The blazer has a bigger margin of error than an American pollster in 2016. So much can go wrong. With a shirt and jeans underneath, you're a 46-year-old divorcee who won't accept the fact she isn't coming home. With a pooling, ill-fitting shape, you're a 16-year-old bullied for missing the last train to puberty. With a shiny finish, you're, well, an estate agent. But get it right, and it's a solid way to smarten up pretty much anything in your wardrobe; a walking, wearable Delboeuf illusion that'll make shoulders look broader and chests look bigger, thus making you look like someone who's on first name terms with very angry CrossFit instructors. Andrew Garfield knows all of this.
After a year of increasingly sharp fits, the Spider-Man: No Way Home star has found the best blazer for him. It's wide, so as to counter a lithe frame. Then there's something slightly Burt Bacharach about it, because the Seventies are trafficking big on the back of brands like Casablanca (think hip-hop adjacent, rococo hypewear) and Tom Ford (think Tom Ford). Yes, there are pitfalls with a blazer that shows off a bit. But the pros are legion. And, like Garfield, the blazer can provide a template into which everything else just slots in leaving you free to relax and worry about other bigger things in life, like petrol, and British Airways cancellations.
Garfield's first rodeo came at Valentino's haute couture show in Rome, which roughly translates to 'place where you really can't embarrass yourself'. As an event that solely exists within the gilded, absurd world of fashion, the 38-year-old has wriggle room to go a bit louder. That meant an untied pussybow silk blouse and denim flares. Both are punchy. And, both were made permissible by a navy captain's blazer that came with big embossed gold buttons.
But Wimbledon was an even bigger win for the British actor. Firstly, because it's closer to the stuff one can actually wear to smarter IRL events, like weddings, and... weddings. But also because it's a way to play with a conservative event like The Tennis without causing upset. Tieless granddad collar shirts aren't exactly Wimbledon material. And yet, with the the magic of a big solid Seventies blazer, it becomes such. Helps that it's Ralph Lauren too. For decades, the vaunted designer has played chief architect to the American prep thing. While that usually conjures a manicured image of fastened top buttons and Ivy League ties – much like David Beckham's well-received Wimbledon appearance – the label can also do loucher takes that are no less preppy, and no less smart.
The blazer is the constant here. It could go wrong. But get it right, and you'll improve on every tennis tournament, every fashion show, and every divorce settlement.
