Men's Dress Suit


For men, a dress suit is still the most elegant way to dress up, provided that the cut, colour and fabric are fitting for the occasion, time of day and season. 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

The Silhouette:

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.

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Basic Shapes of a Men's Dress Suit:


Single-breasted suits have one button row on the front with two to four buttons.

They are the most common style for men's dress suit.

They usually have a regular lapel collar (notch reverse collar).


Double-breasted suits have two button row on the front with two to three buttons on each row.

They are the most elegant style for men's dress suits and usually have a peak lapel collar.


Both styles are available with a peak lapel or with regular lapel collar.

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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.