When most people think of Gentlemen’s clothing, the first thing that usually comes to mind is the suit. Very few items of clothing have stood the test of time like the suit. Even though the cut and style of the mens suit has constantly evolved to suit the changing eras, the modern suit is surprisingly similar to those made over a hundred years ago.

The word suit is derived from the French word ’suivre’ meaning ‘to follow’, i.e. the jacket, waistcoat and trousers of the suit ‘follow’ the same cloth and colour. The origins of the suit go back as far as the 17th century when British king Charles II introduced a simpler sartorial style consisting of a tail coat, waistcoat, breeches and a cravat. This style was refined further by the 19th century dandy Beau Brummel, who also popularised tie wearing. As the 19th century progressed, so did the style of the suit until it reached a point where we would now recognise it as the ‘modern suit’.

Odd as it may sound, but the suit was originally intended as clothing for informal occasions such as spending time in to country or at the seaside. Back in the 19th century and even in to the early 20th century, morning dress and frock coats were considered ‘formal’ and would have been the type of clothing worn to work by businessmen or politicians.

The suit is quite an amazing thing. It is inherently simple, yet can be changed and adpated in so many ways. At its most basic it adds symmetry and form to the male frame. But combined with with the right shirt, tie, socks and shoes it can make the wearer look different everyday or be used to send out a certain message.

A suit can make or break a career or business deal because a suit says so much about the person wearing it. A poor quality or ill fitting suit can imply that the wearer doesn’t care about detail or quality. Likewise a good quality, well fitted suit can say the complete opposite. For the same reasons a good suit also gets you respect, since a good suit is indicative of success in many peoples eyes.

There are so many types of suits that it’s hard to know what type to get, in this article I’ll take you through the types of suit available, where to buy them and some basic pointers on what styles suit which type of person.

Three Piece or Two Piece

This is a largely matter of personal preference. Althought the three piece is considered old fashioned by many, it is making a something of a comeback. I like the three piece and think every man should own at least one. Just remember, the waistcoat should cover the bottom of your shirt and hang over your trousers. Certain high street menswear shops seem to think that waistcoats should be short, nonsense! That just makes you look like you shrunk the waistcoat in the wash.

Double Breasted or Single Breasted

Double breasted suits have two paralell rows of buttons which allow the jacket to be buttoned up with the left or right hand side facing outwards. It is quite an elaborate style whose popularity seems to change with each decade. The length of the gorge (the distance between the shoulders and first button) has a massive impact on how the suit looks. A short gorge is very evocative of the i930s and of 1960s Mods. A long gorge with fewer button is more modern looking and gives additional prominence to the shirt and tie. Generally, larger people should avoid double breasted suits.

Single breasted suits work for just about any body style. Their style is certainly more timeless than double breasted variety which changes with current trends. Typically single breasted suits are made with three or two buttons, with the three button variety seemingly more popular these days. People with fuller figures (a.k.a. beer bellies) should wear suits where the buttons are placed slighly higher, skinny people should wear them lower. For both types of suit, the bottom button is never usually fastened.

Vents

Vents are the slits that are found at the back or sides of the suit jacket. They act to stop the suit jacket riding up you back when you sit and to allow put your hands in to your trouser pockets with crumpling the jacket. There can be none, one or two. Again, the number of vents to have is a matter of personal preference. But I consider no vents to be a big no-no. Larger men should avoid single vents and wear only suits with double vents since, ahem, the rounder figure will spread the single vent apart.

Lapels

No part of the suit changes more with the latest fashion trends than the lapels do. Wide lapels were big in the 1970s, narrow ones in the 1980s. Nowadays lapel sizes are pretty uniform, unless you are getting your suit made by a tailor and you can choose something specific.

Jacket Pockets

jacket pockets can be supplied with or without flaps. I prefer them with flaps as I find that the flapless variety looks a bit bare. Some suits can be supplied with patch pockets that are sewn on to the outside of the jacket, but this looks more sporty and less formal.

Cuff Buttons

These can be fake or real. There is no real need to have real buttons, unless you want to show off. Even the best Saville Row tailors make most of their suits with fake cuff butons.

Waistcoats

Can be supplied with or without lapels. With lapels they can be a bit extravagant though. They typically have six or more buttons, but the bottom one is never fastened.

Trouser Linings

Good quality trousers should be lined in order to make them feel better against the skin and to increase longevity.

Trouser Fly

These can be buttoned, or more commonly, zippered. A button fly is preffered as it has less to go wrong, bith mechanically and painfully, but is more expensive and usually only available on bespoke suits.

Trouser Pleats

These are little folds sewn in to the fabric below the waistband. They can provide extra space for the more rotund gentleman or just be a decorative addition to the suit.

Fabric Quality

First things first, a normal suit should be made from 100% wool. Polyester is not an acceptable suit fabric. Do you really want to wear something made in a chemical factory and that has dibenzenedicarboxylic acid as an ingredient?

Of course, there are many variation to the wool that can used to make a suit, with names such as flannel and herringbone. But I’ll look at those in another post. I’ll also look at other suit fabrics such as tweed and linen in future posts.

As for the wool, the higher the thread count per inch the better the quality. If you are getting your suit made bespoke, then naturally your tailor will only supply the best fabrics. If like most of us, you are buying your suit off-the-peg then you will have to judge the fabric quality for yourself as most retailers and manufacturers don’t tell you the thread count. My advice is to compare as many fabrics as you can in order to help you choose the best.

Another thing to consider is the weight of the fabric. Lightweight suits that are better suited to the summer typically weight between 7os and 9oz (220g - 250g). Whilst heavy suits that are better for autumn and winter wear weigh between 9oz and 13oz (200g - 370g).

Fabric Style

As you probably know, you can get suits in all sort of colours and patterns. You have to know which are best suited to you and your work.

Black pinstripes seem to be associated with bankers and captains of industry, whilst plain dark greys and navy blues can be found in just about any workplace. Bright or bold colours tend to be suit some people, but not others.

As a general rule avoid suits which are ‘fashionable’, they may be all the rage this month, but next month they may be old hat. Plain dark colours and classic patterns (e.g. pinstripes, light checks) are safe choices.

Cut Style

You may hear mention of phrases such as ‘English Cut’ and ‘Italian Cut’, these are suits styles specific to certain regions. Makers of off-the-peg suits may use these terms to indicate the style of their suit. Naturally, if you buy a bespoke suit in England or Italy you would expect your tailor to make the suit in the local style.

English cut suits tend to have less padding in the shoulders, and narrower trouser legs. Whereas Italian cut suits have more shoulder padding and wider legs. There are other subtle differences, but these are the main two. Again, it’s all down to the wearer to choose the one he prefers.

Manufacturing Quality

Off-the-peg suits vary enormously in how well they are made. In order to determine the quality of the suit compare it against this list.

• Does the label state that it is 100% wool (not including the lining)?
• Does the lining and outer fabric separate easily? If not, then parts of the suit may be glue fused (that’s bad).
• Place part of the lapel between your index finger and thumb, do the fabric layers separate when your rub your thumb and finger together? If not the lapel may be glue fused (again, that’s not good).
• Count the number of stitches per inch around the edge of the lapels. The higher the number the better. 14 stitches per inch is typical for hand sewn suits, 8 for machine sewn ones.
• Are the trousers lined?

Sizes and Fitting

If you can afford to get your suits from a bespoke tailor then you need never worry about sizes and fit, it’s all taken care of.

But let’s face it most of us have to buy suits off-the-peg. Before I continue, I must make an important point. You can not properly learn about suit style and fit from an internet article. You need to experiment in the real world and preferably seek the advice of someone who knows about how suits should fit.

What I will say is that you should never sacrifice suit fit because of a bargain price. If your suit doesn’t fit properly people will notice, but they won’t have the heart to tell you. Also remember, that there is a limited amount of adjustments that can be made to a suit by an alterations tailor. You can shorten the arms a bit and maybe even the length of the suit, but that’s only in rare situations. In other words make sure the suit fits when you buy it.

Also don’t just quickly try on the suit, take your time with it. Do things like bending down, stretching and crouching. The suit should effortlessly flow along the contours of your body. You should be able to easily do all these things without restriction or any buttons pinching. The trousers should provide room to move and sit right on your waist. Also remember that your shirt cuff should naturally reach down an inch further than the suit cuff and the shirt collar should sit about 1/2 an inch higher than the suit collar.

How Many Suits?

I think you can never own enough suits, but back to the real world….

Seeing as you should never wear a suit for more than one day at a time, you need at least five. One for each day of the week. Ideally you would have two sets of five, one summer set and one autumn/winter set.

Where to Buy

If you can afford it, go to bespoke tailor. They will make you a perfectly fitting suit in a timeless style. It’s also not that expensive, regional tailors can make a suit for as little as £800. A price that isn’t much more expensive then a fancy brand name off-the-peg suit.

Failing that, go to a specialist gents clothing store. The older and more traditional looking the better. The staff in these shops know what they are talking about (usually) and will help you choose a suit the looks good and fits well. In many cases they will also be able to help with minor adjustments to the suit.

As for high street stores, take my advice and don’t take the advice of the staff in these places. They only want to make a sale and do not understand the subtle nuances of how a suit should fit. Instead take a friend along who can help you choose a suit that fits you. You should never buy a suit from anywhere unless someone else advises you on how it looks and fits, you just cannot tell on your own.

Please also remember to not be tempted by cheap suits. It is always better to spend more money on fewer quality items that will fit better and last longer.

Lastly, remember that brand name suits are off-the-peg suits just like any other. Don’t be seduced by the brand name and ‘exclusive’ price tag.

I hope this article has been of assistance. If you have anything to add, please feel free to leave a comment.