12 Monumental Moments In Lesbian Blazer-Wearing History

It is a truth commonly acknowledged that queers are much better at blazers than other humans. Back in the day, we rocked blazers and suitjackets with style…

150 Years of Lesbians

…and in the modern era, nobody does blazers better:

Blazers

But this also means that we were especially vulnerable to the late ’80s-’90s terrible/AWESOME Blazer Situation. You know the situation I’m talking about.

There was a lot of that. There was also a little bit of this…

julia-roberts

Furthermore there were often things like this:

But how did this impact the lesbians? Let’s look at some of these kickass moments in queer fashion history.

12 Retrobad/AWESOME ’80s/’90s Blazer Situations

1. k.d. Lang, 1989

K.D. Lang, 1989 [Image by © Neal Preston/CORBIS]

gather round young lezzies and listen to me tell the story of the oregon trail, as illustrated on this blazer (© Neal Preston/CORBIS)

2. Rosie O’Donnell, 1998

Rosie O'Donnell, 1998 (DAYTIME EMMY AWARDS IN NEW YORK --- Image by © Gregory Pace/Sygma/Corbis)

hey i have a bag of ecstasy in my pocket, wanna party (© Gregory Pace/Sygma/Corbis)

 3. Amanda Bearse, 1982 (with Sandra Bernhard)

Amanda Bearse and Sandra Bernhard, 1983 (Image by © CORBIS)

when you can’t decide between a sweatshirt and a blazer, try the sblazer! (Image by © CORBIS)

4. Martina Navratilova, 1994

Image by © Rick Maiman/Sygma/Corbis

i’m just gonna sneak out now with all these awards underneath my giant blazer (© Rick Maiman/Sygma/Corbis)

5. Ellen DeGeneres, 1997

 Image by © Frank Trapper/Sygma/Corbis

i knew i was gonna win that’s why i wore an outfit to match my globe (© Frank Trapper/Sygma/Corbis

6. Melissa Etheridge, 1989

(© Neal Preston/CORBIS)

welcome to the wilderness where i will woo you with my blazer and this guitar i left in the mud (© Neal Preston/CORBIS)

7. Lily Tomlin, 1986

(Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS)

i think buffy had this same blazer for real (Image by © Bettmann/CORBIS)

8. Jodie Foster, 1992

(Image by © Frank Trapper/Sygma/Corbis)

one thing’s for sure, it’s not gonna be easy to come out of that blazer (© Frank Trapper/Sygma/Corbis)

9. k.d Lang

( Image by © Neal Preston/CORBIS)

why hello there blazer-lovers ( Image by © Neal Preston/CORBIS)

10. Ellen Degeneres, 1996

(Image by © Frank Trapper/Sygma/Corbis)

part blazer, part snow queen (Image by © Frank Trapper/Sygma/Corbis)

11. Leisha Hailey, 1996

1990s-leisha-kd copy

honestly i think buffy also had this blazer

12. Riese, 1992

Riese-Blazer

as you can see i have been stylish for a really long time


Before you go! Autostraddle runs on the reader support of our A+ Members. If this article meant something to you today — if it informed you or made you smile or feel seen, will you consider joining A+ and supporting the people who make this indie queer media site possible?

Join A+!

Riese

Riese is the 40-year-old Co-Founder and CEO of Autostraddle.com as well as an award-winning writer, video-maker, LGBTQ+ Marketing consultant and aspiring cyber-performance artist who grew up in Michigan, lost her mind in New York and now lives in California. Her work has appeared in nine books including "The Bigger the Better The Tighter The Sweater: 21 Funny Women on Beauty, Body Image & Other Hazards Of Being Female," magazines including Marie Claire and Curve, and all over the web including Nylon, Queerty, Nerve, Bitch, Emily Books and Jezebel. She had a very popular personal blog once upon a time, and then she recapped The L Word, and then she had the idea to make this place, and now here we all are! In 2016, she was nominated for a GLAAD Award for Outstanding Digital Journalism. Follow her on twitter and instagram.

Riese has written 3036 articles for us.

64 Comments

  1. Oh man, that’s some breaking bad business Melissa. She’s ready to do some badass science in the wilderness right now.
    Also Leisha and K.D. Lang – I never even knew! /Lesbian pop culture before my time/

    • My high school had themed costume days sometimes as a school spirit activity, and Decades Day (generally featuring the ’60s-’90s, assigned to different classes) was always really entertaining. I am seriously looking forward to the day where I’ll get to help my teenage kid or nibling figure out how to dress like they’re from the 20-teens.

      “Well kiddo, there were a lot of things with galaxy print on them, or ironic slogans, or pictures of cats. If you want to really go for the look, I can find you a clip-on septum piercing and give you an undercut.”

  2. OMG RIESE, YOU LOOK SO ADORABLE. I can’t stand it!

    Also this entire list is how I currently look in a blazer because I can’t find one to fit my boobs & shoulders simultaneously.

  3. I’m still giggling at this. Esp when I saw Rosie at #2 and thought, “that looks like Jodie when she won the Oscar in…” and then I hit #8 and said “oh.”

    The 90s were touching. A horror show, but touching.

    You look cute in your little blazer. I had to wear one everyday until I was 18 and turned out a homo and a lawyer too. So blazers are a staple of life where I’m from.

  4. Is it wrong that I kind of like that floral blazer in the JC Penney’s ad? If floral crop tops are back in, then floral blazers need to come back too.

    Although, upon a second look I realized that it looks exactly like my sofa upholstery so maybe not.

  5. I still have my Irish hacking jacket with a monogram from a men’s shop…from many years ago….it is so tailored to my body …and I lusted after a great blazer and found it…it cost me a whole month’s pay…but is it worth it…all the men finger the Irish Tweed and the women put their hands in my pockets…hahahahahah..it matches my green eyes too…I was so lucky…great classy things NEVER go out of style…like kd lang…..

  6. YOU GUYS

    I’m a trans lesbian, not yet out for a number of complicated family reasons, who only fairly recently realised she was a lesbian. I have a lot of men’s blazers that I wear all the time because they’re one of the few kinds of men’s clothing I feel comfortable in. Anyway, articles like this make me feel like
    I FIT IN SO MUCH
    I LOVE YOU ALL

  7. I appreciate the amount of k.d. lang in this post :D Also the fashion doesn’t shock me so much as bring back fond nostalgic memories. I think there needs to be a part 2 of this series dedicated to VESTS. Equally as popular & gay in the 90s!

  8. Yay google is my king aided me to find this outstanding website ! . ¡°Don¡¯t rule out working with your hands. It does not preclude using your head.¡± by Andy Rooney.

  9. Fun Fact: As a teenager in the early 90’s, before I even imagined myself as a lesbian, I loooooved blazers. So much. Still do, but I get overheated too quickly to wear them much.

    Also I remember being utterly fascinated by the Vanity Fair cover of k.d. lang and Cindy Crawford, with k.d. in menswear (I swear she was wearing a blazer in my memory, but I just googled it and apparently not?). I somehow knew I wanted to be k.d. lang, but didn’t understand why.

Contribute to the conversation...

Yay! You've decided to leave a comment. That's fantastic. Please keep in mind that comments are moderated by the guidelines laid out in our comment policy. Let's have a personal and meaningful conversation and thanks for stopping by!