Category: Blazer Dresses

The mistake most people make with a blazer dress is sizing it the way they'd size an actual blazer, going up so there's room to layer underneath, and ending up with something that swamps through the middle and makes the shoulders look like they belong to someone else. A blazer dress only works if it fits your shoulders properly and then skims everything below. If the shoulder seam sits where your shoulder actually ends, the rest tends to sort itself out.
How it wears depends entirely on what it's made from, and that's worth knowing before you buy rather than after. A heavier, slightly stiff weave holds its shape all day and barely creases, which is what you want if you're sitting at a desk or in a car for long stretches, but it can feel like armour until it softens with wear. A lighter crepe or ponte moves with you from the first wear, skims rather than structures, and packs down small for travel, though it shows every crease if you sit on it for a train journey and don't shake it out after. Either way, a cool wash or a gentle dry clean keeps the lapels sharp, and hanging it rather than folding it stops the front from going baggy at the button. Underneath, I keep it simple, a fine knit top or a plain camisole, because the dress is already doing the talking. Add a long chain or a pair of earrings and it stops looking like workwear. Flat boots make it feel like something you'd wear to the shops, a heel turns the exact same dress into something for an evening, and that's the real value in it, one piece doing two very different jobs depending on what's on your feet. For colour, I'd steer away from very pale shades unless you fancy a lot of ironing and careful sitting, since pale cotton blends crease and mark fastest. A deep navy, bottle green or charcoal holds its structure, hides a day's wear, and still looks considered next to denim or over trousers you already own. Black is the obvious choice and it earns that reputation, but it can look severe without any jewellery or a lighter shoe underneath.
It suits the in between months best, spring and early autumn, when you want to look dressed without reaching for a coat, and it's forgiving for anything from a daytime meeting to a dinner, because changing the shoes and the jewellery changes the whole mood of it. If I were buying one to start with, I'd choose a soft charcoal in a fabric with a bit of give in it, dark enough to wear constantly without anyone clocking the repeats.
Picked by Chloe Brennan. More in Dresses.