Suitably Dressed

The idea of the suit shifts and remodels itself across the decades. Every generation has a different mental picture of what it means. The formality of the 1950’s, the slender cut of the 1960’s or the broad shouldered Wall Street pinstripes of the 1980’s. The key figure who reimagined the suit was in many ways Jean-Paul Gaultier who made the suit sexy, who showed it as men’s couture, and teamed the jacket with a skirt. So, what was once revolutionary is now the order of the day, when even Savile Row welcomes women tailors. It’s a fascinating subject from the origins of the suit to today via heavily structured and constructed tailoring, through to the shift Giorgio Armani made in unstructured workmanship which was seismic and still resonates today. The root of tailoring in America through Brooks Brothers and later Ralph Lauren is a constant thread in men’s fashion and style, but in the end we must face also the truth, which is that the suit as we might recognise only came into being at the end of the nineteenth century, so it’s been in existence far less time than we imagine.

The images you’re looking at embody the suit and style attitudes today, it is worn by a range of gentlemen from relaxed, long haired creative, to serious bespectacled investor, in crisp sharp lines or fluid and nonchalant. The suit can be dark and sombre, classically patterned from Prince of Wales check or pinstripes, to more country influenced tone on tone. It’s all part of the power and range of the suit today, it is not a dark invisible mode of dressing, it is as much a statement in its own way as a logo on a t shirt. We have moved a huge distance from the message send out by the cast of “Mad Men,” the suit is capable of telling the observer much more about the wearer, and how it’s worn. The personality and attitude of the man wearing each of the suits in our story is clear and strong. They are wearing the suit, not the other way around, they are making a style statement and, in every case, look totally sure of themselves and the image that they’re presenting through these suits.

I once spent an entire section of my working life in the late 1990’s wearing only suits, but they were always by Gianni Versace. They gave me confidence, made work, travel and packing and every occasion dressing easy. Basic severe black to Bordeaux red velvet, shorter and fitted in chocolate pinstripe, longer in navy linen and more tunic like, the variety within just suits was amazing and it worked perfectly it made me understand suits.

The man who says he’d never wear a suit is foolish, and the man who has only one old special occasions suit gathering dust at the back of his wardrobe has wasted money. Above all other menswear clothing the suit, if correctly selected, still spells success, confidence and the man wearing the well chosen suit will enter almost every occasion with an air of confidence, as our models bear witness,  as would a certain Mr  James Bond, and  many other figures  other of fact and fiction who wear suits.

The suit is often predicted to be on its way out, in decline, and not a fashionable item, and the second this statement appears almost immediately men start buying suits. So, admire our gentlemen of suited style and take inspiration, now’s the perfect time to invest in the suit for you and your life, because there is a vast range of styles and it is simply a matter of finding your suit, to suit you.