Suit (clothing)

A suit, with varieties such as a business suit, three-piece suit, lounge suit or two-piece suit, comprises a collection of matching clothing consisting of:

A coat (commonly known as a jacket)
A pair of trousers (USA pants), a skirt for women.
Optionally, a waistcoat (USA vest) (men only). A two-piece suit or lounge suit is one lacking a waistcoat; a three-piece suit has one.

Children typically refer to a suit as a suit and tie.

A suit is generally accompanied by a collared shirt and tie (for men), or a blouse (for women). A hat such as the fedora and the bowler (for men), or the pill box (for women), in Western countries, used to complete the outfit, but over the course of the 20th century they largely fell out of fashion and are no longer commonly worn with suits.

Men wear suits much more frequently than women, for they, unlike women, have never widely accepted pullover tops or sweaters as formal wear. Women's suits, a later development than men's suits, are usually worn only in business settings. For other dressy occasions, women more frequently wear other styles of formal clothing.

History

Men's suits

The suit is the traditional outfit of men in the Western world. The modern suit did not appear until the late nineteenth century, but its origins can be traced back to the revolution in men's dress set by Charles II, king of Great Britain in the 1660s. Charles, following the example of the court of Louis XIV at Versailles decreed in 1666 that at court, men were to wear a long coat or jacket, a waistcoat (originally called a petticoat, a term which later became applied solely to women's dress), a cravat (ancestor of the modern necktie) a wig, and breeches or trousers gathered at the knee, as well as a hat for outdoor wear. Although it is hard to see the outline of the modern business suit in the elaborate and brightly-coloured court dress of the seventeenth century, the basic pattern outlined above has survived for more than four hundred years with some adjustments, notably the abandonment of wigs and knee breeches after the French Revolution; the rise of British tailoring, which used steam, pressure, padding, and stiffening to mould woolen fabric to the body; the invention of the modern necktie in the late nineteenth century; and the gradual disappearance of waistcoats and hats during the last fifty years.

What we call the modern suit was originally a nineteenth-century American innovation in dress: seeking a casual alternative to the long, heavy frock coats then considered appropriate business dress, men began to wear lighter coats cut just below the waist when not engaged in business. This "sack suit" (now called a "lounge suit" in Great Britain or a "business suit" in North America) became informal daywear for all men who were not engaged in physical labor. Even the humblest men would have at least one suit to wear on Sunday to church, hence the term "Sunday best." The waistcoat or vest was worn regularly with the suit until World War II, but is rarely seen today.

At the end of the nineteenth century, an informal suit for evening wear, the Tuxedo, was developed. Sometimes referred to as black tie, it was popularized as an informal alternative to standard evening dress, or white tie. As the Tuxedo grew in popularity, it became acceptable formalwear and today has all but replaced white tie, which today is only seen at the most formal occasions. The daytime equivant to white tie is the morning suit.

Women's suits

The earliest women's suits were riding habits, which consisted of a tailored coat or jacket and matching skirt from the 1660s. Practical and sturdy, riding habits were worn not only on horseback, but also for travel and other daytime pursuits. Suits not intended for riding appeared in the later nineteenth century. Both riding habits and walking suits reflected the skirt and sleeve styles of the day.

In the first half of the twentieth century, the skirted suit became the common daytime city costume for women, in the workplace and out; dressmaker suits featured softer fabrics and "feminine" details, and cocktail suits were worn for semiformal occasions in mid-century.

Under the influence of Dress for Success, a working woman's uniform of skirted suit, tailored shirt, and floppy tie evolved in the 1970s and 1980s. Pantsuits (women's suits with trousers) were introduced by designer André Courrèges in 1964 but were only gradually accepted as formal business attire.

Influence of casual dress

Over the past half-century, the wearing of suits has become far less common than it once was and is now restricted almost entirely to formal and business activities. During the 1990s, many businesses in North America adopted casual dress codes, beginning with "casual Fridays" and then extending to the entire business week. The abandonment of an uniform dress code has led to considerable confusion over what is considered appropriate business wear. More recently, some businesses have reinforced the wearing of suits, although they may never again be as common as they once were. Thadis

According to Anne Hollander's book Sex and Suits (ISBN 1568361017), the origin of the suit was in European medieval armor, which "replaced the naked human frame with another one that made a close three-dimensional, line-for-line commentary on it in another medium." Furthermore, "plate armor required an undergarment made by a linen-armorer, a close-fitting padded suit that outlined the whole man".

Extreme suits

Although the man's tailored suit is commonly perceived as the ultimate conservative costume of Western culture (see below), extravagant variations on the tailored suit have been adopted by many subcultures over the last century as a matter of fashion or social identity. As early as 1922, Emily Post addressed what she termed the "freak American suit" in her influential guide Etiquette:

You will see it everywhere, on Broadway of every city and Main Street of every town, on the boardwalks and beaches of coast resorts, and even in remote farming villages. It comes up to hit you in the face year after year in all its amazing variations: waist-line under the arm pits, “trick” little belts, what-nots in the cuffs; trousers so narrow you fear they will burst before your eyes, pockets placed in every position, buttons clustered together in a tight little row or reduced to one. And the worst of it is, few of our younger men know any better until they go abroad and find their wardrobe a subject for jest and derision.

Some of the non-traditional tailored suit syles of the past century include:

The Zoot suit of the 1930s and 1940s
The Western suit, a form of western wear featuring a tailored jacket with "western" details such as pointed yokes or arrowhead pockets
The Nudie suit, a highly decorated form of western wear
The Beatle suit or Mod suit, a fashion of the late 1960s with very narrow trousers and sometimes collarless jackets, derived from Pierre Cardin's early menswear
The Disco suit, a fashion of the 1970s with exaggerated lapels and flared trousers, often in white or brightly-coloured polyester fabric

Perceptions

The uniform impression of a suit, often appearing in standard configurations such as pinstripe suit or suit and tie, can carry numerous connotations. In business settings it can communicate respectability and taste. In different milieus, the connotations of corporate life that the suit represents conveys unadventurous conformism. Extreme variations on the suit can convey the opposite (for example, many pimps wear exaggerated versions of suits containing various hues, patterns, etc.).

Used as a synechdoche, by referring to management staff in corporations as "suits", may express contempt for the perceived absence of autonomy imposed on members in a uniform elitist bureaucracy. It may also be a comment on the perceived amorality of those who work for corporations.

The political and social dominance of the West in the world during the last century has led to the adoption of the suit as appropriate business and formal wear in almost every part of the globe. Refusing to wear a suit, therefore, can be a symbolic rejection of Western culture in some cases. For instance, some political leaders reject wearing business suits in order to send a message that they do not conform to Western patterns. The most notable example was probably the late Chinese leader Mao Zedong , who usually appeared in public wearing what was nicknamed the Mao suit in English. This suit was originally designed under the direction of Sun Yat-sen for the Chinese Republic, reflecting the need to create a uniquely Chinese dress for the new era. The "Mao suit" was worn by most Chinese political leaders (including Chiang Kai-shek), until the mid-to-late 20th Century, and is known as the "Zhongshan (Sun Yat-sen) suit" (after its creator) in Chinese. Other alternatives to the western suit include national or tribal dress for African and Middle Eastern leaders, or military fatigues like Cuba's Fidel Castro. In more recent years, however, Castro has taken to wearing business suits in public appearances in lieu of his iconic revolutionary fatigues.

Women's suits today

In the 1990s, the return of the miniskirt to the fashion world soon carried over into the office settings. Skirt length varies with fashion trends and acceptable local custom.

Suit etiquette for men

Buttoning the suit

Double-breasted suits are always kept buttoned. When there is more than one to-button (as in a traditional six-on-two arrangement), only the top one is to be fastened. Often, this is the only one that can be properly fastened, because the bottom to-button often lacks a corresponding interior flap button. In the case of arrangement such as the six-on-one, particularly popular when the double-breasted suit first staged a comeback in the 1980s, one has no choice but to fasten the bottom button as this is the only option.

Single-breasted suits are buttoned while standing. In a three-button suit, any number of the three buttons can be done up, but if one it is the middle one, if two it is the middle and top ones. The bottom button is rarely done up. In two button suits it is only appropriate to button the top button, when sitting the jacket is unbuttoned. Three-buttons suits present a couple of special situations. In the case of three-button suits with lapels that roll over the top button, the top button should not be fastened. These are typically older three-button jackets and contemporary three-button suits are not normally designed this way. With a typical three-button suit made today, one has the option of buttoning only the middle button in the manner of the old three-button cuts, or following the rule of buttoning every button but the bottom-most one. Both are acceptable. To prevent bunching, the single-breasted jacket should be completely unbuttoned while the wearer is seated.

Suit colors

The classic suit colors are navy blue, grey, and charcoal. Black is traditionally a color for one's dinner jacket (tuxedo), not one's suit. Black, however, is an appropriate color for funerals and mourning. Traditional suits are generally solid colors or pinstripes, with refined plaids sometimes qualifying.

Ties with suits

See also main article Necktie

Working with ties is very much a matter of personal taste, but in conservative terms there are some basic guidelines. Ties should always be darker than the wearer's shirt. The background colour of the tie should not be the same as that of the shirt, rather the foreground of the tie should contain the colour of the shirt and thereby "pick up" on the color of the shirt. Ideally, the tie should also integrate the color of the suit in the same way. Generally, simple or subdued patterns are preferred for conservative dress, though these are terms with a wide range of potential for interpretation. The list of knots generally includes the Four-in-hand, the Half-Windsor (or Windsor), the Full-Windsor (or Double Windsor), and the Shelby or Pratt. A Four-in-hand, Half-Windsor, or Full- Windsor is generally the most appropriate with a suit, particularly by contemporary guidelines. Once properly knotted and arranged, the bottom of the tie should just touch or just go over the top of the belt buckle. The thin end should never extend below the wide end.

People working in medical professions should avoid wearing ties, unless they wear a newly washed tie each day, as these pieces of fabric are known major vectors in the transmission of disease within hospitals.

Shirts and blouses with suits

The type of shirt worn by men with a suit is a top made of woven cloth, with long sleeves, a full-length buttoned opening down the front, and a collar; this type of garment is known in American English as a dress shirt but simply as a shirt in other English dialects. It is ironed, tucked into its wearer's trousers, and otherwise worn according to the etiquette described in the article dress shirt.

The classic shirt colors are light blue or white, with white edgeing out as most conservative. The most formal type of dress shirt worn with a standard suit is a shirt with French cuffs, using cuff links or silk knots instead of buttons to close the sleeves, but this type of shirt is optional, and essentially up to the preferences of the wearer and the vagaries of fashion.

The most traditional collar is a spread collar. This is frequently the default collar type for French cuff shirts, though they can sometimes be found with point collars. Normally button-down collars are reserved for use with a sportcoat or without a coat at all. The button-down collar is not seeing as much wear today, particularly with the resurgence of more formal shirts with spread collars and French cuffs, even in business casual wear.

Short-sleeve shirts, tennis shirts, and t-shirts should never be worn with a suit.

For women, a blouse (usually white) takes the place of a shirt. In contemporary usage, women commonly substitude a plain, white, very high-quality t-shirt for a blouse, though this substitution is considered unacceptable by many.

Socks with suits

Socks should match the pant leg. This makes the leg appear longer and minimizes the noticeability of a too-short pant leg. In the absence of an exact shade match between pants and socks (just the variability of how dye appears on wool and cotton, viscose, silk, et al makes this a practical impossibility), the shade of the socks should always run darker than that of the pants. With patterned socks, ideally the background color of the sock should match the primary/background color of the suit. If it is not possible to match the pant leg, socks may match one's shoes. This is not especially appropriate, particularly in contemporary conservative dress, and should only be done if nothing remotely similar to the pant color can be found. This is only likely to occur in the case of unusual, fashion-forward colors, and there should not be any cause to do this with traditional colors such as navy or gray.

Accessories with suits

Acceptable colors for belts (if worn) and shoes are black and burgundy/cordovan, though since the 1980s various shades of darker browns (particularly mahogany) have started to gain acceptance. Light browns such as saddle tan and its ilk should be reserved for use with business casual wear. The belt and shoes must match one another, at the very least in color category if not almost exactly in shade. The belt's buckle should be silver or gold. Other metallic objects worn with the suit (such as cuff links, tie bar, tie tack, watch) should match the belt buckle. Where watches are concerned: the more formal the occasion, the thinner the watch. Analogue watches are more formal than digital watches. In the most formal situations, a pocket watch, or no watch at all, should be worn. Generally speaking, one should not wear rubber sole dress shoes, though there are some individual high end shoes that may be exceptions. Leather sole shoes are not only traditional, but more importantly they almost always have uppers that are of a far better quality and have a much more "dressy" appearance. Some companies also make dress shoes with wooden soles.

Handkerchiefs and pocket squares/silks in the upper welt (chest) pocket are not especially common in today's formal dress. Originally, handkerchiefs were worn partially protruding from the left jacket sleeve. Over time, they migrated to the breast pocket. When silk was still a rare and expensive commodity, they were considered a flamboyant extravagance by conservative commentators. By the end of the nineteenth century, however, they had become a standard accoutrement for gentlemen. Coordinating pocket squares is a matter of taste, but a general safe rule of thumb would be to match the color of the shirt or the background color of the tie. When in doubt, one can simply use the traditional, white cotton or linen handkerchief. There are a number of styles in which these may be folded, all at the wearer's discretion.

External links

Suits (clothing) | History of fashion

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