friday finds: brown blazer

As the weather cools down off, my thrifting sprees have shifted from brightly colored shorts and cutoff towards cozy sweaters and blazers.

This friday's find is a lovely brown blazer with dark leather accents. I absolutely love the trim detail, which is subtle enough to wear day and night, but still original and lovely.

I love the lines of this jacket!



Trimmed in-set pockets. 





Close up of the cute stitched border. 



Dark brown detailing under the lapel. 

Even better, this find is a size 4 and fits a-w-e-s-o-m-e-l-y so I don't need to make any alterations. Score!

Sideways popped collars look tres douch-ay in real life, oh well.

The deep v-angle of the jacket matches the neckline of my tee.

Although it's got a feminine cut and is made of a faux-suede material, the color and leather trim give it a very professor-esque feel, so I paired it with skinny jeans and a simple linen v-neck instead of a conservative oxford shirt. 

buying a blazer:

• These are probably the most complicated item you will consider altering. Sleeves can be hemmed, but you'll often need to alter the lining inside, which is often made of a lightweight lower quality acetate--difficult for novice sewers to work with. Mistakes are more noticeable with these types of fabrics, but will be inside the jacket. 
• Shoulder pads can be removed, but once again you'll need to mess around with the lining. It's a simple task that only requires the combo of seam ripper & needle/thread, but you'll need to know what you're doing.
• Resetting shoulders is impossible--it's quite difficult to take it or let out sleeves. If the fit of the blazer isn't quite right, let it go. 
• Buttons can be updated! Appliques can be removed! Don't let a few minor surface embellishments keep you away from a great blazer. Consider adding elbow patches to a tweed jacket or taking the fringe off an otherwise chic jacket.