Blazers

What makes it a blazer and not half a suit

The commonest mistake is wearing a suit jacket without its trousers and calling it a blazer. It reads as exactly what it is. A blazer is cut from different cloth for a different purpose, and the details follow from that.

• Cloth with visible texture — hopsack, flannel, tweed — rather than smooth worsted
• Patch or flapped patch pockets, which a suit jacket does not have
• Often a softer shoulder and less structure through the body
• Buttons that are a deliberate choice: horn, brass, or covered

Cloth, and what works in this climate

Texture is the whole point, and texture usually means a more open weave, which happens to be exactly what this city needs. A hopsack in a tropical weight is both the more correct blazer cloth and the more wearable one here — the rare case where the traditional answer and the practical one agree.

• Hopsack: open, textured, moves air, the default for a reason
• High-twist wools in a weave with some surface interest
• Linen and linen blends where creasing is acceptable
• Flannel and tweed for people taking the jacket somewhere colder

More on cloth and construction.

Fit

A blazer is worn more often and more casually than a suit jacket, so it is reached for, sat in and carried. That argues for the same structural decisions as a suit — the shoulder and the armhole — with slightly more ease through the body.

• Shoulder ending where yours does; no alteration moves it afterwards
• A high armhole, so reaching does not lift the whole jacket
• Length set so it covers the seat — a blazer cut short reads as borrowed
• Sleeve finishing to show a little shirt cuff, because the contrast is the detail

Construction

Because a blazer is worn harder than a suit jacket, construction matters more here, not less. The canvas in the chest is what keeps the front clean after two years of being taken on and off; a fused front under heat and humidity bubbles, and there is no repair for it.

The argument in full is onfull canvas, half canvas and fused, and the construction photographs are underbespoke suits.

Measurement

Measuring takes about twenty minutes and happens where you are. We record the full set even for a single jacket, because the pattern is then complete for trousers or a second jacket later without another appointment.

Trousers to go with it are ontrousers, blazers and separates, and the sequence is on how a fitting works.

Questions we are actually asked

Are blazers still in style?

A blazer is the least fashion-dependent jacket there is, which is most of its appeal. Shoulders and lapel widths drift a little over a decade; the garment itself has not changed in a century and a well-cut one does not date the way a fashion-cut suit does.

What is the difference between a blazer and a suit jacket?

A suit jacket has trousers cut from the same cloth and looks orphaned without them. A blazer is designed to stand alone — usually more textured cloth, often patch pockets, sometimes a softer shoulder — so it reads as deliberate rather than as half a suit.

Who is the best tailor in Bangkok?

Not a question anyone should answer about themselves. The useful version is what to ask: how is the jacket constructed, how many fittings do I get, and can I see it half-made. A tailor who answers all three plainly is showing you the work rather than the showroom.

Can I wear a blazer in this heat?

In the right cloth, yes. An open-weave hopsack in a light weight is a different garment from a worsted blazer cut for a European autumn, and it is the one worth having here. We will tell you which is which before you choose.

Can you match it to trousers I already own?

We can cut trousers to go with a blazer, and we can advise on what works with trousers you have. What we will not do is claim a close match to a cloth we cannot see — bring them to the fitting.