Oh, how we love blazers. They’re timeless workwear staples, substantial enough to serve as transitional-weather outerwear, and they have the ability to polish up a look in a pinch. The blazer, as basic as it may seem, is a surprisingly versatile fashion-forward piece. You can wear it buttoned when you’re feeling professional, then have it draped over your shoulders for after-hours mischief. And the blazer looks fabulous with essentially every clothing item you already own: a pair of jeans, easy trousers, a worn-in T-shirt, a crisp oxford, simple white sneakers, a pair of strappy heels, the list goes on. What we’re trying to say is that you simply can’t go wrong with the ever-so-classic blazer — and we guarantee it’s a piece you’ll come back to time and time again.
Because summer is slowly fading into fall, we’re presenting a breakdown of some of the best blazer styles to look for. We’ve got an array of options ahead, including oversized blazers, blazers with built-in belts, faux leather blazers, and much more. Whatever your aesthetic is, there’s a blazer out there suited to mix and match into with your capsule wardrobe. Get ahead of the season and shop these blazers now — and, when we eventually head back into offices with more regularity, you’ll already be equipped with your new go-to work jacket.
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Black Blazers
This staple should be handed out on the first day of any job, along with your work ID.
Everlane The Easy Blazer, $, available at Everlane
Reformation Greene Blazer, $, available at Reformation
H&M Straight-cut Jacket with Sheen, $, available at H&M
Oversized Blazers
This blazer style is boxier, a little longer, and has a flattering slouch that is at once super casual but still totally presentable.
Ghospell oversized double breasted blazer and longline bermuda s, $, available at ASOS
Bardot The Oversized Blazer, $, available at Revovle
Zara OVERSIZED MENSWEAR STYLE BLAZER, $, available at Zara
Tweed Blazers
Want a more fitted, preppy look? Tweed blazers — you know, with the waffle-like wool texture — usually come in tighter silhouettes.
Lattelier Single-breasted Cropped Blazer, $, available at Lattelier
Printed Blazers
Most blazers are neutral — which makes sense, considering they're highly coveted for various work settings. But blazers with big bold prints also exist, and they're an immediate method of making any outfit unforgettable.
INS Double Breasted Lemon Print Blazer, $, available at INS
Scotch & Soda Double-breasted pattern blazer, $, available at Scotch & Soda
Farm Rio Leopard Shell Blazer, $, available at Farm Rio
Double-Breasted Blazers
Stylistically, double-breasted blazers have a more polished look than their single-breasted counterparts because they're made with slightly more fabric (hence the extra row of buttons).
Ted Baker BEECHI Double breasted blazer, $, available at Ted Baker
Cuyana Wool Double-Breasted Blazer, $, available at Cuyana
A New Day Women's Double Breasted Blazer, $, available at Target
Belted Blazers
Whether you're into buckles or ties, these blazers are made to cinch at the waist. If you find that regular blazers make your torso look like a rectangle, consider this curvier silhouette.
NastyGal Tailored Buckle Detail Long Sleeve Blazer, $, available at NastyGal
Express Belted Draped Blazer, $, available at Express
Daisy Street belted blazer in corduroy, $, available at ASOS
Wool-Blend Blazers
Perfect for chillier days (or cosplaying as a college professor).
Everlane The Oversized Blazer, $, available at Everlane
Veronica Beard Oria Dickey checked woven blazer, $, available at Net-A-Porter
& Other Stories Oversized Wool Blazer, $, available at & Other Stories
Lightweight Blazers
Made from 100% cotton, these blazers are super light and breezy.
Madewell Lightspun Dorset Blazer, $, available at Madewell
rag & bone Ames Gingham Stretch Cotton Seersucker Blazer, $, available at rag & bone
Rachel Comey Quinz Blazer, $, available at Rachel Comey
Vegan Leather Blazers
Turn the blazer trend up to 11 with these faux leather pieces. Thick and with a glossy sheen, they're perfect for adding some edge to your look.
Alice + Olivia Dunn Vegan Leather Blazer, $, available at Shopbop
[BLANKYNYC] Womens Double Breasted Long Vegan Leather Blazer, $, available at Amazon
Frankie Shop Olympia faux leather blazer, $, available at Net-A-Porter
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As the world slowly reopens, it’s no secret that everyone has been struggling to figure out how to live in this (almost) post-pandemic reality and get back on their feet. Well, Ciara is tackling this new transition by one-two stepping into the accessory business. The triple-threat entertainer has created a futuristic and COVID-safe accessory line.
“What’s exciting about Dare to Rome is we have an antimicrobial technology in our backpacks and lunchboxes that adds that extra layer of protection [along with a water resistant layer], so that it helps prevent the growth of bacteria. It was really important to me and the team as we were creating these bags to think about [protection],” Ciara tells R29Unbothered over Zoom. When you’re creating you have to think about that extra layer of protection, because what we’ve experienced is really real.”
Ciara’s right; this pandemic has been real and while it may have ripped the world apart, it also brought a lot of people closer together, including her family. Working from home has given her the opportunity to love on her kids in between handling Zoom calls. And even during our brief conversation, it’s obvious that she and her husband, NFL star Russell Wilson, are stronger than ever. We know they are #relationshipgoals based on their adorable Instagram shots, but what does theirBlack love look like up close? And what is it like to be loved so deeply, especially by a Black man?
“I pray that when my kids get older, the world will look a little different and be better than where we are now.”
CIARA
“It’s a blessing,” Ciara says without hesitation. “I think about my father’s love and how he loved me, how he loved my mom, growing up and he really showed me the true way to be loved. It’s a blessing when I look at my partner, and I see that same love that I had growing up from my dad, like identically to that type of love. And that’s another level of love.”
The way that Wilson loves and dotes on Ciara is so refreshing to see, especially when we are used to seeing headlines of Black women mistreated or watching us get cast onscreen as tokens for ratings. Ciara says that even though her relationship with her husband is beautiful, the only way to receive love is to love yourself. ”I think that when we love ourselves and we’re content within ourselves and where we are, we’re then prepared to be loved,” she says. ”[Only then] are we able to really recognize that love, receive that love and be ready for that love.”
The two share an unmatched bond that is so strong that you can see it shine through their kids: Future, Sienna, and Win. Loving on her little ones seems to light up Ciara’s life, but she admits that setting boundaries in order to spend time with her family can be challenging. “When I’m with my kids, oftentimes I do say I can’t do something because I’m in family mode or I’m in mommy mode, and for me, it’s so important to give my kids that. They’re going to know that I am who I am, but I think it’s important for them to really experience me as a mom.”
Being a Black boy mom in today’s climate is one of the hardest jobs in the world. With the increased publicized killings of unarmed Black men in America, it’s getting harder and harder for mothers to send their sons into the world. But as Ciara describes how it feels to be a Black boy mom, it seems like she has nothing but hope in her heart. “I feel really proud,” she says. “Future is obsessed with reading, so he takes his books with him when we’re preparing for a trip and little baby Win just started walking. I have hope for my little boys that they can defy whatever odds there may be against them and or that they’re up against and I pray that when my kids get older the world will look a little different and be better than where we are right now.”
As Ciara sends her kids back to school with their Dare to Roam backpacks and lunchboxes, it’s clear they’ll not only be safe from bacteria, but also showered with love.
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TOKYO, JAPAN – AUGUST 07: Thomas Daley of Team Great Britain is seen knitting before the Men’s 10m Platform Final on day fifteen of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at Tokyo Aquatics Centre on August 07, 2021 in Tokyo, Japan. (Photo by Clive Rose/Getty Images)
The Tokyo Olympics were full of memorable (and meme-worthy!) moments, but none caught our attention quite as much as the photos of British diver Tom Daley knitting during his time spent on dry land. What was he crafting?, many wondered. The champion revealed his answer via a video on TikTok that showed off his hard work. Apparently, in addition to his gold medal, Daley took two new handmade pieces back to Britain with him: a tiny crochet pouch — a cottagecore-inspired protection device for his medal — and a white cardigan, featuring the Union Jack flag, the Olympic rings, and the word “Tokyo” in Japanese.
Photos of the Olympian knitting in the stands have been circulating online and fans are following Daley’s crochet-focused TikTok account in droves. In turn, demand for similar styles spiked on the global fashion shopping platform Lyst. Specifically: the site saw online searches for “knitted” and “crochet” items increase collectively by 89%. “Knitted cardigans” have been especially popular, according to Lyst, with searches increasing by 41%. Meanwhile “crochet tops” saw a page view increase of 23%.
But unlike his stunning Olympic win, we can’t give all the credit for the rise of crochet and knit fashion to Daley. Not when the crafty trend has been sported by so many influential and style-minded people.
Over a year before Daley took to the high dive at the Tokyo Aquatics Center, fellow Brit Harry Styles breathed oxygen into the rise in popularity of handicrafts when the rainbow knit cardigan that he wore during an appearance on the TODAY show went viral on TikTok. But Styles’ trove of superfans weren’t just obsessed with the “Watermelon Sugar” singer’s eye-catching sweater — they were obsessed with making similar versions, too. Suddenly, thousands of Gen-Zers were picking up their grandmother’s knitting needles in the hopes of twinning with their biggest idol. (Purchasing the sweater was impossible for most under-25-year-olds, given that it cost over $1,500.)
The DIY version of the knit became so popular, in fact, that the designer of the cardigan, Jonathan Anderson of the British label JW Anderson, shared the official pattern for it on Instagram. “I am so impressed and incredibly humbled by this trend and everyone knitting the cardigan,” he wrote. “I really wanted to show our appreciation so we are sharing the pattern with everyone. Keep it up!” And people did. By August 2020, TikTok’s #HarryStylesCardigan — which is stocked full of handmade versions of Styles’ sweater — had 17.8 million views. Today, the page has reached 76.8 million views.
Once they’d completed their DIY doppelgangers, many were keen for another project. In turn, TikTok became a hotbed of home handicraft project-inspo, with crochet bucket hats, balaclavas, bras, halter tops, and more, all becoming big hits on the app. The hashtag #crochet currently has over 3.7 billion views on TikTok, while #knitting has more than 618 million views.
By the time last September rolled around, the needlework trend had surpassed the digital world of TikTok, popping up on runways around the world during spring ‘21 Fashion Month. Crochet sweaters, caps, and handbags appeared on the New York catwalk at Ulla Johnson, as well as in Anna Sui’s lookbook. Weeks later, in Milan, Alberta Ferretti’s spring collection featured puff-sleeve mini dresses with delicate knit details.
It wasn’t until the 2020 election that knitwear’s second major spike occurred. In November, following the official announcement that Joe Biden and Kamala Harris were to be the next President and Vice President of the United States, rumors began to swirl that Harris’s stepdaughter Ella Emhoff, then a design student at Parsons, would be hand-knitting her Inauguration Day look. Emhoff herself even considered the idea, telling Garage that it was an option. She ended up wearing a Miu Miu bedazzled coat for the momentous occasion, but someone else in the political sphere did wear knitted garb: Bernie Sanders, whose mittens — crafted by a Vermont school teacher named Jen Ellis — quickly went viral.
As for why crochet and knitwear have become such darlings of the fashion world, well, that’s an easy one. Having spent so much time at home during the pandemic, millions of people were forced to come up with new ways of keeping their hands busy. In turn, simple, attainable activities like knitting and crocheting rose in popularity. At the same time, cottagecore, or the aesthetic surrounding the ease of countryside living, was busy embedding itself in nearly every facet of life in lockdown, from the way we cooked to the things we wore (hello nap dresses!).
But we’re not in lockdown anymore, at least not in the U.S., where 49.6% of the population is fully vaccinated. Because of that, we can at last set down our needles and enjoy the fruits of our labor. Or in my case, watch with heart eyes as Daley models his gold-medal-worthy wares.
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Over the past year, Y2K-inspired cut-outs have taken over fashion, encompassing everything from tops with moon crescent-shaped holes to “ovary pants.” While this is happening in part because of a resurgence of early 2000s styles, which also includes going-out tops and bandage dresses, fashion forecaster Agustina Panzoni says it also points to a larger societal phenomenon.
A few months ago, Panzoni coined “subversive basics” on her TikTok channel, @thealgorhythm, where she analyzes fashion trends and how they translate into social and cultural movements. What does the term mean? Think: leather pants with hipbone cutouts, mesh turtlenecks, and cardigan tops missing essential buttons. “This trend is all about basics that rebel up to the point of losing their utility,” explains Panzoni, who used to be a WGSN fashion forecaster before going freelance.
Amid an ongoing pandemic, an economic crisis, the accelerating impact of climate change, and the uprising against racial inequality, she says it’s no surprise that fashion is likewise starting to rebel against the status quo. “We are in a defining moment when we are all realizing the world we live in makes no sense,” she says. “Last year’s big systemic moves made everyone realize this just isn’t working.” Neither is our plain white T-shirt, if you ask the fashion industry.
Basics — see: little black dress, blue jeans, etc. — have been the core of people’s closets for the past century, serving as essential building blocks around which the rest of the wardrobe is created. Brands have based their entire legacies around articles of clothing like the T-shirt; the styles have spanned from everyday utility wear (Fruit of the Loom) to luxury statements (Dior’s $900 “The Future Is Female” top).
This rebellion comes at a time when the industry at large is gravitating toward the late ‘90s and early ’00s. While fashion is cyclical and often looks to the past, it’s noteworthy that designers right now are finding inspiration in eras marked by cultural disruptions in the form of the dot-com boom and the rise of celebrity. In 2021, the story is not so different.
“People are leaving their jobs and looking for flexibility out of a capitalist system that is eating everything up,” says Panzoni.
Designers like Chloé, Eloquii, Dion Lee, and Brandon Maxwell are reimagining what basics could look like with asymmetrical shapes that align with Panzoni’s forecast. While some cut-out designs end up looking like elegant slits, others are downright NSFW, exemplifying society’s thirst to tear through the quarantine sweatsuit cocoon it’s experienced for the past 16 months.
On the spring runways, cut-outs were presented in monochromatic styles, with black, white, and navy dominating the lineups. This choice is not coincidental, says Panzoni, adding that it’s easier for a “subversive” top to take the place of a T-shirt if its neutral color can mask the fact that your boob could pop out at any minute. This summer’s pin-top trend is a great example of how subversive basics are being inducted into street style. Only suited for those that live on the edge, this top is one pop of a pin away from public nudity.
For proof, see the recent pin-top sweater top worn by Bella Hadid. Held together by nothing but a metallic string across the chest, this ribbed cardigan might be considered church-appropriate, if not for the fact that it’s missing one too many buttons and has nothing underneath it. While Hadid has the liberty of wearing such a top solo, Panzoni says that for the rest of us, who may soon have to adhere to office dress codes again and don’t want to risk indecent exposure, subversive basics are more likely to become layering pieces rather than building wardrobe blocks.
“You can’t go as exposed in your real life,” says Panzoni. “I have some pieces that if I wear them with nothing underneath, TikTok wouldn’t let me upload the video.”
This trend isn’t fashion’s first attempt at obliterating basics as we know them. Named “avant basics,” this trend was popularized last year by unabashedly optimistic, print-heavy brands like Lisa Says Gah, providing people with a colorful escape amid one of the gloomiest years of their existence with checkered-printed denim, pastel-colored ribbed sweaters, and a psychedelic aesthetic that hearkens back to the ‘60s and ‘70s.
“Avant basics have an underlying theme of surrealism,” says Panzoni, referring to the early 20th-century art movement, which was born out of a need to incorporate fantasy into a less-than-optimistic reality.
With their vintage-looking aesthetic and granny-chic style, avant basics also flourished out of the thrift and resale boom happening today. While many seek a 1960s look by wearing pieces from the era, others rely on brands like Paloma Wool and House of Sunny to provide a capsule closet inspired by a mid-century aesthetic.
Just like their subversive counterpart, avant basics fill Instagram and TikTok feeds of today. But unlike subversive basics, these styles aren’t aimed at fighting the status quo; they existed to create an alternate world — one filled with bold colors, asymmetrical graphic lines, mismatched pieces, and lots of cow prints — as a way to escape our current one. “We are coming to terms with what’s happening and the need for rebellion,” Panzoni says.
What will your fashion uniform look like?
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Perennial cool-girl fashion brand Reformation has come through with a surprise end-of-summer sale you simply can't snooze on. Right now, select styles are up to 40% off online and in stores. It means you best hurry and rack up all the prettiest dresses, butt-hugging jeans, party-ready shoes, WFH loungewear, and even those cute swimsuits you've been eyeing all season — at a slick deal.
Consider it a twofer event: it's your last chance to score this year's most bangin' summer duds and an apt opportunity to kickstart your transition-into-fall shopping. Check out our picks ahead, then feel free to go click-crazy on the site's Sale section. There are plenty of beauts to score.
At Refinery29, we’re here to help you navigate this overwhelming world of stuff. All of our market picks are independently selected and curated by the editorial team. All product details reflect the price and availability at the time of publication. If you buy something we link to on our site, Refinery29 may earn commission.
