A SUMMER EVENING IN SOHO AND A GORGEOUS BLAZER THAT MISSED THE MARK

Summer in Soho, such a fun area to shop and dine in, and to shoot. I really do miss working in this area. This day was fairly warm with a cool breeze and it was the kind of day where you would need to wear a light jacket. This jacket is from Chriselle Lim’s new line with J.O.A. And although I love the concept of the jacket, unfortunately the construction of this blazer is a miss.

I am a fan of Chriselle Lim and watch her You Tube channel and read her blog

I am a fan of Chriselle Lim and watch her You Tube channel and read her blog. I think she has great fashion sense and can see why she is such a successful influencer. The design of this blazer is fashion forward, and the cut of it should look flattering on most people. I love the white and black checked pattern—very on trend, and I think the gold button details give it luxe feel. However, the poor construction of this fashion forward piece failed. Such a disappointment. I really did have high hopes for this blazer.

I really liked that the it was long and covered the bum. Surprisingly this can be hard to find in a blazer. I also liked that the sleeves were long and did not run short. I often have this problem as most retailers assume that people who are extra small or small are five foot five or under. So with the long cut and long sleeves I thought I had found a winner, but to my dismay the torso is cut way too big. Not sure if this blazer is supposed to be fitted, or more boxy like the Isabelle Murant jacket which kind of kicked off the whole boxy blazer trend.

The blazer cost $100 not super expensive for a blazer but not cheap

However this piece was in be-twixted- in-between. Kind of fitted, but then way too big. There are darts in the front chest area which suggests a garment that is more fitted, but it was not fitted in the least.

Most people who wear extra small do not wear a C or D cup bra. Just saying. But the most frustrating part were the tuxedo cut lapels. Lapels are meant to fall folded back along the opening of a blazer. Well these lapels would not do that. They folded forward! I had to actually pin them back with safety pins for the shoot. You may be able to see this in a few of the shots. This was a deal breaker for me.

The blazer cost $100 not super expensive for a blazer but not cheap. For the money the construction was not up to the level it needed to be. Some people complained of the poor quality pointing to the material, but I could live with this—a light blazer for warmer weather—fine. It was the poor construction and unflattering fit that had me packing it up and sending it back.

I feel like J.O.A was kind of cashing in on Chriselle’s name and assumed the product would fly off the shelf

Perhaps they should have had a slightly higher price point and sold it for $120 or $130, and produced a garment that fit well and was flattering. I feel like J.O.A was kind of cashing in on Chriselle’s name and assumed the product would fly off the shelf. And maybe it did. But I feel the manufacturer also needs to step it up. In this day and age there is much to choose from, and todays shopper is quite savvy.

I paired the doomed blazer with these yellow linen trousers from Uniqlo and a tee I picked up from And Other Stories.  And the sunnies are from Anthropologie. All of these are keepers.  How fun are these sunnies? The trousers are perfect for the hot weather and I love the red script graphic on the tee. Living in a Fantasy? Yes I would say about %30 of the country are doing just that. What say you? What was the last piece you bought that you had to send back?

Photography by Monika Fidler