This everlasting sports jacket dates back to the year 1845, when there was no official uniform for the sailors in the Navy. At the time, the captains of the ships dressed their crew in any garb they could afford or, they fancied ! In those days Captain Washington was in command of a vessel called HMS Blazer and he determined he'd have his crew dressed in blue and white striped jackets. The striped jackets were thereafter referred to by his fellow-captains, as blazers. Plain or striped the blazer also became part of the school uniforms as well as "a touch of class" for the smart sets. Mind you, had Washington (Capitain Washington, not Mr.President ) not fitted out his crew properly, some sailors would still put on garb and no one in London, Lisbon, Madrid, or Paris could wear a blazer !

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