The Professor Is In
December 20, 2014 5:29 PM   Subscribe

Where can I find a classic, professor-style tweed blazer... cut for a woman? (Serious bonus points: before Christmas??)

My girlfriend recently got an academic job, and a classic professor-style tweed blazer would be the perfect Christmas gift. But I haven't had any luck finding a women's blazer that fits the bill, and it's getting extremely late! I know I'm not likely to actually get this before Christmas at this point, but I still want to find it if possible.

Key style traits are tweediness, presence of elbow patches, and absence of feminine detailing. Something along these lines. The perfect jacket would be masculine in style, but cut for a woman. She wears both men's and women's clothing; something in the "boyfriend" genre of women's clothes would be fine. Petite sizes work well for her, so men's jackets are super long on her, both in the body and the sleeves, and the shoulders are way too big--I think altering a men's jacket probably wouldn't work too well. (But if you are someone who knows about alterations, and you think otherwise, that could be a good answer!)

Budget is unfortunately limited. I'm a grad student myself, and really can't go above $100. (Unfortunately this rules out any of the butch clothing companies that I'm aware of, or anything custom. I wish I could go there... but I can't.)

Online options are fine, but since fit is important, and I'm not going to have this thing ready to wrap for the 25th anyway, brick and mortar might actually be better. We live in Montreal but will be in the NYC area over Christmas. If I'm going to give the promise of such a jacket as a gift, though, I need to know exactly where to get it--an extended shopping trip would NOT be appreciated!

If this is hopeless at my price point, I suppose that's an answer, too. Anyway, thanks in advance for your ideas!
posted by snorkmaiden to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (14 answers total) 5 users marked this as a favorite
 
Boden's British Tweed Blazer might work. Even on sale it's over your price range, though the large-scale blue check color is going for $114.
posted by kittydelsol at 5:46 PM on December 20, 2014 [4 favorites]


Best answer: Zara's blazers squeak in just under your price point, though I don't know if they're too feminine? I'm a relatively small person and Zara's blazers fit me very well.

$100 is a little low as a price point-- you might also have luck in the future looking at marked down British options like Boden or Hobbs and maybe at eBaying blazers from Brooks Brothers, which has some very clean cut options (but which are very expensive off the rack.)
posted by jetlagaddict at 5:57 PM on December 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


L.L. Bean has some Donegal tweed jackets without elbow patches. Maybe those could be added by a good tailor?
posted by cabingirl at 6:09 PM on December 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


Ann Taylor Loft petites fit well and this jacket has no feminine touches to my eye (no elbow patches either though). On sale, it's under your budget.
posted by desjardins at 6:16 PM on December 20, 2014


for your price range, J Crew factory has a few options, like the elbow patch one in houndstooth.
posted by citron at 6:17 PM on December 20, 2014 [3 favorites]


Eddie Bauer has a couple of options around your price point and will still (Saturday night) deliver by Xmas.
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 6:25 PM on December 20, 2014 [2 favorites]


I couldn't quite tell from your question, but could boys' sizes work? Often cheaper for similar quality but may not work depending on bust......
posted by chocotaco at 6:55 PM on December 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Yeah, unfortunately no boys' sizes, for that reason.

Thanks for the neighbourhood-of-$100 options, that's a plausible stretch.
posted by snorkmaiden at 7:23 PM on December 20, 2014


Unless she's worn boys' sizes before, and know they work, boys' jackets are usually too short in the arms for adults. This can be okay for sleeves you're going to push up anyway, but it will look really dumb in a jacket.
posted by desjardins at 7:24 PM on December 20, 2014 [1 favorite]


H&M is hit or miss but I have to say for the low price point I am very impressed with how their blazers fit me, and I'm very petite. If she is normally a XS-S (shoulder measurement probably under 15" across) this one might work, or if she's more like a L, the colors on this one are great

I think these styles are not currently in stores, but who knows, their inventory changes nearly weekly and you never know what a given store has
posted by slow graffiti at 7:44 PM on December 20, 2014


One of my friends literally JUST got a very nicely done, women's-cut tweed jacket with faux-leather elbow patches from H&M. I saw it on her the day before yesterday, as a matter of fact.

It's HM so it's of course not super high-quality, but it still looked smart. So if you have access to an H&M, try there?
posted by WidgetAlley at 8:01 PM on December 20, 2014


Just FYI, adding elbow patches is literally the cheapest, easiest alteration ever. Don't let the absence of elbow patches limit your search.
posted by DarlingBri at 8:23 PM on December 20, 2014 [2 favorites]


Google "women's hacking jacket" and a lot of vintage riding jackets come up on Etsy and Ebay. You'd have to pay lots extra for expedited shipping.
posted by Elsie at 4:31 AM on December 21, 2014 [1 favorite]


UK Ebay search for Women's blazers with elbow patches

Even with shipping added, cheaper and more options (vintage included) than US Ebay.


Or for new, put elbow patches on one of these blazers.
posted by Elysum at 8:28 PM on December 21, 2014


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