Goodbye Navy Short-Sleeved Jacket

Today I'm continuing with my summer closet edit (the first post saying goodbye to my grey tipped blazer is here).

My second item is this navy short-sleeved jacket that I've had for 6 years...I actually bought it at the same time as the grey tipped blazer so maybe it's unsurprising to discover that this is another woven zero stretch topper is also a bit too tight and uncomfortable this summer. It's unfortunate that it's leaving my closet with a cost per wear over my $1 goal, but $1.07 CPW isn't terrible. I have to admit feeling a bit ambivalent about this jacket from the day I bought it.

On the plus side, I absolutely loved the color, the texture, and the silhouette. Look at those wonderful curved vertical darts that shape the garment to fit to a body that has a larger bust and hips than waist (which mine does). It's hard to find clothing with that kind of detail at a midrange price point in 2026 (that isn't an older second-hand piece). On the minus side, it was a little bit seasonally confused - the short (elbow-length) sleeves meant that it had to be worn in the spring/summer seasons, but the heft of the fabric made for a warmer jacket that I'd typically want in that weather.

Maybe if I'd worked in the freezingly air-conditioned offices that women constantly complain about online but that is my dream scenario, it would have been perfect. But my office was in a drafty old building that was too warm in the summer and too cold in the winter, so I had to take some care with summer layering. When working from home, I had to pay for my own air-conditioning and take into account my feels-the-cold husband, so I didn't get to achieve the kind of chilled environment effect where suit jackets feel just right every day.

I discovered that I haven't reached for this jacket since the end of summer 2024 (the last full summer I worked at my job). Here are two ways I wore it then.

Outfit #1: I had just purchased this voluminous frond print cotton midi skirt (with an elastic waist so it's extra comfortable) the previous month and was looking for a way to style it before the summer was over. (Late September is stretching it where summer is concerned, but we have had long summers in St Paul, Minnesota in recent years.) I paired it with a happily matching emerald green tank top (purchased in the same order as the skirt) and topped it with the jacket to provide some structure to the outfit. I loved the silhouette created by the fitted jacket + full skirt combination, even though I am more of a long-over-lean than short-over-volume (or fitted-over-volume) person in general. The shaped jacket is very flattering on a pear/A shaped body for a feminine look.

OOTD 9/25/2024

With the longer skirt, I thought the good ol' "nude to me" shoe option was the way to go, and I picked these wedges that have a bit of a heel as another feminine touch.

I put together a layered necklace look with 3 separate necklaces:

(1) a short two-strand necklace with various blue crystals (Kohls circa 2013!);

(2) a DIY bead soup necklace with beads in various shades of cerulean/cobalt blues separated by bronze seed bead spacers (each blue bead was literally a one-of-a-kind in my stash, many of them from Boss's Bead Bags and other bead mixes);

(3) one of my first DIY paper pendants in shades of navy blue worn on a simple silver-tone chain {tutorial}.

My daily bracelet stack was built around a paper bead bracelet set I made in shades of navy, green, and silver (see detailed design process and page to bead photos here). I supplemented the set with a blue beaded bracelet from a CJ Banks trio and three DIY bracelets: one in blue lapis lazuli, one in mixed green stones, one in green glass and silver spacers. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}

My earrings are one of my earliest DIY pairs (summer 2021) using glass chip beads in blue, green, yellow, and white on silver pre-made hoops (see design #1 here). It's sheer luck that they match my skirt colors so well.

Outfit #2: The jacket looks nice in this outfit, but I don't think it feels as key to the look as in the full skirt outfit above. I can easily see substituting a different navy jacket or cardigan with a cut that is looser/less fitted and it making little difference to the outfit...which makes sense because this look has more of a menswear-inspired straight silhouette to it with those pinstriped trousers, and the long draping scarf emphasizes the strong vertical integrity.

OOTD 9/19/2024

I matched my shoe color to my top (see more of this combo here under "Red"), and I liked the way the "polished feminine" vibe of the leather buckle flats worked with the masculine energy of the trousers.

I loved the low-key print mixing of the chain print scarf and pinstriped pants, and of course I was delighted that wearing the scarf in this open draping fashion meant I could add a layered necklace to the outfit. This time, the 3 necklaces were made as a set to be worn together, and this pair of striped trousers was the inspiration for the set.

I used beads from the Desert Sands Bargain Bead Box (and some from my own stash, such as the blue lapis lazuli beads) to create a necklace trio in shades of dark blue, dark red, beige/tan, and silver. I liked the touch of southwest boho aesthetic this brought to the look.

My daily bracelet stack features a 3 piece paper bead bracelet set that I made a few years ago to coordinate with these pants (no page to bead images for this one). I supplemented the set with that same navy/silver bead bracelet as before plus DIY beaded bracelets in red glass, gold and silver spacers, and navy wood/red glass. {stretch bracelet tutorial} {bicone paper bead tutorial} {tube paper bead tutorial}

My earrings are another easy stack design I made using my bead soup (see design #2 in this post), taking the chain print scarf as my inspiration. It was straightforward to pick out pairs of beads in the colors of ivory/cream, navy, and red to stack and separate with antique bronze disk spacer beads. Don't underestimate the power of spacer beads to take a seemingly random little set of beads and make them look intentional and cohesive. The more uniform the spacers are (in color/size/shape), the more the repetition of that element creates structure and pattern in the beaded design. They are kind of that "one neat trick" for designing harmonious bead soup stack earrings, I think!

Since I am saying goodbye to my jacket, I'm also sharing OOTD photos from the only 2 other outfits featuring this blazer (that have photos) that I haven't shown on the blog before.

Here's another short-over-volume full skirt outfit where the fitted blazer adds structure to the silhouette. It's a quite feminine look with the floral print top, pleated skirt, ballet flats, and sparkly jewelry, and the jacket continues that vibe but with a bit more polish. (Note that "polished" is NOT one of my style words/adjectives I use to define my style! But even I can handle a dash of polish here and there.)

OOTD 8/26/2021

I enjoyed the easy print mixing in this outfit with 3 geometric designs featuring straight lines: two versions of stripes (scarf and flats) and one complex geometric print (skirt). In this image, you can really see the short fringe around the open part of the jacket, which is another of those little details that elevated its design.

OOTD 8/11/2020

My grey tipped blazer from the previous post does not have any immediately obvious substitutes in my wardrobe...which is perfectly OK. I like the color grey, but it's not such a must-have in my summer wardrobe such that being without a grey jacket/cardigan for warm weather is a problem. That said, I would be open to getting a short-sleeved cardigan in grey if/when the thrifting gods decree it; I used to have a thrifted open weave one from Target that I really liked. For cooler weather, I do have a bit of an abundance of options: a pale grey long-sleeved long cardigan (mid-weight), a dark grey long-sleeved boyfriend cardigan (mid-weight), and a dark grey sweatshirt cardigan (heavy).

However, for this navy short-sleeved jacket, I can probably use other summery navy pieces in my closet to get a similar effect, though none of them are as shaped and structured as this one...which makes sense given that I am weeding out my woven zero stretch structured items as insufficiently comfortable for my current size/shape/lifestyle! For this summer, I have identified a thrifted navy short-sleeved button-up shirt that I want to wear as a lightweight jacket as one of my high priority wear items, and I look forward to seeing how this shirt compares to my jacket in various types of outfit. Hopefully I will not be writing a goodbye post for it at the end of the summer!

Do you share my ambivalence where you love the fitted, structured silhouette of an item in how it looks but find it impractical because it's not as comfortable to wear as you prefer? How do you balance the "how it looks" versus "how it feels" factor in your wardrobe?

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