The majority of suits sold in the United States are bought under time pressure: for a wedding, an interview, a funeral, a conference. The buyer arrives with a need, leaves with a garment, and wears it on the occasion. This is understandable and entirely wrong as a strategy if you want something that will serve you for twenty years.
The suit that will outlast the occasion requires more time than the occasion usually allows. This piece is an argument for making the time, and a guide to what to do with it.
Understanding cloth
What Super numbers actually mean
Super numbers, Super 100s, Super 120s, Super 150s, describe the fineness of the wool fibre used in the cloth. A higher Super number means a finer, softer fibre. It does not mean a better cloth, a more durable cloth, or a cloth better suited to daily use. In practical terms: a Super 100s or Super 110s wool in a good mill's hands will be more durable for regular wear than a Super 150s from a less careful source. The fibre is finer; finer fibres are more delicate. A Super 150s suit is a suit for considered wearing, an event, an occasion, not a suit to commute in daily for five years.
For a suit intended for regular professional use, Super 100s to Super 120s is the honest range. The cloth should feel smooth but should not feel fragile. If you are buying a suit to wear once a year, the higher Super numbers are available to you if you want the tactile experience and the drape they produce.
Weave
Worsted wools are the standard for suits: smooth, tightly woven, with a slight sheen in most examples. A plain-weave worsted is versatile and recovers from creasing better than a twill. A herringbone or twill weave is slightly less formal and more textured. Flannel, a heavier, slightly raised finish, is the choice for autumn and winter suits and is warmer, more casual in register, and exceptional when well-made. Fresco, a loosely woven open-weave worsted, breathes well in summer heat and is worth knowing by name if you are dressing for warm climates.
Construction
The distinction that matters most in a jacket is between fully canvassed, half canvassed, and fused construction. This is covered in more detail in the fashion area guide, but the summary for suiting specifically: a fully canvassed jacket in a worsted wool will mold to your chest over six months of regular wear and then improve. A fused jacket will not mold; it may bubble at the dry cleaner; it will not develop the drape of a canvassed front. At the price points where canvas is standard, typically mid-range and above from quality producers, you can expect it. Below that price point, ask before assuming.
Lining matters more than most buyers register. An unlined jacket runs cooler and shows its construction; a fully lined jacket is more comfortable to dress and undress and conceals workmanship decisions inside. A half-lined jacket, lining through the back but not the front, is a middle position often used in casual or summer suits. In all cases, the lining at the sleeve should have a pleat at the hem to allow the arm to move without pulling at the back. If pulling occurs when you reach forward, the lining was cut short.
Fit: the four measurements that govern everything
Fit in a suit is largely determined by four measurements, and only one of them can be altered without significant expense: the trouser seat. The measurements that require surgical alteration or a full remake if wrong are:
- Shoulder width. The seam should sit at the exact edge of your shoulder, no further. A shoulder seam sitting half an inch toward the neck cannot be let out. A shoulder seam sitting half an inch toward the arm can be taken in, but the sleeve must be reset, expensive. Get this right before buying.
- Jacket back length. The jacket hem should reach your thumb knuckle when your arms hang at your sides. Too short and the jacket reads as fashion; too long and it reads as dated. This can be altered at the hem by an inch, no more.
- Chest. The jacket should button comfortably with room for a hand flat between the front and your chest. X-shaped pull marks when buttoned indicate a chest too tight; a large gap at the sides indicates a chest too wide. Side seams can be taken in; the chest cannot be let out unless significant seam allowance exists.
The trouser seat is the exception: it can be taken in with relatively little cost and without affecting silhouette. Trouser length is the simplest alteration in tailoring and costs very little. The inseam can be let out if there is allowance; the seat can be taken in or let out within an inch or two. Get the waist and seat right off the rack and the rest is manageable.
Colour and what it commits you to
Charcoal grey is the first suit for a reason. It can be worn for almost every formal or professional occasion. Navy follows: it is less sober than charcoal and reads as more current without dating quickly. Mid-grey flannel is a warmer, seasonal option. Brown suits occupy a narrower register, excellent for certain contexts, conspicuous in others, and should probably not be the first purchase.
Avoid cloth with too bold a pattern if you intend to wear the suit heavily. A fine Prince of Wales check or a subtle herringbone works broadly; a strong windowpane or a large chalk stripe reduces versatility. The suit you will reach for most often is the one that does not demand the rest of your wardrobe to defer to it.
When bespoke is worth considering
Bespoke, where a suit is made to a pattern cut specifically for your body, is worth considering when you have a non-standard body shape that ready-to-wear cannot accommodate cleanly, when you are making a suit that you intend to wear for the rest of your working life, or when you have the resources to treat it as craft rather than clothing. It is not, in most cases, twice as good as a well-chosen, correctly altered ready-to-wear suit. It is specifically suited to you in a way that ready-to-wear by definition cannot be. That specificity is worth something; whether it is worth the premium depends entirely on how you value the thing.
The difference between a suit that looks like a suit and a suit that looks like yours is largely a question of whether you gave it enough time and attention before deciding.
Made-to-measure, where a standard pattern is adjusted to your measurements, sits between the two: more tailored than ready-to-wear, less specific than bespoke, at a price point between them. For most people with non-standard proportions who cannot justify a bespoke commission, it is the most practical route to something that fits correctly without alteration.
A note on care
Dry-clean a suit as rarely as possible, once a season if heavily worn, once a year if not. Dry-cleaning removes the natural oils in the fibre over time and wears cloth faster than wearing it does. Brush after every wear with a natural-bristle brush. Hang on a shaped wooden hanger, never a wire one. Rotate between at least two suits if you wear one regularly, so the cloth has time to recover its shape. A suit cared for this way will last decades. A suit sent to the dry-cleaner after every event will not.
