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Tailoring That Lasts: Seven Houses for the Blazer and the Trouser
Max Mara, Saint Laurent, Chloé, Calvin Klein Collection, The Row, Acne Studios and Victoria Beckham: the blazers and trousers worth building a wardrobe on.
By Taiwo AdedayoEvery piece here has been chosen by our editors. We may earn a commission on some products.
A good blazer is the piece that makes everything else in a wardrobe work harder: over jeans, with a trouser, on top of a dress. These are the houses whose tailoring we keep returning to, the blazer and the trouser we would buy from each, from £360 to £2,570, all in stock now.
The double-breasted 
Max Mara
Max Mara’s double-breasted blazer is black virgin wool with a fine pinstripe, peak lapels and buttoned cuffs: the one that looks like a suit on its own. £1,021.
For lighter days, the single-breasted blazer in white, with flap pockets and English rear vents. £590.
The check 
Saint Laurent
Saint Laurent’s single-breasted blazer in a brown check, with notched lapels and flap pockets. £2,570.
Wear it with a trouser in the same family: Alexander McQueen’s brown pressed-crease trousers. £695.
For evening 
Chloé tuxedo
Chloé’s single-breasted tuxedo blazer is black wool and silk with peak lapels, the jacket to wear over a slip dress or with a white shirt at night. £1,858.
The new shape 
Calvin Klein Collection
From Veronica Leoni’s first collection for Calvin Klein, the Parker blazer: light grey wool, collarless, with a boxy ’80s cut and sharp shoulders. £800.
The Lucia trousers are wool with sharp creases down the leg, worn as the penultimate look on the runway. £360.
The trousers 
The Row and Gucci
The Row’s straight-leg trousers are beige, with a pleated waistband and buttoned back pockets: the quiet pair that goes with every blazer here. £595.
Gucci’s are dark grey wool gabardine, high-waisted and wide in the leg, with a pressed crease. £457.
Three more blazers 
Acne Studios, Victoria Beckham, Theory
Acne Studios borrows from menswear: black wool-twill, double-breasted, with peak lapels and padded shoulders, £550. Victoria Beckham’s is khaki green wool twill, single-breasted, £990. And Theory’s Staple is the black blazer to wear every day, £395.
How to buy a blazer that fits
Start with the shoulders: the seam should sit where your shoulder ends, because it is the one thing a tailor cannot easily change. The sleeve should stop at the wrist bone, and the jacket should button without pulling. Double-breasted reads more formal and suits a straight figure; single-breasted is easier over knitwear. Buy the trouser for the shoe you will wear with it, then have the length taken up to match.
Watch: Max Mara, reviewed
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