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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

Suits

  
 
Seth
22:39 / 19.10.03
I have to buy a suit tomorrow, for a big work-related awards bash up in London. I have no idea about suits, what to buy or how much is reasonable to spend.

I've only owned one other suit previously, which wound up almost unwearable due to the new layer of cornish pasty round my hairy waist. I had to wear it to my best mate's Dad's funeral, with my shirt untucked to hide the fact that my belt was all that was holding me together. Luckily, a sizable proportion of the rest of the funeral goers were a metal band plus assorted punk kids, so I didn't look too bad.

So, this new suit will not only have to do for the awards bash, but also function as my only suit. Bearing that in mind, what style would people go for? Where do you recommend buying from (preferably a chain store)? For what kind of budget? Or alternatively, tell me about your suits...
 
 
Mazarine
22:52 / 19.10.03
I can only share with you a suit tragedy. An actor I knew was appearing in a production of The Bacchae, and for his costume (as well as personal use) had purchased a beautiful cream-white suit. One day he came to rehearsal and couldn't for the life of him figure out what he'd done with the thing. After much debate and retracing of steps, he could only conclude that he'd left it on the bus, and he never saw it again.

My only advice is to leave yourself a little extra time in case you need to have someone at the shop alter it for you. My brother didn't, and was being hemmed nary two hours before he was supposed to get on a plane to go to a friend's wedding.
 
 
Mazarine
22:53 / 19.10.03
Oh, and don't leave it on a bus.
 
 
No star here laces
00:39 / 20.10.03
I love suits, but haven't ever owned that many. I'll tell some rambling suit tales, and maybe come to some recommendations.

The greatest suit I ever owned, I found in a charity shop in Edinburgh in 1995. I'd been to the V&A "street style" exhibition earlier that year and had flipped out over the Northern Soul section. See, at the time I was very into very big trousers. Northern Soul suits had huuuuge flares, with like 24" hems, that flared from the hip. Jackets had big-ass lapels and lots of pocket detailing, and the whole ensemble was usually in some kind of really thick chalkstripe cloth. They had to be tailor-made. So these blew me away, because I'd never thought suits could be so fun, or look so street.

So I walked into the charity shop that day, and there was a Northern Soul suit there. Perfect condition, and in a really cool shade of brown. I looked at it wet-lipped thinking "no way will it be in my size". It was. It fitted perfectly. Now thinking "something like this is so unique it's bound to be really pricey". My wallet only 30 quid lighter I walked out of the shop about 2 feet off the ground. I wore that biatch out clubbing for about 18 months straight then passed out at some after-party and some motherfucker stole the trousers. I like to think that suit walked into my life and blessed me for a short while before leaving again...

Then, a week ago, i was in Mumbai on business. Let off the leash for a day I moseyed on down to the wholesale cloth-selling district thinking I'd pick up some sarees to decorate my house with (and possibly for clandestine cross-dressing late at night, who knows?). Anyway I got adopted by a shabby guy with appalling teeth who took me round lots of places and explained how to buy cloth by the metre. Eventually he took me back to the shop where he worked - a shabby knocked-together place wallpapered in 1960s sewing patterns where he introduced me to a tailor. I found a roll of pastel blue cloth which they agreed to make into a suit for me for the equivalent of about 60 pounds.

I tell you, getting measured for a suit is addictive. I don't think I can look back now. The unfortunate part is the bastards ripped me off. When the suit got delivered to my hotel that evening they had substituted the cotton for nylon in the same colour, and there was a big brown streak on the trousers. The tailor, who delivered it, said "these are cheat people in this shop, very bad, next time you come direct to me" and proceeded to give me his business card and explain that he could take payment over the internet and would deliver to me in Singapore.

So I'm now the owner of a very fly, but very scratchy, pale blue nylon suit, and am licking my wounds before ordering some more...

My standard suit is a black wool single-breasted with flat fronted trousers that I've had for 9 years, and can definitely recommend as a good all-purpose design. I'd say fork out the extra for a well-made wool suit and you won't regret it because they really last. That one came from Crombie in Edinburgh and cost 300ukp, which I know is pricey, but as I say, I've had it 9 years and it still looks fresh as a daisy.

Tip - look for hand stitching on the lapels and lining on the trousers. Extra bonus is if the buttons on the sleeve actually undo then you know you're looking at a quality piece.
 
 
Ex
08:14 / 20.10.03
Sorry - can't review chain stores as they're out of my price bracket. If you go second-hand you can buy better quality for less outlay. Hit a point of equilibrium between cash, time (scouring charity shops and second-hand gentlemen's outfitters) and quality (when else will I ever wear bespoke?).
If you're not a natural scourer (allergic to dust, full-time job) Old Hat on Fulham High Street have huge quantities of stock. Suits about 100-200 quid(?). Many are handsewn and would have originally been 400-600 quid.
You're not a Brighton type, are you? ('Up in London' suggested it). G K Rosen at the top of the North Laines is eccentric but has some very nice stock. Nod politely to his stories about his father and decline his offer of a milk chocolate Wagon Wheel. Fumigate suit for moth once purchased.
My favourite suit is a clerical morning suit (July 1933). It has a Mao-style collar and the waistcoat looks like the body of a fencing jacket - looks rather modern and experimental. It cost 150 quid which is painful to me, but dude, spotless. Spare buttons in the breast pocket in an envelope, labelled by the tailor in a spidery copper-plate.
 
 
Ganesh
10:59 / 20.10.03
I started wearing suits for work two, three years ago, and now I can't conceive of dressing any other way. There's something so easy about having to make no early-morning decision more momentous than 'which shirt & tie'. Sale-time - post-summer and January, naturally - are the best times to buy suits, as they're usually quite heftily discounted.

I've got eight or nine suits, all of which get a fairly regular weekday airing (I like the idea of having a pristine 'interview suit' that's brought out for special occasions but, having recently retrieved my nice black Hugo Boss from storage to find the trousers full of moth-holes, I'm convinced that if you've shelled out for 'em, just wear 'em). Mine are fairly sober dark colours (mid-grey's the lightest, through charcoal to black) and therefore reasonably versatile. Three are Crombie (excellent January discounts at House of Fraser in Oxford Street), including a very smart navy pinstripe with a purple lining and a lovely subtle windowpane check, two are Kenzo, two are Jenners (Edinburgh department store) own-brand and one - probably my favourite - is a very durable heavy wool chalkstripe, from Aquascutum.

Like Jefelaces, I've done the 'ethnic bespoke' thing: during Britpop's Indian summer, Xoc and I had vaguely Beatlesy nehru-collared suits made up by a Goan tailor. We didn't get ripped off, but I think both our waistlines subsequently expanded too quickly to get decent wear from them. And, of course, nehru collars became naff.

I've had mixed experiences buying suits from chainstores. Best have been good ol' Marks & Spencers, which do excellent plain, dark, single-breasted at ridiculously knockdown prices - with the added bonus that one can buy an extra pair of trousers (suit trousers wear out much more quickly than jackets). Debenhams, surprisingly, can yield some decent stuff too, particularly now they've got John Richmond and Ozwald Boateng designing for them.

If you're just buying the one 'special occasion' suit, I'd advise going for something conservative in dark wool or wool-mix. Avoid double-breasted (gimmicky, will go out of fashion again soon) or excessively pleated trousers. Don't be afraid to take your time trying different sizes - and consider a second pair of trousers if you reckon you're going to lose weight or blimp out.
 
 
Sax
12:29 / 20.10.03
I'm with Nesh on the suits in the morning. Well, not actually with him in the morning, as in hiding in his wardrobe and handing his suit to him as he blindly feels around for it in the semi darkness, but you know what I mean.

I wear a suit every day for work, tending to alternate between two. It does make things easier in the morning, and also now gets me in a "work-mode" frame of mind. I tend to buy inexpensive suits off the peg for work.

I've only recently bought a good suit I'm proud of for weddings, christenings, funerals etc... which probably comes with turning 30. I have a fantastic Paul Smith grey pinstripe number, which I often wear even when the occaision doesn't actually demand a suit. Makes me feel sharp, though.
 
 
Tryphena Absent
13:13 / 20.10.03
This comment makes me water at the mouth: a fantastic Paul Smith grey pinstripe number.
 
 
Sax
13:27 / 20.10.03
Anna, if I had a god, then verily, Paul Smith would be His name.
 
 
Ganesh
13:57 / 20.10.03
If it's the grey Paul Smith pinstripe I think it is, Sax, I tried it on in Selfridges - but couldn't quite convince myself I needed it enough. D'oh!
 
 
Sax
14:08 / 20.10.03
Sounds like the one - I got mine at Selfridge's in the Trafford Centre. Tres expensive but... I'm worth it.
 
 
Sax
14:10 / 20.10.03
And: Like Jefelaces, I've done the 'ethnic bespoke' thing: during Britpop's Indian summer, Xoc and I had vaguely Beatlesy nehru-collared suits made up by a Goan tailor. We didn't get ripped off, but I think both our waistlines subsequently expanded too quickly to get decent wear from them. And, of course, nehru collars became naff.

I've had several items of clothing made by Goan tailors over the years which fitted perfectly on the sub-Continent but were just far too small the minute I landed back at home. I blame the un-pressurised holds in most commercial airliners, which allow cloud moisture in to shrink the clothes. Or something.
 
 
The Return Of Rothkoid
14:12 / 20.10.03
Seth: given that you and I are roughly equivalent in shape, I'd say go for a double-breaster.
 
 
Sax
14:20 / 20.10.03
Ooh, no. Not double-breasted. Might as well wear a blazer and slacks. Single breasted with three buttons, methinks.
 
 
Ganesh
14:40 / 20.10.03
Absolutely. Single-breast is best.
 
 
Smoothly
14:41 / 20.10.03
I'd join the chorus in extolling the virtues of hand-made, especially if you are anything other than a perfectly average shape.
I bought a suit off the peg when I graduated and needed one for job-getting purposes. I worked in it for about a year during a brief but decisive flirtation with management consultancy, before I moved into an industry with much more relaxed sartorial demands. A few years later when I'd climbed to the dizzy heights where dressing more formally was expected again, I tried on that trusty whistle again. Now, I'm tall and skinny and you know that expression 'All over him like a bad suit'?...
So, a friend of mine recommended his tailor to me (Sam Arkus on Berwick street, if you care). And I read that he makes Nick Cave's suits, which I like. Anyway, I did the bespoke thing - made from scratch to my specifications and measurements, hand stiched, etc etc. I can't recommend it highly enough - even though it is time consuming (3 fittings each about a week apart). You learn lots of interesting trivia about your body (it's not quite as symetrical as you might think, for example) and I finally discovered what the 'which side do you dress?' thing ws all about (clue: they mean which side is it on now, not in general).
I went as classic as possible - a heavy black wool, black lining, 3 button single breasted, double-vented, straight leg, flat-fronted blah blah blah. Looks nicely anonymous. It's not the cheapest way of doing it, but there's something a bit spesh about wearing a one-of-a-kind that fits like a glove.

I'd personally advise against double-breasted if you can avoided since nothing says 'fat' like a double-breated suit. And it also means you can never wear it open, which is an option it's sometimes nice to have.
 
 
Goodness Gracious Meme
15:25 / 20.10.03
a fantastic Paul Smith grey pinstripe number.

phwooaarrrrrr.

*drool*

though, in the unlikely event of me going made-to-measure, reckon I'd opt for Oswald Boateng. A friend has an absolutely beautiful dark charcoal/invisible red twill wool OB suit. Red silk lining.

hubba hubba...

Avoid double breasted unless you're fancy dressing, slim or girl. IMHO.

Dark grey/slight pinstripe always looks good. Spend as much as you can afford, when it comes to suits, it's worth investing. Wool lasts, hangs well, and looks great.
 
 
Mourne Kransky
15:47 / 20.10.03
nothing says 'fat' like a double-breated suit

With you there, Smoothly. I did once have a double breasted Italian green silk thing (when I was my sister's bridesmaid) and it was the business. Could never be worn "casually" though and I wasn't so porky then.

Being short and fat, I go for single breasted, three buttons, no vent. I used to squeeze myself into tight-fitting suits under the delusion that if I wore thin clothes I would look like Germaine Greer-bait but I just looked like Elton John, without the turf. Ganesh ("call me Trinny") buys suits for me now since I can't be trusted and they're always too big and they're always a joy to wear. I even have some that aren't black.

Problems with suits:
I have to wait for the sales and so usually there's only one pair of trousers. I have, as a consequence, a dozen beautiful jackets hanging the wardrobe but only two complete suits.

Also, remembering to get them dry-cleaned is one of those things that has to become a ritual de lo habitual or you find you've an interview or a funeral or whatever and there's a beer spill on your crotch and no time to spruce up.

Most suits are way too warm for London. I have to get some lightweight ones when they're being raffled off in Selfridge's or Aquascutum after Christmas. My favourite pinstripe can only be worn when there's snow on the ground.
 
 
gingerbop
20:21 / 20.10.03
I hope to one day own a fucking fantastic suit, just so I can wear it with the most tatty top, shoes and bag I ever find.
 
 
telyn
21:51 / 21.10.03
Mmm, a suit to wear in the daytime. I own a couple of suits, but they were chosen very much with gigs or interviews in mind, and in one case, with a time limit of a few hours. Not a good choice. They're black or very dark blue, and neither of the trousers fit well.

I think the best suit I owned was a second-hand man's suit with the trousers taken in at the back of the waist. It was a grey with a hint of brown and was just perfect - wide enough over the shoulders, long enough in the leg. The fabric was just interesting enough that you could dress it anyway you wanted, but not at all garish. Sadly the trousers died (they were second hand because of an impending hole) and that was that really.
 
  
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