MENSWEAR In the fashion revolution, blazers are hot

Updated jackets are anything but boring and traditional.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Blazers were once a boring staple of the man's dress wardrobe.
Uniformly cut from the same navy cloth and stamped with gold buttons, blazers were mass-produced for semiformal functions and business attire.
But now these jackets are having their day, and they're anything but traditional.
Blazers range from "a bright orange jacket to a black velvet jacket and everything in between," said Joseph Kadi, designer of the Joseph Cloak line sold in stores such as Atrium and Beau Brummel. "We are going through a fashion revolution."
Pop stars were at the forefront of the recent blazer reinterpretation, said Kelly Rae, Stuff magazine's fashion and grooming director.
Fashion-forward young celebrities such as R & amp;B singer Usher and music mogul-designer Sean Combs began wearing blazers over jeans.
"It made young men aware that blazers are not necessarily only to be worn as a suit," Rae said.
Taking their cue from music videos, teens and young twentysomethings were soon wearing blazers over hooded sweatshirts, Rae said. Older guys paired the jackets with jeans or cords.
"The advantage of the blazer is you can dress it up or you can dress it down," said Sunder Daswani, president and founder of Elegant Rochees Hong Kong Tailors, a Virginia-based store that sells custom-tailored blazers around the nation.
"You can wear it with jeans, you can wear it with dress pants, you can wear it with a button-down shirt, with or without a tie," he said. "You can even wear it with a bow tie."
Material things
At J. Crew -- where blazers range from $128 to $300 -- designers fashioned jackets from English tweeds and luxurious fabrics such as velvet and cotton cashmere blends, said Todd Snyder, vice president of men's design.
Designers for Casual Male Big & amp; Tall used high-tech, wrinkle-resistant stretch fabrics to enable men to fold their arms comfortably and relax in their blazers, said David Levin, the chain's CEO.
Recently, designers have cropped jackets and narrowed lapels. Added and subtracted buttons. Lined the blazer with signature patterns and thrown in pockets for cellphones.
Fit is important
"But it is really important to get a jacket that fits well," Snyder said.
Daswani recommends men of average height and weight look for two- or three-button blazers. "Two is for people who are conservative and three for people who like the latest style," he said.
Snyder added that two buttons are coming back, but three have been the "go-to for the last five or six years." Snyder also said guys should ensure that the shoulders on the blazer are not too square, which looks antiquated.
For dressier occasions, regular-size guys can opt to be daring this year with velvet blazers. "Velvet is huge this season," Rae said, adding that it is a bit more refined than the tweed blazer-sport coat.
"The velvet blazer is more Fred Astaire," she said. "If you are going to wear a velvet blazer with jeans, you don't wear sneakers. You invest in a nice pair of dress shoes."
Size and shapes
Shorter men are the perfect body type to wear this season's one-button, slightly cropped blazers, Rae said.
Blazers are particularly flattering to thin people because they can give the illusion of broad shoulders, Kadi said. "It's cheaper than a gym membership at Gold's," he added.
For most men of this body type, Daswani suggests a three-button, double-breasted style, which gives extra bulk. "If he is a young man, tall, slim and very fashion-conscious, he should take a four-button single-breasted," he said.
Stockier guys should stick to slimming, single-breasted versions, Daswani said. He added that a person with a slight belly should opt for two buttons.
Levin suggests bigger men try looser-fitting twill and microsuede blazers. "There is no padding in the shoulders," he explained. "It is a much more relaxed, casual fit."