A Guide To Linen Suits

Many men have plenty of questions as they consider buying their first linen suit. A hand-crafted linen suit radiates casual confidence, style, and charm. And yet, this lightweight, wrinkle-prone fabric prompts many style questions. Can I wear this to work? Is it formal enough for a business meeting? How do I style it for outdoor parties and events? Let’s explore and answer some of these pressing issues to round out your wardrobe with confidence and verve.

The Fit Is Everything

We can’t overstate just how much fit matters when it comes to a linen suit. You’re thinking: isn’t fit a pretty key aspect of every suit? Absolutely. Particularly with linen, however, as it’s a fabric that loves to wrinkle. That’s part of its charm, yes, and you should expect that any linen suit you wear is going to wrinkle a bit—you can embrace that and dress up the suit in other ways (we’ll talk about that below). What you shouldn’t embrace is a lightweight suit that doesn’t fit well, which will cause the suit to wrinkle far more than necessary.

A fitted suit presents a strong, confident look no matter the fabric. It’s particularly important in this case because the better your suit fits, the less the linen will wrinkle and lose the shape of the cut.  Bespoke suits that are measured, patterned, and cut for you and your body will be better for the look and better for maintaining the quality and appearance of the fabric over many years.  

When to Wear a Linen Suit

Because of its lightness, breathability, and cool texture, linen makes for an ideal outdoor fabric. A good linen suit should be a staple of your wardrobe during the spring and summer months, and it can feel great to slip back into it just a few more times when those really warm late autumn days and nights sneak into September and October. But when and where, specifically, should you wear one?

Major Outdoor Occasions

Sometimes it can feel like every weekend from May through September is booked with a wedding, graduation, a reunion, or some kind of family or office get-together. That’s a big reason why you should invest in a linen suit. You’ll look stylish and fashion-forward at outdoor receptions and parties and stay cool while everyone around you swelts in their polyester blend.

Summer Concerts and Performances

Is a linen suit the way to go if you are tracking through the grass and dirt for three days at Lollapalooza or the sand and crowds of Pitchfork? Only if you’re willing to see your suit get covered in some serious dirt and mud. But a slightly more formal outdoor experience—like a nighttime concert, film, or theatrical performance in the park—can be made all the more enjoyable and stylish in a comfortable linen suit.

Work Days and Business Lunches

Linen suits have become a common sight in offices, agencies, and practices once summer rolls around. It’s a good idea to keep a wool suit on hand for very formal work events like major presentations. But it’s very easy to dress up a linen suit and make it appropriate for a day in the office, lunch with your colleagues, or less formal meetings.

How to Wear a Linen Suit

Linen suits give you more flexibility than many people realize. It comes down to how you wear the suit and what you decide to wear with it. But first, the suit itself: most people probably think of linen suits as being white, cream, or beige, but the truth is that the light feel and appearance of linen means you can be a little looser and more experimental with your colors. Linen makes a great canvas for pastel colors, like light blue, denim, cream, mauve, pink, and tan suits. Even standard colors like navy, dark brown, and black will feel less heavy or formal when in linen, especially if you offset them with a light-hued shirt.

Caring for Your Suit

For such a casual-looking fabric, linen is remarkably tough and durable. With regular care, a quality linen suit should last you a long time. But as we already know, linen is also a fabric that wrinkles and stains easily. So how do you keep your suit looking its best?

Storage

Like most suits, you will want to hang your linen suit up in a cool and dry location. Make sure that your suit isn’t folded, crumpled, or balled up when you store it, or deep wrinkles will set into the fabric that is difficult to iron away. Irons, actually, are generally less effective at removing wrinkles from linen than a steam press.

Cleaning

There’s no need to dry clean your linen, where the chemicals can stain the material. Instead, you can wash it by hand, or simply spot clean it. You should never put your linen suit into the dryer. Though a strong material, linen is loosely woven together (which is part of what gives it its light feel) and can shrink dramatically in a dryer. Instead, hang up your suit to air dry before storing it in a cool and dry spot.

The Guide to Suit Fabrics

finished jackets in tailoring atelier on hangers

With a plethora of different fabrics and patterns on the market, it’s easy to become spoiled for choice when buying a suit! However, the type of fabric is important when wearing a suit for a particular event or a particular time of the year. Therefore, this guide deals specifically with different types of suit fabrics and weaves. 

In this article, you will find out what defines a good suit fabric. You will also learn the key characteristics of the most popular types of suiting fabric. Finally, you will get clued into the controversy over synthetic suits.

Why Does Suit Fabric Matter?

There many details to consider when buying suit, but the two main factors that decide on a suit’s quality and cost: construction and fabric. This is the suiting equivalent to parts and labor on a car. Very quickly, suits are made with either fused, half, or full canvas interlinings onto which fabric is either glued (fused) or sewn. Glued suits are cheaper, sewn suits are more expensive.

Fabric is the other main factor that decides a suit’s quality and cost. Good fabric will feel better, hold its shape for longer, and look better for its lifespan. As you might imagine, it’s a more expensive product than its lower-quality counterparts.

Fabric Types

Cashmere

Cashmere is a kind of wool that comes from the soft under-hair of a particular kind of goat native to Mongolia. It has an incredibly soft texture, great water resistance, and excellent breathability. You can find cashmere suits in lighter or heavier weaves suitable for varying temperatures.

Cashmere can last many, many years with proper care. It also insulates even better than most sheep’s wool, making it an ideal material for cold-weather suits. Plus, it has a lustrous appearance and drapes elegantly for pants!

Cotton 

Plant fibers represent another category of fabrics a customer can choose from. Cotton is an accepted option for many casual suits, and is, in most cases, less expensive than wool or linen. It is flexible and breathable, but shows creases more than wool fabrics. Another classic plant fiber is linen, which is made from the fibers of the flax plant. While it is very breathable, it does develop a characteristic wrinkle

Silk

As a fiber, silk is elastic and has pretty good strength. However, it’s super-light and easy to wear. It has moderate resistance to wrinkles and it does not attract dirt because of its smoothness. Silk is a natural temperature regulator, which will keep you warm in winter and cool in summer. It’s perfect for all seasons and fits most body types; however, it’s best for more formal events.

It’s pretty rare to see a 100% silk suit nowadays. That sort of thing is generally limited to the like of Prince Charles while vacationing in the tropics. It’s more likely that you’ll see silk as part of a suit’s fabrication (60% worsted wool and 40% silk, for example). It is sometimes used in high-end suit linings, but this should only be done if the customer really loves a lining’s design, as synthetic silks like viscose are actually stronger than the original fabric.

Velvet

Velvet is another soft and luxurious fabric that can be made from both natural and synthetic fibers. Even the term velvet itself describes “soft and smooth” nowadays. The soft pile of velvet makes for a warm, comfortable winter jacket. Velvet has a bit of heft to it because of its thick pile, making it less suitable for hot weather wear.

Avoiding Synthetic Materials

While nearly all mass-market retailers sell various polyester suits, high-end brands generally don’t use this fabric because its affordability gives it an air of cheapness. Polyester is an affordable synthetic material basically made out of plastic. Low-quality polyester suits do look sort of shiny, giving them a cheap look.

the polyester suit issue is open for debate. If you want affordable suits, go for it! If you want a fancy brand and high-end quality, you’re going to need to dish out the dollars for an expensive all-natural material like wool. Our team tries to work withing your budget! 

New Jersey’s Choice for Quality Suit Fabrics 

Finding one suit that fits is hard enough, never mind finding a variety of suits in different fabrics. But with a quality Bespoke suit, our team can put together a custom-sized suit with a variety of colors and fabrics, in a breeze.

If you’re looking to spruce up your suit collection, and are in need of a quality suit, consider contacting us. At BBespoke, our reputation is based on an uncompromising dedication to craftsmanship and personal services.