Men's Dress Suit
For men, a dress suit
In the following section you will learn about the different styles of dress suits and the most important details.
You will get advice on the perfect fit and how to check for good quality, and we will introduce you to the most common fabrics for a man's suit.
Care instructions and some advice for custom-made suits will complete this section.
Let`s start with the different styles of a men's dress suit.
Different Styles of a Men's Dress Suit
Years ago, it was common to differentiate the silhouette of a men's dress suit in three different styles of custom tailoring:
the English, the Italian and the American.
Each suit shape could be identified by its national custom tailoring tradition.
Today, the details of the three big styles are so mixed up that it is no longer possible to separate and identify a certain tailoring style just by the details.
The English suit:
The English style was influenced by the lines of the military uniform, such as the long fitting, hourglass-shaped hacking jacket.
The shape was cut close to the body, with a subtle emphasis on the chest and a soft shoulder.
The English style of the men's dress suit had the most conservative appearance and was usually worn with a vest.
The American suit:
The 'American look' of the men's dress suit is characterized by a three-button, single-breasted jacket with natural shoulders, fronts without darts, flap pockets, a center vent and trousers with plain fronts.
The American style is the most casual men's suit style, and is usually more comfortable to wear than the other two styles.
The Italian suit (European style):
|
The Italian style of the men's dress suit is the opposite of the shapeless American sack suit. Characterized by high, squarish shoulders and a short overall length, the jacket has small high armholes to give the chest the length which was taken from the short jacket. The cutting shape was close through the chest and hips, and the jacket was usually single-breasted, with two buttons and high notched lapels. |
The pockets are flapless and the back has no vent.
The trouser has a lower rise and is cut closer to the leg.
The Italian style is a good fitted men's dress suit and is more casual than the English style.
The look is usually more modern than the conservative English style.
Back to index
Basic Shapes of a Men's Dress Suit:
|
Single-breasted suits have one button row on the front with two to four buttons. |
 |
|
Double-breasted suits have two button row on the front with two to three buttons on each row. |
 |
Both styles are available with a peak lapel or with regular lapel collar.
Back to index
Fitting Advice for a Men's Dress Suit:
|
The most important element of a dress suit is the fitting. A men's dress suit with good fitting and a not-so-high quality fabric should be preferred to a suit with bad fitting and a high quality fabric. A suit with a good cutting shape should be natural: it should accent a man's figure and correct real problem zones in a decent way. |
A man with a small frame should wear a suit with a slender cutting shape, minor or no shoulder pads, a narrow lapel and a trouser cut close to the leg.
A man with broad shoulders and an atlethic frame should also wear a suit without shoulder pads.
A man with a burly frame should renounce on any extension or broadening by the cutting shape of the dress suit.
Back to index
Fitting Advice for the Suit Jacket
Collar:
The collar of the suit jacket should end at the middle of the neck without standing away from it.
See that there is no fabric wrinkling up underneath the collar in the back part.
Lapels:
The lapel should lay flat and roll smooth on the opening line (neckline) above the upper button.
If the lapel gapes open, the jacket is too small in the back part and in the chest.
Shoulders:
The shoulders should sit straight with no pulling and they should not stand off too much.
If there is any pulling or pressure on the shoulder, the jacket is too small.
Body Part:
The jacket of the suit should not fit too slackly.
If the fit of the jacket is too tight, it creates horizontal lines on the back part, it pulls on the hips and opens the back vents.
When you try on the jacket, you should raise and lower your arms in order to see if the jacket moves back to the right fitting place without having to fix the fit position.
Make sure that the armhole is wide enough to move your arms comfortable.
(Please note that jackets with a good fitting shape are always not as comfortable as jackets with a bad fit!)
The curves on the waist of the jacket should fall smooth without making any pleats or crinkles.
Hem:
When you look at the hem from the side, it should be straight all around and fall in a nice round shape.
Make sure that there is no part standing off and that the hem line has a smooth run all around.
Sleeves:
When your hands hang at your side and your arm is slightly bent, the sleeves should just cover your wrist bone.
Buttons:
If the suit jacket is fastened, you should be able to sit down comfortable.
If the jacket is too tight, the fabric will make pleats in the shape of an x pattern going out from the upper button.
Back to index
Fitting Advice for the Suit Trouser
Waistband:
The waistband should make no gapes on your waistline and you should be able to put a finger between your body and the waistband.
There should be no pulling on the closure hook or button.
Try also to sit down and see if you feel comfortable.
Bottom:
Your trousers should not bag underneath your bottom or be pulled up too tight.
If you must compromise, you should choose the looser fit for your evening outfit: the trousers will fall more smooth and straight and give you a decent appearance.
Pockets:
Most of the different pocket styles should lie flat and be closed if you are standing.
The lining should be invisible and the shape of the pocket should run in a smooth, straight line.
Side Seam:
The side seam is very important on a trousers look.
The side seam should run in a straight smooth line from the waistband to the hem.
There should be no puckering or pulling along the side seam.
Inside Seam:
The inside seam should also run in a straight, smooth line without any puckering or pulling.
The area of the crossing seam between your legs should especially feel comfortable without any pulling or pushing when you stand or sit.
Crotch Seam:
The best tip for the fit of the crotch seam is just to make sure it feels comfortable when sitting and standing.
If the crotch seam hangs too low, it will shorten the length of your legs and look unfavourable.
If it sits too high, it can be very uncomfortable and look even coarse.
If you try on the pants you should sit, stand, dance and move to see if they feel comfortable and you should pay special attention to the area of the crotch seam.
Legs:
The style is most dependant upon the shape of the legs of your trouser.
The most important for the shape is the knee width and the hem width.
Creases:
If you are wearing trousers with a front crease, the crease should hang right down the middle of your leg.
If the crease line falls outside of the middle of your leg it looks unfavourable.
Also take care that the intensity of the creases stays consistent all over the length of your trouser.
Otherwise, it will give the trouser a sloppy appearance.
Hem:
The width of the hem is very important for the style of the trouser.
For your evening wear we suggest choosing a trouser with a hem width which is close to the knee width or tighter.
The correct length of your trouser is also a very determining factor for a good appearance.
Make sure that you always wear the shoes you will most often wear with your trouser you try on; the height and the width of the shoe style are especially important.
A trouser which is a little bit too long is better than a too short one.
Walk around and also check the length from the back in a mirror while standing straight.
The hem should touch your instep in front and cover half of your heel on the back.
If you wear trousers with a turned up hem you should consider that your legs appear shorter than without a turned up hem.
Back to index
Shopping
Find various styles of dress suits for your evening attire!
If you like to buy dress suits, click here!