bulky cloth of odd trousers.

 

[Edward]

Even more so in the teens and 20s, too. Not only would you see suits marketed as coming with multiple styles of trousers (long trousers, breaches, plus-fours, etc.) but coats could be worn with odd trousers perfectly legitimately.

I think the current fashion "faux pas" of pairing of a suit coat with odd trousers can be discarded within reason. Part of the problem, though, is that modern suits have become more and more standardized over the years since the 1920s with fewer and fewer cloth options. Modern suit coats tend to have a "flat" look which is often incompatible with the casualness or more bulky cloth of odd trousers.

Probably true.... I would also suggest that the increasing dominance of pinstripes in suits might be an issue here too. Somehow, a plain fabric or much more subtle pattern seems to me to integrate much better into a 'coordinating separates' look than pinstripes, which seem to scream out "I'm only wearing half a suit!".... Perhaps also this perception owes much to the fact that the run of the mill people wear suits so rarely (weddings and funerals, and those don't crop up so often for most folks) that it is automatically a "formal" thing, and with the relative death of formal and semi formal daywear, the popular view is that a matching jacket and trosuers are more formal than coordinating separates. I know most men of my acquaintance would be (as, indeed, was I at a time) guys who have either the contemporary formal option of a (lounge) suit or ubercasual jeans and t shirts, with little in between. The average man's wardrobe lacks the 'gradation' of spectrum from formal to casual that feature in ladies' typical wardrobes... A significant change. it seems to me, since the thirties.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

The average man's wardrobe lacks the 'gradation' of spectrum from formal to casual that feature in ladies' typical wardrobes... A significant change. it seems to me, since the thirties.

I hadn't thought of that before, but I think you are right. Women seem more adept at having ranges of formality on-call, though admittedly for them such things are far easier to obtain and there is more leeway on both ends of the formality spectrum.

As for formality in general, I think it's more a case of a progressive lowering of the formality ladder and reduction in number of "rungs." I would say the maximum variety was obtained in roughly the 1850-1900 period. It was only during that period that the suit evolved from casual wear to standard dress. Since the turn of the century, the upper rungs of the formality spectrum have slowly been removed and more casual ones added below the suit, such that now a suit is essentially "formalwear" for most men. Maybe you could argue that "business casual" is the modern replacement to the rung the suit occupied in the 1930s.

The interesting thing is that today pretty much anything involving a suit-style coat, tie and no jeans is a "suit." Blazers, sportcoats, actual suits are all sort of lumped together. Any formal-ish colored coat, tie and trousers combination that is not a business suit and is worn for a wedding or other special occasion is a "tux."