Suits
A suit is a set of garments crafted from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in England as country wear. Other types of suit still worn today are firstly the dinner suit, part of black tie, which arose as a lounging alternative to dress coats in much the same way as the day lounge suit came to replace frock and morning coats; and secondly, rarely worn today, the morning suit. This article discusses the lounge suit (including business suits), which is part of the 'informal' dress code.
The variations in design, cut, and cloth, such as two- and three- piece, or single- and double- breasted, determine the social and work suitability of the garment. Often, suits are worn, as is traditional, with a collared shirt and necktie. Until around the 1960s, as with all men's clothes, a hat would have been also worn when the wearer was outdoors. Suits also come with different numbers of pieces: a two-piece suit has a jacket and the trousers; a three piece adds a waistcoat; further pieces might include a matching flat cap.
Originally, as with most clothes, a tailor crafted the suit from his client's selected cloth; these are now often known as bespoke suits. The suit was custom made to the measurements, taste, and style of the man. Since the Industrial Revolution, most suits are mass-produced, and, as such, are sold as ready-to-wear garments (though alteration by a tailor prior to wearing is common). Currently, suits are sold in roughly three ways:
* bespoke, in which the garment is custom-made from a pattern created entirely from the customer's measurements, giving the best fit and free choice of fabric;
* made to measure, in which a pre-made pattern is modified to fit the customer, and a limited selection of options and fabrics is available;
* and finally ready-to-wear, which is least expensive and hence most common.
Parts Of a Suit
There are many possible variations in the choice of the style, the garments and the details of a suit.
The Cut
The silhouette of a suit is its outline. No suit is skin-tight; the amount of extra fabric and the way it hangs is known as the drape. The shape of the front of the suit is particularly affected by the way the suit buttons. The two main cuts consist firstly of double-breasted suits, a conservative design with two vertical rows of buttons, spanned by a large overlap of the left and right sides; and secondly, single-breasted suits, on which the sides just meet at the front down a single row of buttons.
British suits are characterised by moderately tapered sides, minimal shoulder padding, and two vents. Italian suits
are characterised by strongly padded shoulders, strongly tapered sides, and no vent. American suits are considered more casual than the preceding styles, and are characterised by moderate shoulder padding, minimally tapered sides, and a single vent. The sack suit is a loose American style. Contemporary is a term that includes a variety of recently designed garments that do not fit into the preceding categories.
The suit is cut out from a length of fabric from a roll by a cutter using a cutting pattern, a paper outline of the parts. The pattern can be draughted in various ways. With a ready-to-wear suit, the same pattern is used many times to make identical suits. Made-to-measure and bespoke cutters can work by pattern manipulation, altering a stock pattern, or by using a drafting formula to calculate adjusted lengths. Some bespoke tailors work by "Rock Of Eye", drawing and cutting by eye.
Fabric
Suits are made in a variety of fabrics, but most commonly from wool. The two main yarns produce worsteds (where the fibres are combed before spinning) and woollens (where they are not). These can be woven in a number of ways producing flannel, tweed, gabardine, and fresco among others. For hot weather, linen is also used, and in North America cotton seersucker is worn. Silk and silk blended with wool are sometimes used. Synthetic materials, while cheap, are very rarely recommended by experts.The main three colours for suits worn in business are light grey, dark grey, and navy, either with or without patterns. In particular, grey flannel suiting has been worn very widely since the 1930s. In non-business settings or less-formal business contexts, brown is another important colour; olive also occurs. In summer, lighter shades, such as tan or cream, are popular.
For non-business use tweed has been popular since Victorian times, and still is commonly worn. A wide range of colour is available, including greens, browns, reds, and greys. Tweeds are usually checked, or plain with a herringbone weave, and are most associated with the country. While full tweed suits are not worn by many now, the jackets are often worn as sports jackets with odd trousers (trousers of different cloth).
Traditional business suits are generally in solid colours or with pin stripes; windowpane checks are also acceptable. Outside business, the range of acceptable patterns widens, with plaids such as the traditional Glen plaid, though apart from some very traditional environments such as London banking, these are worn for business now too. The colour of the patterned element (stripes, plaids, and checks) varies by gender and location.
Jacket
Front buttons
Most single-breasted suits have two or three buttons, and one or four buttons are unusual. It is rare to find a suit with more than four buttons, although zoot suits can have as many as six or more due to their longer length. There is also variation in the placement and style of buttons, since the button placement is critical to the overall impression of height conveyed by the jacket. The centre or top button will typically line up quite closely with the natural waistline.
Double-breasted jackets have only half their outer buttons functional, as the second
row is for display only, forcing them to come in pairs. Some rare jackets can have as few as two buttons, and during various periods, for instance the 1960s and 70s, as many as eight were seen. Six buttons are typical, with two to button; the last pair floats above the overlap. The three buttons down each side may in this case be in a straight line (the 'keystone' layout) or more commonly, the top pair is half as far apart as each pair in the bottom square. A four-button double-breasted jacket usually buttons in a square. The layout of the buttons and the shape of the lapel are co-ordinated in order to direct the eyes of an observer. For example, if the buttons are too low, or the lapel roll too pronounced, the eyes are drawn down from the face, and the waist appears larger.
Pockets
Most jackets have a variety of inner pockets, and two main outer pockets, which are generally either patch pockets, flap pockets, or jetted pockets. The patch pocket is, with its single extra piece of cloth sewn directly onto the front of the jacket, a sporting option, sometimes seen on summer linen suits, or other informal styles. The flap pocket is standard for side pockets, and has an extra lined flap of matching fabric covering the top of the pocket. A jetted pocket is most formal, with a small strip of fabric taping the top and bottom of the slit for the pocket. This style is most often on seen on formalwear, such as a dinner jacket.
Sleeves
Suit jackets in all styles typically have three or four buttons on each cuff, which are often purely decorative. Five buttons are unusual, but are a modern fashion innovation. The number of buttons is primarily a function of the formality of the suit; a very casual summer sports jacket might traditionally (1930s) have had only one button, while tweed suits typically have three and city suits four. Today, four buttons are common on most business suits and even casual suits.
Vents
A vent is a slit in the bottom rear (the "tail") of the jacket. Originally, vents were a sporting option, designed to make riding easier, so are traditional on hacking jackets, formal coats such as a morning coat, and, for reasons of pragmatism, overcoats. Today there are three styles of venting: the single-vented style (with one vent at the centre); the ventless style; and the double-vented style (one vent on each side). Vents are convenient, particularly when using a pocket or sitting down, to improve the hang of the jacket, so are now used on most jackets. Ventless jackets are associated with Italian tailoring, while the double-vented style is typically British.Waistcoats
Waistcoats (often called vests in the USA) were almost always worn with suits prior to the 1940s. They were revived in the 1970s and remained popular throughout that decade in some parts of the world, and remain popular still, particularly for example in Germany. Waistcoats can be either single-breasted or double-breasted. A style that was quite popular among fashionable young men in the 1920s was to wear a single-breasted coat with a high-waisted double-breasted waistcoat. High-waisted single-breasted waistcoats were popular in both the 1920s–1930s and in the 1970s, and were often made with either five or six buttons. Today, many suit makers sell suits with waistcoats, although they often cost much more than a simple two-piece suit. A suit with a matching waistcoat is often called a three-piece suit. They are much more popular in continental Europe than in the USA, Britain, or Japan.Trousers
Trousers are an item of clothing worn on the lower part of the body from the waist to the ankles; cover both legs separately (rather than with cloth stretching across both as in skirts and dresses). Such items of clothing are frequently referred to as pants in countries such as Canada, South Africa and the United States. Additional synonyms comprise slacks, kegs or kex, breeches or breeks. In history, as for the West, trousers have been the standard lower-body clothing item for males as the 16th century; by the late 20th century, they had become common for females as well. Trousers are damaged at the hips or waist, and may be held up by their own fastenings, a belt, or suspenders (braces). Leggings are form-fitting trousers of a clingy cloth, often knitted cotton and lycra.
Breeches
Breeches are an item of male clothing covering the body from the waist down, with separate coverings for every leg, usually stopping just under the knee, though in some cases reaching to the ankles. The breeches were usually closed and fastened about the leg, along its open seams at varied lengths, and to the knee, by either buttons or by a draw-string, or by one or more straps and buckle or brooches. Previously the breeching of a young boy, at an age anywhere between six and eight, was a landmark in his childhood.
From the 1890s to the 1930s a form of Breeches called Knickers were in fashion with both men and boys. Similar to their 18th century predecessor, they reached and were fastened just under the knees but the thighs were more loosely worn. There were various versions including Plus-fours for golf wear which reached down a further four inches below the knees.