At 62, the blazer that gave me a waist and made me look slimmer
At 62, the blazer that gave me a waist and made me look slimmer
Six things the Clara gets right that blazers get wrong, from a woman who is not a fashion writer.
Caroline Richards · Customer · Nottinghamshire · 5 min read
Let me be plain about who is talking. I am Caroline, I am 62, I live in Nottinghamshire, and I have never once sat down to write about a blazer in my life. What had happened, somewhere along the way, was that my clothes stopped showing my shape. Everything hung straight down and skimmed over me, comfortable enough but shapeless, and I had quietly decided a defined waist was a thing of my forties. So this is not a review. It is a woman who got her shape back from a blazer, saying why.
The one I am writing about is called the Clara, from Nottingham Boutique, a small boutique that has been quietly dressing women our age for a few years now. It is a soft tailored blazer in a lovely grey and blue check. When the boutique later asked if they could put my letter up for others to read, I said yes, on the condition I could be completely honest in it.
I did the buttons up expecting the same straight, shapeless line as everything else, and instead the waist nipped in and gave me a shape. That was the moment it won me over. Read on.
Here is what the years had taught me to expect from my wardrobe. Soft, easy, straight-up-and-down things that keep you comfortable and give you no shape at all. Cardigans, loose tops, jumpers that hang from the shoulders and skim past the waist without ever touching it. Comfortable, yes, but they leave you looking like one soft column from the shoulders down, and after a while you forget you ever had a waist to show.
My clothes had all stopped showing my shape. I had quietly decided a waist was a thing of my forties. This blazer proved me wrong.
The Clara is the first thing I have put on in years that gave me a shape back the moment I did it up, and having barely taken mine off since, I can tell you it comes down to six things.
The morning it arrived. It looked far dearer than I had paid, and softer than I expected.
THE TAILORED WAIST GIVES YOU A SHAPE
This is the whole thing, really. Done up, the Clara is cut with a gently tailored waist that curves in at the button, and that one detail draws a waist where everything else in my wardrobe drew a straight line. I stood sideways in the mirror, which I had not done in years, and there it was, a proper shape. It is the single most flattering thing a piece of clothing has done for me in a long time.
The button and the tailored waist seam. This is what gives you a shape.
I did the buttons up and could not believe the shape it gave me. It nips in at the waist and I look a stone lighter.
Christine B., West BridgfordIT MAKES YOU LOOK TALLER AND SLIMMER
It is not just the waist. The structured shoulders sit up neatly and the long clean line down the front draws the eye up and down rather than across, so the whole effect is taller and slimmer. It lengthens me and streamlines me at the same time, and it does it the moment I put it on, without my having to breathe in or fuss with anything.
The long line and the shoulders make me look so much taller and slimmer. I catch myself standing straighter in it.
Margaret E., SouthwellIT IS SOFT AND LIGHT TO WEAR
Here is the surprise. For all that it looks like a proper tailored blazer, it is soft and light on, not the stiff, heavy, buttoned-up armour I remember blazers being. The fabric is a soft brushed woven check that moves with you, so you get all the smart shape with none of the stiffness. I can wear it all day and forget I have it on, until I catch the shape of it in a window.
It looks so smart and structured but it is soft and light to wear, no stiffness at all. I have it on all day.
Pauline H., ArnoldTHE CHECK LOOKS DEAR AND GOES WITH EVERYTHING
The grey and blue check is a lovely thing, a proper Prince-of-Wales check with a soft blue running through it, and it reads as a smart, dear blazer the sort you would see in a good window with a price to match. The grey base goes with absolutely everything, jeans, black trousers, a dress, so it never looks out of place, and the blue lifts it just enough to feel considered.
Buttoned and side-on, the tailored waist giving a proper shape.
Two people asked if it was designer. The check looks so expensive and it goes with every single thing I own.
Dorothy S., BeestonTHROW IT ON AND YOU LOOK PULLED TOGETHER
The loveliest part is how little effort it takes. On the days I cannot be bothered, I throw the Clara over whatever I have on, do up the button, and I look like I have made a proper effort and thought about it. It gives me a bit of confidence walking in somewhere, knowing I look put together, which is worth a great deal at our age.
By the mirror, ready to throw on over anything.
I throw it on over jeans and feel instantly pulled together. It gives me a bit of confidence walking in anywhere.
Eileen T., NewarkSOFT, HONEST SIZES, AND IT HOLDS ITS SHAPE
The sizing runs honestly all the way from a small up to a 5XL, so it fits properly and flatters with room to move, and it holds its tailored shape rather than going soft and baggy. It comes in this grey and blue check and a grey and red, so there is a shade to suit everyone. I have the blue. I am rather tempted by the red for a bit of warmth.
It goes up to my size and still gives me a proper shape, not a sack. So pleased I have ordered the red too.
Maureen C., BinghamThe Clara, against the shapeless things we reach for
You can have a wardrobe full of comfortable clothes and not one that gives you a shape. I know, because I did. Here is the difference, laid out plainly.
Hangs straight down, no waist
One soft column, no shape
Comfortable but shapeless
Or a stiff, heavy old blazer
Often stops at the smaller sizes
Tailored waist that gives you a shape
Long line, taller and slimmer
Smart shape, but soft and light to wear
A dear-looking grey and blue check
Honest sizes, all the way to a 5XL
About the price
The Clara is £34.95 at the moment. It was £70.00.
I will pass on what the boutique told me, which is that the middle sizes are the first to go, and with the sale on they are going quickly, so once a size has gone it can be a wait for it to come back. Their words, not mine. What I can tell you from my side is that half price is usually where I start asking what is wrong with a thing, and for a blazer this flattering, I have found nothing wrong with it.
And I do not trust perfect scores, so I read the reviews before I ordered. Just over three hundred of them, sitting at 4.2 stars, which sounded like real women rather than robots, so I read on. The same six things I have just walked you through come up in them, over and over, in other women's words.
Folded away, ready for the next morning I want a bit of shape and a bit of confidence.
If your clothes have stopped showing your shape and you would like a waist back without a stiff heavy blazer, this is the one I would put on you myself, while your size is still there. Stop dithering and go and have a look.
Caroline
CLARA | ELEGANT BLAZER
- Tailored waist that gives you a shape
- Structured shoulders and long line, taller and slimmer
- Soft and light to wear, not a stiff heavy blazer
- Dear-looking grey and blue Prince-of-Wales check
- Throw it on and look instantly pulled together
- Soft, honest sizes S to 5XL
- Holds its tailored shape
- Free UK delivery and 30 day returns
The sale is on now. Middle sizes go first.