Once known as boating jackets (hence the naval-style brass buttons on the more formal versions), blazers took their name from the “blazing” red jackets of an early 19th-century Cambridge University rowing club. Other sports clubs, envious of this fashion coup and not wanting to miss out, then started adding stripes and coloured lapels for themselves. Today’s models are, thankfully, slightly calmer, although we have picked an eye-catching Harris tweed number with potent red stripes by Spanish label El Ganso if you really want to “blaze”.
Our other selections span the affordable (particularly H&M’s £50 slick, single-breasted jacket from its line curated by David Beckham) to the more considered purchase (Swedish designer J Lindeberg’s classic style available at Harvey Nichols, clocking in at just under a monkey).
Whichever blazer you proudly hang in your wardrobe, wear it with denim, or chinos and loafers when you’re feeling especially smart-casual.