Styling with Blazers

I love how blazers or jackets can totally turn around the look of any outfit. They can be worn in any number of ways - with a dress, shorts, skinny jeans, boyfriend jeans, jumpsuit, high-waisted pants, etc! Whether you're looking to make a professional appearance for work or trying to up your "chic" factor for a casual outfit, blazers and bomber jackets are for you. But how do you style them without looking like you're headed for a job interview? 

Here are my styling ABCs to help you get on board with jackets/blazers:

1. Go for color! Bright colored blazers instantly transform your appearance. They serve to give you a put-together together, classic look without making you looking too serious. I love my pink and orange blazers (pictures below). They're a closet workhorse and I've worn them multiple times in and outside of the workplace setting. 

2. Play around with different cuts and styles of jackets/blazers. By that I mean try a cropped blazer (see my look with the orange blazer), a long blazer (see the pink blazer I wore). or a bomber jacket style. All of them give very different looks but achieve the same purpose of pulling the look together effectively. You may find that you gravitate towards certain cuts and styles more than others. 

3. Pair your blazer or jacket with contrasting or complementary colors in your outfit. The idea is to have fun with paring without being too matchy-matchy and veering into the territory of a formal "job interview" look. 

4. Consider proportions. Basically, certain blazer lengths may work better with certain outfits. For example, a long blazer looks balanced with skinny jeans or a dress of similar length without adding bulk to your appearance. Alternatively, a cropped blazer looks good with high waisted pants (as seen in the pictures below with the orange blazer).

5.  If you own only a black or white solid color blazer, make it casual by pairing it with jeans, a T-shirt (maybe one with stripes or a graphic print), and rolling up the sleeves of the blazer. Ta-da! You got the "stylish without looking like you tried too hard" look. 

On a related note, for reading about how to transition from work to evening wear: read my blog post here.