Wednesday, August 13, 2014

In Praise of the White Jacket

In Praise of the White Jacket

Recently, I helped a client to take a fresh look at her closet. She's a mother of three, one four year-old and two twins under a year old, and she was transitioning from being home full-time with the twins to working from home part time. In what she called her "other life," she had worked full-time in an office where fashion was queen, and her closet was full of dry clean only, precious pieces. They were not working for her current life.

What we did was cull through her closet to separate out anything that was dry clean only; we stored it in a separate closet for special occasions. Then, we pulled out pieces that still felt young and fresh but could be Oxy Cleaned and thrown in the washer.

One of the things she had that we got a lot of mileage out of was a white blazer. I can't recommend more highly that you look through your own closet to see if you have a jacket or blazer that fits you well that you have been under-utilizing. In Debbi's case, she thought of the two piece white suit as impractical, which it was!

But, when we ditched the skirt and kept the jacket, we found that she could wear it in a more professional way for lunches or video conferences with clients and over a casual baseball tee with jeans for a kids' birthday party or other family outing. Since it was easy to clean, she wasn't worried about getting it dirty.

Here are two of the many ways I styled it for her.


You might do the same with a light colored jacket or blazer, or even a navy one for the fall. Black can be nice and provide some edge, but it can also read as very corporate, so try this first with a jacket that's not black. 

If you're on the market, I like this cropped linen open jacket on sale from Loft, or this twill moto jacket for a bit of edginess,  this doubleweave cotton for a more feminine fit, or any number of these Asos jackets, including curve sizes.

And if you're wondering whether a white jacket will serve you after Labor Day, the answer is of course! That fashion rule should only be heeded if you're looking for an excuse to buy something that's not white. Otherwise, a white jacket can-and should-be worn year round.

I'm linking up to the Fashion Informant!


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