SB or DB Blazer

[uppercase]

Need a nice new winter blazer…a go-to coat suited
to most everything.
Any recommendations ?

Decisions to make :
-SB or DB?
-Cloth: flannel or …?
-Color: what shade of blue?
-Tailor: soft or hard. Thinking Richard Anderson
or Steven Hitchcock.

TIA

[Concordia]

I just got a 2-button from Hitchcock. I'm still trying to figure out if his eye for DB works for me, but the SB is quite brilliant.

Mine was the Ultimate Blazer fabric-- if I were to do differently, I could imagine several options. Much depends on how dressy or how durable it would be. On the durable end, Fox has some beautiful hopsacks in their worsted book, in 11oz and much heavier. Otherwise, a serge (perhaps from the same book, or from Smith Steadfast or Harrisons Oyster). Plain antique silver buttons, and you'll be ready for anything.

[rlambert]

Plain antique silver buttons, and you'll be ready for anything.

I've always found gold and silver blazer buttons based on a traditional suiting four hole button to look elegant and understated at the same time. However, though I have seen ones that are a true metallic copy of a traditional four hole button on the jackets of others several times, I am still searching for a place where they may be purchased.

The Benson & Clegg buttons shown below come close to matching a traditional four hole button, and I have a hopsack blazer being made with them in gold now. That being said, the buttons have a shank that is not seen in the photo, which means that the four holes are placed wider apart than a normal button and not meant to carry thread.

Does anyone know a source for gold or silver metallic four hole buttons that do not have a shank?

[Man at C&A]

Does anyone know a source for gold or silver metallic four hole buttons that do not have a shank?

I picked some up from The Button Queen, albeit a decade ago. There's not much on their website but the shop is a must-visit if you're in London and they so carry one-off vintage blazer buttons when available.

[alden]

UC

I have always felt the blazer is a DB. The damn thing just has so much panache and makes the SB look mundane.

princemichael1ya8 by The London Lounge, on Flickr

clip_image002_010_000 by The London Lounge, on Flickr

And I do think you need two of them: one in Flannel and one in a Brisa like fabric or a mid-weight hopsack. (Depends on your climate and usage.)

Cheers

[Scot]

My cloth recommendation would be the hopsack from the 16oz Lesser book. Mine does the job very nicely!

[aston]

My choices have been SB in a fresco for summer and DB in a heavier cloth for winter.

[hectorm]

...winter blazer…a go-to coat suited
to most everything.

-SB or DB?

SB. I don´t see my DB blazers like the go-to coats suited to everything. I consider them somewhat special, for being outdoors, elegant sport occasions, etc.

-Cloth: flannel or …?

Again, I don´t see wooly flannel like the day-in-day-out cloth. If you like flannel, for a winter blazer, I would recommend a worsted flannel like the 15oz Vintage Hopsack from the Fox Bros. book.

-Color: what shade of blue?

True navy. Err on the darker side. For a "most everything" coat, it will transition well for an evening affair.

-Tailor: soft or hard. Thinking Richard Anderson or Steven Hitchcock.

I´m surprised that your dilemma is between those two "extremes", but I don´t want to open a can of worms.
I would go with RA and I would ask him very politely to add a second button on my blazer. But -although I don´t fancy the soft style- I have to recognize that young Mr. Hitchcock cuts beautiful jackets too.

And by the way, for a "most everything" coat, I would skip the semaphore buttons.

[rodes]

Uppercase,
If I were commissioning for myself, the order would be DB with antique silver or pewter buttons, heavy flannel, the lightest shade of navy that still could be called navy, and soft construction. I have one such coat that is all of the above save DB. I wear it fairly often and every time that I put it on I mildly say, "Why did I not order this DB?" Of course, the coat is more versatile SB than it would have been DB. Still I would go DB. Unlike the summer blazer, I do not consider the winter to be an especially versatile coat anyway. For that purpose choose a SB, medium brown tweed with subtle pattern. The navy flannel blazer cannot but stand out, so stand out DB.

[hectorm]

The navy flannel blazer cannot but stand out.

It´s true, and this fact amazes me. I grew up in a time when the SB navy flannel blazer was the staple of the day and would not stand out at all (if you wanted it to stand out -other than with a DB- you would add gold buttons, but it was frowned upon). If your occupation didn't require a suit, men would wear their blue blazers with grey trousers as their uniform during the week, and then wear some brown stuff during the weekend. Nowadays when you see a flannel blue blazer on the street, it´s a big deal.

[alden]

The Italians really use the blazer to its full advantage. A well dressed Milanese will have a few in different shades in his wardrobe. And they tend to use dark brown horn buttons with them instead of metal ones. It works well with gray, or tan trousers and dark brown shoes..suede or calf.

SB for summer is a good idea...in Brisa, Piuma or Linen....with a buggy lining.

Cheers

[uppercase]

There you go!!

[uppercase]

And for my needs …which are basically to have a casual coat during the day , well, I think that a SB fits the bill.
A DB, while beautiful, is just a bit too too for my environment.

And again, while I would love a soft shoulder, it just doesn't really look OK on me.

So, have got to look at a stronger shoulder tailor, and other than Richard Anderson , Terry Haste comes to mind and is certainly a tailor whose reputation precedes him.

Though, these days, I like a quick and simple job, i.e. MTM, and only RA and Huntsman offer that option. Though Steven Hitchcock has my pattern, and so , we wouldn't need more than one fitting. And he doesn't make such a soft, round, floppy shoulder like some other soft tailors on SR and in Naples, which just don't suit me.

Anyway…Blazers are always fun to consider. Just really the core king of casual day time wear.

You really can't go wrong with them no matter what!

[alden]

UC

For my own use, the blazer fills the gap in moments when a patterned odd jacket at one end of the spectrum, or a suit, at the other end, might be inappropriate.

But the blazer has to be worn with a good deal of panache (like the Italians do) to make it really shine. If not, it looks unthinking, unimaginative, and just plain dull. So have a blazer and trousers made as well as possible by a bench tailor and go out and flaunt it for all its worth. Nothing in between will do...for the otherwise pedestrian blazer.

Cheers

[Screaminmarlon]

It may lack golden buttons, but the Mistral cloth (and pockets with 'mal di pancia') takes care of the rest.



P.s.: I love the DB (for winter and summer): you never have too many navy coats