Business Style – The Suit

Seeing as I work in London and in a professional firm where wearing a suit is mandatory, my first post will be the first part of a series I intend to write on Business Style, and as it is the first post, it should be on the most important item of clothing, the suit.

This guide to Business Style is intended for those who have not given a lot of consideration to what they wear to work, and for those whom are newly starting out in the business world and need guidance and tips on how to dress, what suits to buy and wear, and where they can obtain these suits.

The suit is all important as skimping here, choosing the wrong type or colour can be disastrous for the image and look you are trying to achieve. A bespoke linen suit in cream, no matter how well made, how fitted it is, and how beautiful it looks, is a disaster in the office of 99% of companies in the UK.

The main consideration with suits, as with all of your items of clothing, is the three sacred words of dressing for men: Fit, Colour, Style, in that order. I feel that this three world bible misses one important element in men’s clothing that can be a little misleading, so I add a fourth, and I put it in between Colour and Style, and that is Material, business suits should be 100% wool preferably or a wool and cashmere blend (no more than 10%), they should not be polyester and viscose.

Why does fit come first? It does because a well-fitting suit, in a traditional colour, will look far better than a stylish suit that does not fit you. A suit that fits will be accentuating the contours of the body, broadening the shoulders, and narrowing the waist, with the jacket button done up (more on some other time), a suit jacket/coat that fits will be create the V shape that has the affects described above.

When starting out in the business world it is important to get the suits right, you should buy suits for fit and colour first, and you should try and buy quality suits. With suits, in my eyes, quality counts far better than quantity. A prominent men’s style journalist recommends owning 10 suits for those that have to wear one every day, I disagree vehemently, and that’s not just because I wouldn’t be able to fit any shirts into my wardrobe if I had 10 suits. With enough shirt and tie combinations, you can just about get by on two suits, and if you are starting out in the business world, unless you are from a wealthy background, two suits is all your likely to be able to afford with all the other things you need to buy.

Although you can start out with two, when you can afford it, I would recommend owning 4 good quality suits. In contrast to the 10 recommended elsewhere, in my opinion 4 is a good number of suits to own. I will explain what I mean by good quality suits a little later but it is most important that these suits fit you.

The most important area of fit is the shoulders and around the neck, as this area cannot be easily adjusted by a tailor if you need it altered. If a suit jacket fits you perfectly in the shoulders and around the neck (not so tight you can feel the compression, not so loose that the jacket lifts away from the shirt and lines form.) then everything else can be altered. The sleeves can be shortened, the waist brought in, the chest nipped where required, the drop shortened, but the shoulders and neck cannot be adjusted. You will likely find that a suit that fits in most places, will be too long in the sleeves, this is because shops know that customers are less likely to notice a suit too long in the sleeves but will definitely notice one that is too short. Shortening the sleeves is easier, and therefore cheaper, for a tailor to do when the sleeve does not have working cuffs, I however like working cuffs as they are a sign, generally, of a more expensive and better made suit.

With regards to colour, if its just two suits, I would recommend one navy suit, and one charcoal or mid-grey suit. For four suits, it’s down to personal preference as to which of the following three colours you have two of: mid-grey, charcoal, and navy. I personally like charcoal suits, I have one self-stripe, and one Italian styled, one has working cuffs, the other does not, one has slanted pockets, the other has straight cut. The colour of these two charcoal suits is very similar, and to the unobservant, of which most people in my office unfortunately are, they look like the same suit, but they are noticeably different to anyone that pays attention.

In summary then I have one mid-grey, one navy and two charcoal suits. Depending on taste, I would have one pinstriped suit, for me that is preferably the navy one though mine does not have pinstripes, but it should be a subtle pinstripe. I have always disliked chalk stripes on suits, and bold pinstripes, those are for bankers and cads, not the stylish.

The next important consideration is the material and the construction, 100% wool is preferable for business suits, other materials for summer suits and formal evening suits are required but for business suits, 100% wool is what you are looking for. Anything that is machine washable should not be considered as an option and discounted immediately, they won’t be wool and will be polyester and viscose, which does not a good suit make. Machine washable suits are poorly constructed, do not last, and gradually degrade after washes.

A lot of suits made of wool will advertise a Super 100+ number, for expensive and bespoke suits this is less important than where the cloth is from (it should be North England, preferably Huddersfield) as wool from this famous region of England is softer and longer wearing. For off the rack suits, you are looking for suits in the Super 100 to Super120s range, they’ll be finer than those suits without a supers designation but not so fine that they are not hard wearing and will consequently degrade over a relatively short space of time.

I would note that Super 150 and above suits have a lovely feel, and for those who wear a suit occasionally, they can be a wonderful choice, but for regular use, it will not last like lower numbers due to its fineness. The numbers incidentally refer to the number of strands in a specified unit of measurement, the more strands, the finer the strands are and thus the softer and thinner the material feels.

In addition, the construction is important, the best fitting and comfortable suits are basted rather than fused, this means the canvas between the suit and the lining is sewn rather than glued. This begs the question about the canvas, you should be looking for suits with at least a half canvas, (this will be in the chest), though a full canvas (which would also account for the back) is preferable but usually more expensive. If you can ensure the suit is at least half-canvassed, it will hold its shape better.

As a side note shape can be helped and maintained by ensuring your hangers are good enough and big enough, they should widen at the ends to simulate your shoulders. You should never use a wire hanger for your suits, or your shirts for that matter, but especially suits.

If you can afford it, you want a basted suit rather than a fused suit because a basted suit lasts longer as they are better made and sewn rather than glued. Fused suits do not last as long, as dry cleaning affects the glue and causes it to become misshapen. Basted suits are where the lining, canvas, and suit material are sewn together, which is stronger, retains shape, and is the more traditional and tailored way of constructing a suit jacket. All suit jackets in Savile Row are basted and fully canvassed.

Next is the question of style, once the fit, colour, and material are sorted. Do you want two buttons or three button single breasted? Two button suits are my preference, they create a greater V in the chest area and are more modern but three buttons are perfectly acceptable and slightly more formal. One button jackets are lovely but can be a bit unwieldy in bad weather and are slightly less formal.

I have only stated single breasted as double breasted suits are hard for a newly minted business person to pull off without looking pretentious, and often make you look broader and larger, rather than taller, and thinner.

The lapels should be notched rather than peak, a peaked lapel is more aggressive, more rakish and should be found on dinner jackets rather than business suits.

The suit should be double vented, not single, and definitely not ventless. Double is better than single because it is the English style, it doesn’t expose your bum when walking, or the shirt, and it gives slightly more freedom of movement. Pocket flaps, if a suit has them, should be outside, and not tucked inside, a suit without pocket flaps, a besom pocket, is decidedly modern and should be considered with a very aggressive, slim-fit, styled suit.

Never, ever, order a suit online, the only part of a suit you should ever order online is a second pair of trousers in exactly the same size as the ones you tried on, have worn, and are happy with.

Trousers should break on the shoes at the front, just, they should not pool. If they pool, take them to a tailor to be shortened or do it yourself. Side tabs are preferable to belt loops, they look better in my opinion; however belt loops are perfectly acceptable and most of my suits have these.

On the question of pleats the answer is you should not have any, I will qualify that however by saying that if you were your trousers on your hips rather than the ‘natural waist’, then you do not need pleats and want the more modern and stylish flat-fronted look for trousers. If you wear suit trousers on your natural waist (on or just below your belly button), then you may want to have pleated trousers for comfort and to allow the trousers to go around your hips.