I’ve always found fashion inspiration in non-traditional places — I rarely buy anything I see in a magazine because I prefer the look and feel of street style or the quirky taste of fashion bloggers. For some reason, I also am a huge fan of airport fashion. (Minus all the velour sweatpants.) About a month ago, I was in the airport, exhausted, and I looked up to see this über chic girl standing in front of me wearing a tuxedo blazer with tails. I had to figure out where to find one.
The only non-costume women’s blazer with tails I could find was this Elizabeth and James jacket. There are two problems with this tuxedo blazer though: it is over $200 (on sale) and it is no longer available. So I decided to figure out how to make a version of my own.
To make a Tuxedo Blazer you need:
- Blazer (I got mine at a thrift store.)
- Sewing machine
- Chalk
- Iron
- Seam ripper or pointy scissors
- Pins
Step 1: First you need to put your blazer on and mark off how far you want it to be cropped. Take the chalk and mark where the jacket would look best naturally. After you have marked your lines, go over them with a ruler or a straight-edge. Then you need to cut a half inch outside of the line.
Step 2: At the bottom of your blazer you need to take a seam ripper or scissors and carefully make a hole at the base of your jacket. This is so you can flip the blazer inside out to sew up the cropped portion. After you have a big enough hole, (8-10”) you should turn the jacket inside out.
Step 3: After you’ve got it flipped, find the open seams where you cut the fabric to crop the jacket. Take the straight pins and carefully pin the two sides back together and stitch a half inch in — this will bring your seam right up to the chalk line you drew. After you’ve stitched it together, flip the jacket right side out and iron the seams flat.
Step 4: After your seams are ironed flat, you need to do a topstitch to keep everything in place and make the jacket look finished. Iron again, and you’re done!
I paired this blazer with a white shirt that is actually my dad’s. Seriously! And my dad is a 6’2” burly football-looking guy. This blazer works really well with the large shirt because it cinches the waist and I can roll the extra-long sleeves so they look like casual-yet-formal cuffs. And next time I fly, I am totally going to wear this blazer to the airport. 😉
PS. You can’t see it, but I am also wearing these Jeffrey Campbell-inspired wedges. I made them with thumb tacks! You can see how to make them on my blog.
