A few years ago, I was shopping with my friend at one of The Real Real’s brick and mortar stores. I found a cotton tweed jacket by Chanel and swooned. My friend, who certainly has a fashion sense of her own but also has some pretty steep learning curves when it comes to the fundamentals of fashion, could not wrap her brain around the idea of a tweedy looking jacket for summer. I tried to explain to her that it was the content of the fabric that made it summery. Despite my explanation, she still didn’t get it.
This is also the friend who was one of the inspirations behind starting my business back in 2002. Before I did this for a living, I was visiting my friend and I offered to help her clean out her closet. Coming from a background as a fashion designer, I realized there was a fashion education that I received that I learned through my friend, not every woman gets. And it wasn’t just the fact that I studied fashion design at FIT or worked in the industry. I was also raised in a family that had a decent understanding of the basics of fashion. My friend didn’t, at all. As a result, my friend spent her life navigating the world of fashion lacking information I just took for granted.
It wasn’t the experience of cleaning my friend’s closet that inspired my business, it was the cleaning her closet that helped me realize just how many women out there are just like my friend and lack basic fashion fundamentals yet are expected to just know how to shop and dress well. As I have mentioned in a past blog post, the concept of shopping and fashion being encoded of the DNA of women is a myth that was perpetrated by men. Basically, for many women, shopping for clothes is the same as giving someone the key to your car and they don’t have a driver’s license. As a stylist, I wanted to create a job that stepped between the woman and fashion and helped her filter through it knowledgeably.
HOW TO WEAR SUMMER TWEED JACKETS TO WORK
Back to summer tweed jackets. If you are like my friend and view them as exclusively a fall/winter item due to their heavier textures and don’t realize it’s fabric content that matters, here are some looks I created using this style. And be sure to check out more styles at the end of the post.
Outfit #1
This navy and white houndstooth style from L’Agence is a super easy style to throw on. You can add a pop to a basic look like this one that I styled with Akris Punto pants and their square-neck slim short sleeve tee and finished with low navy pumps from M.M. Lafleur and a delicate gold station necklace from Adriana Orsini. You can also treat the jacket like a navy solid and layer it over any color. It would be beautiful over brights, like jade or red, and would also complement softer shades like light blue or pink, for example.
Outfit #2
This summer tweed jacket from The Fold looks much better on the model than in flat form. It’s a cute peplum style that I paired with burgundy ankle-length pants from M.M. Lafleur and a slate blue tank from Lisa Von Tang that picks up the flecks of blue in the tweed. I finished the outfit with beige slingbacks from 27 Edit and silver and gold drop earrings from Jenny Bird.
Outfit #3
Akris Punto frequently cuts jackets, like this one, in this cropped, square shape that always look good over dresses. In this case, styled it over this Susana Monaco jumpsuit to add a pop. I finished the look with ankle strap block heel sandals in navy and pearl earrings and necklace.
Outfit #4
This M.M. Lafleur tweed jacket is so summery looking it’s hard to imagine it for fall or winter. I styled it with a green tank in the same shade as the green in the jacket and ivory wide-leg cropped trousers from Halston. I finished the look with the same 27 Edit slingbacks and silver disc drop earrings.
Outfit #5
Not all summer tweed blazers are colorful. This style from L’Agence is basic enough that it could be used as a substitute for a white or ivory blazer. I styled the blazer with a red sheath dress from BOSS Hugo Boss and finished the look with taupe pumps and a David Yurman necklace.
Shop for Summer Tweed Blazers
Still shopping for summer tweed blazers? Check out these additional styles.
Outfit #2 is an interesting combination. I would not have thought of beige shoes, and I like it; the outfit is really an unusual variation of yellow, blue and red. But do you see the slate blue tank with the jacket buttoned, because it looks like it’s designed to be buttoned? If you don’t, I then can’t see the beige shoes.
Nude shoes are universal and go with everything provided you find your own skin tone. I don’t consider them yellow