Matching a Navy Blazer Jacket with Trousers - Mens Style Guide - Fashion Advice
Hi.
Iím Antonio Centeno, the founder of Real Men Real Style.
And today weíre going to be talking about how to match a pair of trousers with a navy
blazer.
If you havenít already, make sure to subscribe to my YouTube channel.
Just click on the button right above here and youíll make sure to get these delivered
to your inbox.
Weíre making a big push this year putting out a lot of videos.
So, I donít want you to miss any.
And if youíre subscribed it will come right to your inbox.
In addition, if youíd like learn about navy blazers go and click on the article down below.
We talk about them in a lot more detail.
But in this video, Iím going talk about matching a pair of trousers with a navy blazer.
Now, blazers come in other ñ there are red blazers, there are dark green blazers, there
are brighter blue blazers, lots of blazers.
But weíre going to be talking about the navy blazers.
And Iím not going to get into the specifics about the exact type of fabric.
There are quite a few fabrics out there that a navy blazer could be made from.
But for all intensive purposes, this is going to be one that almost looks like a suit except
itís going to have the typical gold or silver buttons you could have actually white mother
of pearl or smoked mother of pearl as well.
So, but typically on a navy blazer, a true navy blazer, youíre going to see some type
of nautical thing to it and thatís why youíre going to have the gold or the silver buttons.
In addition, youíll occasionally see them to be double-breasted, but most of the blazers
I see out there now in the year 2010 and being sold by the larger manufacturers, theyíre
all single-breasted.
So Iím going to be focusing on single-breasted navy blazers assuming that youíre going to
have gold or silver buttons or mother pearl look great.
So, donít ñ you know, consider that if youíve got one and you want to change it up for the
summer.
Okay.
So what are the types of trousers?
My favorite by far gray flannel.
Underused ñ just something that before World War II was huge; after World War II, we starting
to see it fade away.
You know, flannel used to be use heavier in suits and so you saw flannel fabrics being
made and lot of off-the-rack suits before and just after World War II but they started
disappearing in the early 19 ñ late 1950s or early 1960s and they just havenít made
it come back and because of that, flannel trousers in general had disappeared.
I love any type of gray flannel trouser with a navy ñ navy blazer.
And the reason being is it clearly does not matches the different color but it just ñ
it just work so well and I really like the idea that you still go with the ñ anywhere
from a medium to a charcoal gray or work with ñ with the dark navy and it just ñ it allows
ñ itís a very monochromatic look and allows the eyes to go up and down.
And thatís really important if youíre a shorter man or youíre a bit stout because
you donít want the ñ you donít want that navy blazer, you know, cut you in half or
anything like that.
So, again, gray flannel trousers, if you can find them, a little bit harder to find.
I know I may come over at A Tailored Suit, my custom clothier but you can probably find
some either in vintage stores or just do a search out there and see what you can find.
Gray worsted trouser is a second choice now.
Whatís the difference?
Worsted wool is going to be a lighter weight.
Itís not going to have the nap surface.
So with a ñ with a flannel, they actually treat it afterwards and they run this machine
over that kind of pulls out a little bit the fabric and itís also usually a bit heavier.
Worsted wool is going to be what you would typically see in suits.
And this is going to be a lot easier to find.
You could go to a number of menswear stores and youíre going to find these right off-the-rack.
They will work there ñ I donít like them as much because itís almost ñ if the fabric
is too dark and itís too close to navy, itís almost going to look and violate one of the
principles of wearing any type of sports jacket or navy blazer and thatís that you do not
want the trousers to match the jacket too closely or to match it exactly because it
didnít ñ itís going to look like weíre trying to put a suite together and thatís
a big, big no no.
Donít ñ whenever youíre wearing sports jacket or a blazer, you donít want to look
like youíre trying to put a suit together.
That just looks bad.
So, avoid black trousers for that reason.
Iím not going to recommend them.
Navy blue trousers do not wear them with a navy blue blazer.
Now, brighter blues and true blues perhaps.
I have to see ñ Iíve seen it, Iíve seen it in the images.
Iíve seen younger men pull it off that looks pretty good but ñ okay, so weíve talked
about gray flannel trousers, we talked about gray worsted wool trousers.
Now letís talk about chinos.
And this is something that you see a lot especially in collegeís campuses.
You men like to pull this off.
And it looks good on young men if the trousers and the jacket fit him well.
Otherwise, if heís a portly generation or a little bit heavier weight or short, then
that starts contrast between the top and the bottom.
It kind of ñ it draws attention to that contrast there and itís going to makes you look short.
So, you can pull this off, again, if youíre in pretty...
...good shape, you donít have to be in great shape.
But you need to, you know, be able to take care of yourself.
You need to be able to go out and run a mile.
So if you canít do that then double ñ donít really go with this.
I can feel lot of politicians trying to pull this off and these are the guys ñ theyíre
pretty heavy and he just makes their upper body look bigger and their lower body look
smaller.
But otherwise, if you got a decent body, this looks great because the contrast really ñ
it really clearly states that this is a navy blazer.
It actually makes the jacket pop a bit more even though it does draw attention to the
trousers, we quickly move down to the shoes because usually youíre going to be wearing
dark shoes with this.
And so it allows you to draw a bit more attention to the footwear.
And ñ so I really like this combination.
But, again, with chinos, khakis, any type of tan trouser.
Make sure also that the style ñ that theyíre not ñ I donít know, a cheap $10 khakis.
I mean, really ñ although you can find some great deals for $10 in thrift stores but make
sure theyíre cut and they look crisp and clean.
You donít want anything thatís distressed or faded or warmed.
That just kind of take ñ it takes away for a minute and it doesnít look right.
Now, talking about the distressed and faded and warmed jeans.
Okay, the only time you should be wearing jeans with holes and then with a navy blazer
is if youíre a musician or youíre a rockstar of some sort, you know, or maybe a Hollywood
actor.
If youíre not in that category, you really need to reconsider wearing distress jeans
with a navy blazer.
Now a raw denim, thatís a whole another story.
Raw denim in a dark indigo almost looks like a pair of dress slacks and I think that that
looks very nice with a navy blazer.
Itís something though ñ Iím not a big fan of about, you know, rolling up the bottom
of the denim and wearing up with a navy ñ draws a little bit too much attention but
Iím a fun of it.
Iíve ñ Iíve pulled this look off and I think it works for the younger man.
Once you pass the age, I think, of 50 or 60, well, it depends.
If you go out and you get some of ñ thereís some mix, some really nice jeans and thereís
a few other ones out there, what was it ñ youíll have to go to one of my jean articles
and we talked about jeans for the old demand.
So if youíre pulling off the right type of denim, hey, you know, go for it.
The last thing with jeans Iím going to talk about white jeans.
I have seen these pulled off with a navy blazer and it looked actually pretty good.
So, if youíve got the [0:07:31] [Phonetic] Cohunes go for it.
If not, well, you know, just, I donít know, go back to the khakis.
Okay.
Corduroy ñ and I want to thank my friend Bernhard Roetzel.
He wrote the book Gentleman.
And heís got some great images of how corduroy can work with a navy blazer.
Now, again, this is like the chinos and the khakis make sure the corduroy fits you well
because if it doesnít fits you well; itís just going to be a bad look.
Itís going to look too bad.
Itís not going to look right.
And also if youíre going to go with the start contrast, again, you need to be in pretty
good shape and make sure the jacket is fitted and go for a little bit shorter of a jacket
thatís going to help a balance look.
In corduroy, you can get that in red, brown, gold ñ the thing with corduroy is the texture
is really going to differentiate it from the jacket and thatís key whenever matching a
jacket in a pair of trousers.
Last but not the least, linen.
So light-colored linen ñand this will be a bit loser.
Linen is one lose.
You can pull this off on someone.
And this looks great especially if your jacket is unlined.
And by unlined, you know, basically it doesnít have the lining on the inside of the jacket.
Iím actually wearing this unlined.
And that helps keep the heat away.
And if youíre in it, in an instance, where you need to be wearing a jacket, you need
to be looking sharp during the summer and itís hot, well, linen trousers within an
unlined blazer jacket with perhaps a linen shirt, itís going to be a pretty sharp look
especially if itís a single-breasted but if itís double-breasted, you might need to
wear something on the neck.
But ñ okay, the general rule again is make sure that your navy blazer does not too closely
match your trousers.
If some people are mistaken it as a suit, itís a bad combination.
If not, you know, usually the brighter colors, the ñ a little bit more off combinations,
those require a bit of courage but I encourage you to try it because you only live once.
So go out there and dress your style.
This has been Antonio Centeno with Real Men Real Style.
Oh, by the way, if you havenít already, go visit Real Men Real Style.
Weíve got a great email list that I highly advice you join.
We give away a 47-page ebook and 80-minute audio.
Every single day, I get thank yous.
People are saying, ìWow, I canít believe youíre giving this away for free.î Well,
we are and itís a really good content.
I think youíll enjoy it if you enjoy this video.
And, again, article down below, weíll talk to you more about navy blazers.
Take care.
Bye-bye.