Introduction:
I decided to finally stop putting off this post because I realized that there is a dire need for many men out there on how to pick their suits. I was surfing the internet and stumbled across a message board post about picking out a suit. A young man wanted a more fitted feel to his suit and thought it would be appropriate for him to pick out a suit that was about two sizes too small. It was at that point where I realized most of us men, especially the younger generations, do not have any clue on how to pick out striking attire for our professional lives.I decided to finally stop putting off this post because I realized that there is a dire need for many men out there on how to pick their suits. I was surfing the internet and stumbled across a message board post about picking out a suit. A young man wanted a more fitted feel to his suit and thought it would be appropriate for him to pick out a suit that was about two sizes too small. It was at that point where I realized most of us men, especially the younger generations, do not have any clue on how to pick out striking attire for our professional lives. Now, some of you who read this are probably wondering why I am placing an article such as this on a website that is for streetwear. Well, to answer some of you who have this question, this site is not exclusively catered towards streetwear. The reality is that while many of us enjoy unique clothing, incredible sneakers and fitted hats, these fashion trends do not correspond to most of our professional lives. Swank, is a blog dedicated to acknowledging both ends of the spectrum when it comes to dressing ourselves. This basically translates to streetwear for the back alley and sportwear for the board room. So lets go in.
Most of us are required to dress in professional attire for our day to day business lives. In the professional world a suit, as with streetwear or any other fashion for that matter, is your own personal way of advertising and selling yourself. When you go into an interview, it is obviously an indicator of your professionalism and how seriously you take yourself. When you step into a social situation, it says a lot about your style, confidence, taste and sometimes even sophistication. My point is that a well picked suit is instrumental to your survival as a man in the professional world. Period. Many men do not understand the deeper meaning of a suit and reflect this by blithely picking out styles and colors to simply get by as professional. And while it works if that is all you are trying to shoot for, you will miss time and again in other areas that people will judge you in. So, lets go over the fundamentals of a fine suit, from the ground up.
The Fabric
The type of fabric you pick out for your suit is integral to how the suit will look. Not only in terms of color or pattern, but because it determines how the suit will FALL on you as well as how it corresponds to the way your suit is cut To start off your wardrobe in the suits department, it is suggested that you begin with wool and here's why: because wool, is the most versatile fabric for suits period and is also the standard. Not only can it be woven and stitched in interesting ways, but it is breathable, it is versatile, it can be super soft, it is also capable of being durable, it is warm and most of all, it still delivers warmth when it is wet (which is why pea coats are made out of wool). Now, not all wool is created equal as it comes in different grades of fineness that can be marked in Microns. The finest wool you will find is about 19 microns and below and is incredibly soft. Where as less fine, more durable wool is higher up. In order to give you an idea of what to look for, a human hair is in the ballpark of about 70 microns.
However, this isn't really going to be what you are looking for when looking for a suit off the rack, per se. The reason being is that most of the time, it isn't practical enough to anal retentively request the micron mark for the suit you are inspecting. A more practical approach is to request the quality of the fabric it self. Traditionally (like, always), the quality is denoted by the word "Super" and then by a number ranging from about 80 to 210. Now, lets discuss this range really quickly. Simply looking at the numbers doesn't mean jack to the average suit buyer as most of the time, the average suit buyer doesn't even know what say, "Super 100's Wool" actually means. So here, i am going to break it down for you. Essentially what you are looking at when investigating these numbers is something similar to the thread count on bed sheets. In a nutshell what this means is that the higher the thread count, the finer the fabric, and the softer it is. However, there is something to take into account when factoring in these numbers. See, the higher the thread count also reveals how delicate the fabric is. Which means that, purchasing an incredibly luxurious super 200's wool suit for every day work isn't practical as it will not hold up for as long as say, a suit in common use that uses super 100's fabric. Also, the higher the quality of the fabric, the lighter it is as well. So unless you are using an incredibly soft, incredibly light fabric that is great for generating warmth (such as cashmere), most likely a suit with really fine and light fabric may not do the same job as a suit with fabric that is not as fine in colder conditions. But in the reverse, it will perform better in warmer conditions than a heavier fabric as well.
The Structure
With that being said, lets move onto the structure because I know that once you get past fabrics, this is perhaps the most confusing part of it all. So exactly what the hell does canvasing mean? Well, heres the break down. Canvasing really comes in three different styles: Fused, Semi Canvased, and Fully Canvased.
- Fused Canvasing is when the outer layer, as well as the lining on the inside of the jacket, are essentially glued to a portion of fabric that is located in between the two. This is the lowest quality of canvasing available as it not hand made and is the cheapest for production
- Semi Canvased is when the outer layer as well as the lining on the inside of the jacket are glued to the in between layer closer to the bottom of the jacket, however, closer to the top the two layers are sewn to the in between layer. This is an intermediate quality of jacket.
- Fully Canvased is when the outer layer and lining are sewen to the inner layer throughout the structure of the jacket.
The Fit
This is probably my favorite section of this post because the fit is one of the areas that provides enough option without any true penalty. Its simply based on personal preference more than anything else. Lets go back to the young man that I mentioned at the beginning of the post. The look he was trying to go for was a more athletic "skinny" look that is really common right now with contemporary sportswear. However, the means that he was willing to undertake were completely wrong. Essentially, he was willing to opt for a suit that was two sizes too small for him in order to attain this look. Before we move forward, NEVER COMPROMISE SIZE FOR THE LOOK. The fact is that there are many different fits that a man can pick when choosing his suit. However, it is important that he does not try to make a suit look a certain way by picking out size dimensions that are not his own. It will never look good and it says a lot about your taste and personal knowledge of clothing. In otherwords, there is no way for it to work out.
In the kingdom of suits, there are three styles that have taken the main stage: The American Cut, The Italian Cut, and The British Cut. No fit is any better than the other, they are just different. Lets go into detail.
- The American Cut is cut out like a "box" as many say. As far as dimensions go, it is the most conservative cut of the three as it reveals none of the man's physical assets. It has minimal waist suppression, a single vent, and very large armholes that are cut fairly low. Examples of the American cut are Brooks Brothers, Etro, Jos A. Banks and Theory.
- The Italian Cut features a waisted look, however, compared to british suits, has a much more relaxed and less structured look with narrow hips and no vents. Examples of Italian Cut suits are Dolce and Gabbana, Armani, and John Varvatos.
- The British Cut (or English Cut) is the most liberal of the three suits. It has a very pronounced waist, high armholes, double vents in the back, and a flared jacket. An example of British Cut Suits is Ralph Lauren: Purple Label
- Ready To Wear is essentially purchasing clothing off of the rack. This is obviously the most common way someone can purchase their suit and as you can suspect, purchasing off of the rack can provide for lots of sizing error on the buyer's part. However, purchasing off of the rack says nothing about quality. Actually, a man can find quality suits for a great price point if he searches on the rack for his suits. Finding suits on the rack says nothing about the quality of the suit, however, it is going to be priced less compared to made to measure or bespoke suits because a suit purchased off of the rack will never be 100% true to their buyer's fit. In order to ensure the quality of your suit if you are purchasing off of the rack, be sure to look for these dimensions:
- The Cuff should reveal no longer than 1/4 of an inch of your shirt. Also, while functioning buttons on the cuff certainly indicate that a suit is high quality, not having functioning buttons does not say that a suit is low quality. Most suits only have two functioning buttons located closest to the end of the cuff.
- The Lapel provides two options: You can either opt for a peak lapel (which is more dressy) or a notched lapel. Should you opt for a Peak Lapel, be sure that the peak rests no higher than your collarbone. Also, a rolled lapel is the indicator of higher quality thn a creased lapel as it reveals that the lapel shaping was done by hand. Also, the collar should fit snug around the back of your neck
- The Back should not sag or crease what so ever. If you are purchasing a pinstripe suit, there stripes should line up and meet evenly where the suit is being sewed. There should not be any slack in the small of the jacket's back, and the jacket should most of all never feel too tight or uncomfortable to wear.
- Made to Measure suits, are more accurate when it comes down to tailoring quality. Should you choose to pay more money on a suit than one off the rack, but don't want to pay the dollar for a bespoke suit, this is a comparable alternative. Made to measure suits are essentially pieces that are partially designed so that the tailor can create the rest of the suit based on your personal specifications.
- Bespoke Suits are suits that are made from the ground up by hand and have a reputation for being incredibly high quality and very expensive. However, not all hand made suits have a prohibitive price tag as the price depends on the style and quality of the fabric used, and most notably how many times the tailor will measure you to ensure accuracy.
Conclusion
I hope that this guide has helped you know the basics of what is found in a quality suit. When following these tips you should be able to find a quality suit regardless of price point or brand and will find out within due time that many designer suits fall short in one, or many of these categories. Now, our work here isn't done. We haven't talked about shirts, ties, shoes, or how to make your look come off as unique... So stay posted on newer Swank Guides as they roll in.
Check out Swank Guides: Picking the Perfect Button Down Shirt
(Sources Custom Made Suits for the Discerning Gentleman by Gerge Kristov,)
1 comments:
I must say this is the best suit guide i have ever had the honor of reading. Keep it up man
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