All About Suits Part II

There’s an old adage that states that “knowledge is power”.  In that I’m a firm believer in that, I thought it would be fitting to provide information to be considered when one wants to purchase a suit.  Previously, we looked at buying a suit according to one’s body type and the different types of suits. Let’s take to the next level and consider what goes into a quality suit.   

Suit Construction

The best suits are made by hand in terms of quality of construction and materials.  Therefore, the more a suit is made by hand the higher the quality.  There are a lot more places to have custom made suits made and if one can afford it that would be the best route to take.  Locally here in Cincinnati, Nobby Tailors has been making custom made suits for Men of Color for years.  They’re one of the best places to get custom tailored suits and they also carry a line shoes that can’t be found in other stores in and ‘Nati. 

Materials

All quality suits should be made of natural materials such as wool, linen, cotton, or silk.  Suits made from synthetic materials aren’t breathable and don’t allow for the body’s natural temperature to assist in a comfort level.  In other words, in the winter time they don’t provide warmth of the body and in the summer time there’s no cooling affect as the heat is retained.  Also, synthetic suits are stiff and don’t contour with the body so they don’t fit as well as a suit made from natural materials.  Synthetic suits are also harder to maintain as they don’t allow the body’s perspiration to evaporate, since they’re not breathable, and will result in the suit needing to be dry cleaned more often.   I remember the period of the ‘70s when we wore polyester suits.  Looking back on that it was the worst of times in terms of looking good.  The one thing I vividly recalled about the suits was that they came in any color one could imagine.   I had a pair of burgundy poly slacks and a burgundy and white poly “houndstooth” sport coat and I thought I had it “going on”.  Reflecting back to that period now I think I looked rather clownish! 

Buttonholes

[1]The finest quality suits have handmade buttonholes.  Handmade buttonholes are smooth on the outside and rough on the inside.  Machine made buttonholes will be smoother on both sides.  Most buttons are sewn on with cross-stitching and well finished with no threads hanging.  Also, in custom tailored suits the buttonholes on the sleeves allow one to unbutton them.   There is nothing worse than having a button pop off because it was correctly sewn onto the jacket.  Of course, that never happened to me!

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[1] The Handbook of Style, A Man’s Guide to Looking Good, From the Editors of Esquire Magazine, (New York: Hearst Books, 2009) page 42. 

Suit Seams

[1]Hand-sewn seams are composed of a single thread running through the fabric in a wavelike pattern.  When done properly, they are smooth and pucker-free and are more resilient to creasing and stretching than machined seams.  Machine-sewn seams are composed of two threads looped tightly around each other in a chainlike pattern.  They are sturdy, but the loops create puckers in the fabric, which can worsen over time as the fabric stretches. 

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[1]  The Handbook of Style, A Man’s Guide to Looking Good, From the Editors of Esquire Magazine, (New York: Hearst Books, 2009) page 43.