The navy blazer is an incredible garment that exudes tradition, masculinity and timeless style. It’s one of the few jackets that essentially looks good on everyone.
Another massive benefit is that it can be scaled up and down in formality. Paired with a tie, grey wool trousers and fine shoes, it is almost as formal as a suit. And when used with casual garments like jeans or chinos,
I personally love the navy blazer, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end-all-be-all of men’s style. It’s useful to have some alternatives – similar jackets that can be used when the navy blazer needs a rest.
It’s also a fact that some people don’t like the vibe of the navy blazer. It’s very tied to the sea, to school uniforms, to certain clubs. Some people may have a negative impression of the navy blazer if they wore it as a uniform at a place where they felt uncomfortable. So, again, it’s good to have some alternatives.
Let’s see what we can come up with.
A casual blue jacket with regular buttons
The navy blazer is famous for its hopsack/serge weave and gold buttons. Perhaps that’s a bit too much for every day, so an alternative is needed if you still want that blue jacket look.
A fairly unstructured (therefore more casual) navy-coloured jacket with regular buttons would be more comfortable and stand out a bit less. It could be a navy blue twill fabric if you live in a colder climate, or a navy blue linen jacket if you live in a warmer one. You could also go for a slightly lighter shade of blue, such as an electric blue, French blue
This type of jacket works with the same outfit combinations as the navy blazer – so it’s a very easy replacement and it’s a bit less ‘flashy’.
Blue tweed jacket
Tweed is an awesome fabric as it protects you from bad weather – and it has a rough texture, which makes it easier to pair with casual clothes.
If you love dressing in blue, but you live in the countryside or in a smaller town, a blue tweed jacket is probably a lot more socially appropriate than a navy blazer or any other tailored navy jacket. In this case, we highly recommend blue tweed!
The most iconic tweeds in the world are Harris Tweed and Donegal Tweed. Those are not companies, but geographical locations where the locals produce high-quality fabrics. You can easily order a blue tweed jacket from an online store. You can also order the cloth by the metre and take it to a tailor for a bespoke version. Aside from ordering the artisanal Harris or Donegal tweed, you could also get it from a highly respected cloth company like Fox Brothers.
Green blazer
A green blazer can be super fun. Certainly a nice alternative to the traditional blazer.
It could be a very dark green jacket, as dark as navy is on the blue spectrum, for maximum versatility. It would go with many of the same trousers as the navy blazer does – your grey flannel trousers, dark jeans, beige chinos, off-white trousers, etc.
It could also be another shade of green, anything from a rich emerald green to a lighter sage green, depending on the season you wish to use it. Darker shades of green will look good with gold buttons (to replicate the classic blazer style) while lighter ones should probably have horn buttons or such.
Hopsack is the preferred weave for a green blazer, especially if you want to use it for the warmer months or for all-year use with some layering underneath. A very dark green blazer for autumn/winter could be made of a thicker twill-weave fabric.
Burgundy blazer
Burgundy is also an excellent choice for a blazer. They used to be quite common, especially in sports, but nowadays you rarely see burgundy blazers anywhere in society.
They are also difficult to find in stores, but you could have a bespoke burgundy blazer made. There are several good fabrics on the market. With burgundy, you want to go dark. Hopsack is the ideal fabric as it is fairly cool – you won’t have to take off the jacket in indoor heated rooms, and you can simply layer it when you’re outside. Lighter coloured turtlenecks look great with burgundy.
In terms of trousers, you would wear the blazer with mid-to-dark grey trousers. Off-whites and darker blues could also work, and if you want to be more colourful, green trousers create a natural but nice contrast to burgundy.
A checkered blue jacket
Finally, you may consider a plain-coloured jacket to be too boring. Some men prefer to have extra details – often a pattern of some kind, like a windowpane or a Glen check.
It’s rather easy to find checkered blue sports jackets. They have some versatility since the pattern makes them a bit more casual, so a checkered blue jacket can easily be used with separate trousers of various colours, just like a navy blazer can.
In terms of fabric, you may want to stick with wool here, but there are many different weaves to choose from. If it’s a summer jacket, some men like a wool-silk-linen mix as it has a very distinct texture.