These days there are more fashion items available on the market than ever before, and for many guys, the choices can get confusing at times. Men’s blazers are all the go at the moment, but what is a blazer exactly and why should you want one or two or more in your wardrobe?

Let’s take a look at men’s blazers and see what all the hype is about, and then you can decide for yourself whether adding a blazer to your clothing collection is for you or not.

What Is a Blazer Exactly?

A blazer is a jacket that’s considered “middle of the road”. It’s not totally casual, but a blazer is not considered formal attire either. It’s somewhere in between.

Often a blazer is tailored to fit just like a suit jacket would be and you could even wear it with a tie. You might even call a blazer an upmarket sport’s coat. It’s semi-formal but kind of casual at the same time.

Blazers often tend to be made from heavier fabrics than that of a suit jacket. Some common fabrics are fresco, flannel, wool, polyester, cotton, and linen.

A men’s blazer of decent quality, cut and style will likely set you back a few hundred dollars at the very least, so it’s definitely an investment and worth having one or two in your wardrobe. What’s cool about blazers is they are formal enough to wear to an affair that requires you to dress up, but also relaxed enough to wear out for drinks with friends on a Saturday night, or even for day wear.

The Different Types of Men’s Blazer

When it comes to the fit of a blazer there are essentially two types:

1. Structured

2. Unstructured

The shoulder is where it’s at when it comes to structured blazers. These have shoulder pads that sit just beyond the head of the sleeve. This gives the wearer more of a straight, broad-shouldered look that also compliments the rest of the body shape, even making the waistline appear narrower and slimmer.

With a blazer, structured or unstructured, the length of the sleeves and the blazer itself are much in line with a suit jacket. If you wear a long-sleeved shirt, then just like with more formal attire, you want a portion of the cuff to be visible beyond the sleeve of the blazer.

A structured blazer will fit the body fairly snugly with the buttons done up, but at the same time, it won’t look tight.

Unstructured blazers are more casual but still semi-formal. The fabric might still be fairly weighty, but the fit will be overall more relaxed.

The soft or unstructured blazer has more relaxed shoulders that follow the contour of the shoulders, whereas a structured blazer has that more square-shouldered appearance.

You can quite easily wear the unstructured blazer in both a business environment and a more relaxed atmosphere. It’s definitely the more versatile of the two options, but if you really want to cover your bases, and you have the wardrobe budget for it, you might want at least one structured and one unstructured blazer for all occasions.

What To Pair Or Wear With Your Blazer

The good thing about the blazer – in particular, the soft blazer – is it can quite easily be paired and matched with a number of men’s shirts and pants.

For example, you could wear a blazer even with a T-shirt underneath, something that you’re not likely to do with a suit jacket.

It was mentioned before that you could wear a blazer with a tie, especially the structured version, which means it also matches up well with a button-up shirt and even a business shirt. Blazers can be worn with dress pants or even good quality jeans. Both formal and casual boots or shoes go well, depending on what pants you choose to wear with your blazer.

It’s also a great garment for those in-between seasons, where it’s not hot or cold, but comfortable enough to wear a jacket. If you don’t yet have a blazer in your clothing collection, it might be time to consider adding one.