Unlike the 2020s, when every blazer constructed for women features an excess of fabric, the essential silhouette of the '80s had a far more structured and fitted look. In a fashion era often slept on, designers like Yves Saint Laurent, Marc Bohan at Dior, and Karl Lagerfeld at Chanel crafted the popular workwear piece to accentuate a woman's frame and sense of style by ditching the menswear look in favor of hourglass tailoring, cropped cuts, unexpected lapels, statement buttons, and bold color options. As a result, each blazer felt like an outfit in and of itself.
A few months ago, I went to a vintage store in Milan called Cavalli e Nastri and discovered a treasure trove of '80s-era YSL Rive Gauche blazers. I've been a bit too obsessed with sourcing the French label's nipped-in and cropped suiting pieces (and similar styles from other brands of the era) on the secondhand market since then, setting up endless alerts on eBay and The RealReal to get the best deals. And the more I search for them, the more often I see them on the streets of New York, in hidden vintage stores, and most frequently, on Instagram.
All this has led me to conclude that while you shouldn't get rid of every oversize blazer in your closet, it is time to make room for a different style—an older style. This is a style with the power to make any outfit feel more polished, more expensive, and more tuned in than any boxy alternative ever could. And to prove it to you, I gathered just about everything you could ever want to see relating to '80s-era cropped, tailored blazers, from runway images of them from their heyday to modern Instagram adaptations. Scroll down to dig through it all.
A black blazer will always be cool, whether it's oversize or fitted, but of all the ones on the market right now, the '80s-inspired, big-shouldered, nipped-waist styles that I've been noticing all over the market of late are by far the most impressive (and I look at a lot of black blazers).
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Big shoulder and a tapered waist are two popular stylistic touches from the '80s, especially on blazers. I prefer to wear jackets of this style with slouchy jeans rather than the pencil skirts that many during the era paired with their blazers, but I'm not opposed to trying it their way either.
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When I think about this trend, I first think of Yves Saint Laurent and the way he would use the contrast of black and ivory to make his sharp, elevated blazers and jackets from the '80s pop. This peplum style from the S/S 1989 collection proves the timeless color palette is always a good idea. And of course, don't forget a big pair of statement earrings.
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Red, a color that will always remind me of my grandmother's vintage jackets and blazers from the '80s, is no doubt one of the year's most buzzed-about members of the color wheel, having been spotted across the F/W 23 runway season at Ferragamo, Bottega Veneta, Tory Burch, The Row, and Stella McCartney. As such, combining the two will be a must once fall's weather arrives.
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Though many of the blazer styles from the '80s featured cropped hemlines, some had a more longline silhouette that helped to create the look of a pronounced waist, especially when paired with heavy shoulder pads. Personally, this shape—shown above at YSL's haute couture show from the S/S 1987 season—is the one I've been searching for with the most rigor this year after spotting one just like it in Milan.
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Though old-school fashion rules might dictate that you stop wearing white after Labor Day, jackets like this are the ultimate fuel for anyone adamantly against storing away their favorite light-colored pieces upon fall's arrival. If you're looking to toe the line, stick with "winter whites" or shades of ivory and cream. Both give off the same rich-looking vibe as classic white but aren't quite so summery.
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A black tweed lady jacket with statement gold buttons can turn even the most boring—or better yet, simple—outfit into a sartorial masterpiece worthy of being worn on repeat. Take inspiration from this haute couture Chanel look by adding clip-on earrings and a vintage brooch.
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As much as everyone likes to say that '80s fashion was all loud and over-the-top, there was a way to dress on the more minimal, quiet-luxury side of the spectrum during the era, one of which involves throwing on a fitted wool blazer, a classic pair of black pumps, and a pencil skirt. Done.
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But if bright colors and statement shapes are your thing, there's certainly no shortage of options to choose from either, both on the vintage market (I've probably scrolled through hundreds on Etsy) and new from affordable brands like Zara and Mango.
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