Fashion

The suit. The epitome of menswear. Nothing shows a combination of raw masculinity and refined gentleman'y elegance as much as this classic piece of clothing. It has existed and been fashionable for a long time, so as per The Lindy Effect, it will stay here for a long while.

If you're new to suits, you might feel that it can only be worn in highly formal settings. It's true that a suit, or even just a jacket or blazer, are much more formal than the highly casual / athleisure wardrobe of most of the West—but you can play with many properties to make it more or less suited (ba dum tss) for any occasion. At first this felt to me as tiny details, but still intuitively I could understand some suits are more formal than others, and knowing why helped me develop a style where I now like to wear a jacket all day long. Sometimes with a suit, more often not.

Suit / Jacket Details That Influence Formality

Fabric

The fabric, of course, is the most important part of a suit.

• Finer threads and a more shiny, smooth fabric is more formal
• Fabrics with patterns, texture and without sheen are less formal

The standard suit fabric is wool, but even here there are variations. Very delicate shiny weaves (e.g., "Super 150") are much more formal, while for example a hopsack texture or very heavy suits are less so.

Summer suits can come in an open wool weave or linen, both of which show more texture.

A linen suit is often blended with silk and cotton to make it a bit smoother and more wrinkle resistant than standard linen.

Wool

How the wool is prepared:

• Worsted is long fibers spun tightly, like other fabrics. Most common.
• Woolen is "fluffy wool" like you'll find in winter sweaters. More insulating.

Four-season weaves:

• Twill shows a diagonal pattern. Doesn't let much light through, very dense. Tougher and more springy = wrinkle-resistant.
• Plain weave looks like the normal over-under weave. More open than twill. Softer drape, less wrinkle resistant.

Spring/summer weaves:

• High-twist is very similar to worsted plain weave, yarn is twisted more so it's even more springy, open weave.
  • 300g weight is most common
  • 4-ply is very durable and very wrinkle resistant, esp. when heavy
  • Can be very rigid, so can be uncomfortable if the fit is not perfect or too tight
  • There are high-twist 4-ply wools spun in a way they have natural stretch
• Super are very fine threads, softer and more delicate and less wrinkle resistant. Recommended to have it not in the beginning. Light weight works better in plain weave.

Winter weaves:

• Tweed is an open weave, very soft, heavier
• Woolen flannels are very warm, beautiful drape, soft.
  • Colors are subdued so you can experiment here

Twill at 320g+ "makes a super nice business suit" and drapes very softly, opposite to what it does at lighter weights.

Hopsack:

• Tight open weave
• Very light, great for summer
• The thick weave makes it very durable

Shoulder Padding

The amount of padding in the shoulder is partly style but I feel like more padding feels more formal than less padding. You can even go to almost-nothing which makes the jacket feel and drape more like a sweater than the stiff suit you might think of at first.

Performance Sports Jackets / Suits

Matinique Jonathan "Slim Fit" but no measurements on the site. Relatively simple in terms of performance'ness

Moss Performance Suit Has customizer online including fype of fit. They customize only in UK.