100% agree. Its a tragedy that most men only wear suits for special occasions. When a suit is your daily driver, you'll get it tailored and set up correctly... its basically like walking around in pajamas in how it feels, but you look way way better than casual clothes.
Sadly I like sunshine so I moved away from places where wearing a suit was normal, to a place where people offer their condolences if you're in a suit (either a wedding or a funeral)
How is that possible? In my mind in an ideal piece of clothing you can equally do (light) physical activity, or just lay around, and is low maintenance, easy to wash, doesn't wrinkle. A suite the antithesis of this.
I think it’s not black and white. Say you have a well-tailored suit and shirt made from breathable, good fabric with a bit of structure (not some ultra-slick fabric that gets and shows wrinkles easily) and high-waisted trousers as well as good, leather-lined shoes/boots. That whole ensemble can be extremely comfortable, way more breathable than a jeans or a polyamide tracksuit and you can move, walk for miles, work and even lounge in it very well.
I’m generally a work shorts, work boots and black T-Shirt kind of person, but I do enjoy wearing suits occasionally since I’ve discovered that they absolutely don’t have to feel as miserable as the shite I was forced to wear as a teenager. When it’s hot, I specifically wear shirts instead of T-Shirts. Over the years, I’ve replaced most of my boots with stuff that is traditionally constructed. “Old school clothing” can be really nice and comfy.
> When a suit is your daily driver, you'll get it tailored and set up correctly.
How far back in time do you have to go for that to be generally true? I'm 70 from South West England and I hardly know anyone who had a tailored suit, almost everyone just bought them off the peg even when I was very young. Even fifty years ago wearing an actual suit to work where I lived was relatively rare too even for people who were more than a generation older; it was something that only people in a few professions did (lawyers, estate agents, some doctors, some academics, etc.).
Suit is the antithesis of clothes. It's uncomfortable and you need to pay attention 24/7 not to ruin it. Basically the male equivalent of high-heels. The first thing I require from clothes is practicality - I don't want to shit myself every time I step into mud or get sweaty or am cold or whatever.
Suits are not practical clothing for daily life, it's just natural it faded away to special occasions, and even there it's only because of tradition, ties are the most dorky-looking accessory if you really think about it without associating suits with looking good by default.
I own tailored suits, Italian dress shoes, tailored shirts, silk ties (both neckties as well as bow ties). I'm writing this from experience, I had a whole 15 years phase of being interested in clothing for men.
You can also look way better with contemporary clothing, designed with beautiful cuts forming interesting silhouettes, just don't buy bad-looking/cheap-looking clothes. Those can also be much more practical for daily use, they can be made with great fabrics (including wool), are usually easier to take care of, and don't make you look like a try-hard with a formal attire in day-to-day situations.
Casual clothes are not just sweatpants, jeans, hoodies, etc. there's a whole world of contemporary clothes that aren't chinos with polos and boat shoes.
Suits have become symbols of power, if you are not trying to look like that but want to look good there are plenty of other options available...
Full length mirror and dressing room. If you want to dress well you need to wear many different combinations and accessorize endlessly to develop your style, and that's hard to do if you are distracted by anything or can't see the whole outfit at a glance.
Why aren’t they practical? A rotating collection seems quite practical and frankly easier to style.
Jacket and pants don’t need any coordination - they already match. Turn the shirt underneath up or down the style meter as you please. Same with pants and socks.
> Its a tragedy that most men only wear suits for special occasions
What, exactly, has been lost here?
Suits look extremely hot and uncomfortable. I've never worn one. I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars to have one tailor made to my proportions. I don't like the way they look. Why on earth would I wear a suit?
I live in the southeastern US. It's quite hot here, for quite a lot of the year.
Ever wonder why seersucker is Hollywood shorthand for "small-town Southern lawyer"? It's not just Atticus Finch; that's what people wore before air conditioning was widespread. Seersucker is breathable, cool, and naturally wrinkled in such a way that it doesn't really show. Linen wrinkles more obviously but is far more comfortable in a hot climate than even the best cottons (like seersucker).
I can wear a linen suit and shirt in New Orleans in July and be no less comfortable than I would be in a T-shirt and shorts. I might ditch the coat, but that's it.
If you don't like how they look, well, that's a matter of taste, and de gustibus non est disputandum. But they don't have to be heavy wool.
Wool fabric is amazing for temperature regulation, by the way - just not at the highest temperatures. You could walk to the office when it's 5 °C outside, then sit down at your desk without taking off anything.
jppope · · focus · HN ↗
baron816 · · focus · HN ↗
Muromec · · focus · HN ↗
Nice, nice
poisonborz · · focus · HN ↗
throw89999293nn · · focus · HN ↗
I’m generally a work shorts, work boots and black T-Shirt kind of person, but I do enjoy wearing suits occasionally since I’ve discovered that they absolutely don’t have to feel as miserable as the shite I was forced to wear as a teenager. When it’s hot, I specifically wear shirts instead of T-Shirts. Over the years, I’ve replaced most of my boots with stuff that is traditionally constructed. “Old school clothing” can be really nice and comfy.
ponector · · focus · HN ↗
rickydroll · · focus · HN ↗
ponector · · focus · HN ↗
ninalanyon · · focus · HN ↗
How far back in time do you have to go for that to be generally true? I'm 70 from South West England and I hardly know anyone who had a tailored suit, almost everyone just bought them off the peg even when I was very young. Even fifty years ago wearing an actual suit to work where I lived was relatively rare too even for people who were more than a generation older; it was something that only people in a few professions did (lawyers, estate agents, some doctors, some academics, etc.).
jppope · · focus · HN ↗
anal_reactor · · focus · HN ↗
triceratops · · focus · HN ↗
username checks out?
piva00 · · focus · HN ↗
I own tailored suits, Italian dress shoes, tailored shirts, silk ties (both neckties as well as bow ties). I'm writing this from experience, I had a whole 15 years phase of being interested in clothing for men.
You can also look way better with contemporary clothing, designed with beautiful cuts forming interesting silhouettes, just don't buy bad-looking/cheap-looking clothes. Those can also be much more practical for daily use, they can be made with great fabrics (including wool), are usually easier to take care of, and don't make you look like a try-hard with a formal attire in day-to-day situations.
Casual clothes are not just sweatpants, jeans, hoodies, etc. there's a whole world of contemporary clothes that aren't chinos with polos and boat shoes.
Suits have become symbols of power, if you are not trying to look like that but want to look good there are plenty of other options available...
Vexs · · focus · HN ↗
as someone with a recent interest in this, do you have any pointers?
t-3 · · focus · HN ↗
grvdrm · · focus · HN ↗
Jacket and pants don’t need any coordination - they already match. Turn the shirt underneath up or down the style meter as you please. Same with pants and socks.
fugalfervor · · focus · HN ↗
What, exactly, has been lost here?
Suits look extremely hot and uncomfortable. I've never worn one. I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars to have one tailor made to my proportions. I don't like the way they look. Why on earth would I wear a suit?
devilbunny · · focus · HN ↗
> I've never worn one
I live in the southeastern US. It's quite hot here, for quite a lot of the year.
Ever wonder why seersucker is Hollywood shorthand for "small-town Southern lawyer"? It's not just Atticus Finch; that's what people wore before air conditioning was widespread. Seersucker is breathable, cool, and naturally wrinkled in such a way that it doesn't really show. Linen wrinkles more obviously but is far more comfortable in a hot climate than even the best cottons (like seersucker).
I can wear a linen suit and shirt in New Orleans in July and be no less comfortable than I would be in a T-shirt and shorts. I might ditch the coat, but that's it.
If you don't like how they look, well, that's a matter of taste, and de gustibus non est disputandum. But they don't have to be heavy wool.
ahartmetz · · focus · HN ↗