SUITING 101: SUIT QUALITY TEST

Smart Casual

Happy new year gentlemen, how’ve you been? It’s been a minute and I’m back like I never left, matter of fact; I never left. I was just lazing around giving all of you time to wake up from the holiday slumber. Who am I kidding, anyway welcome back! I’m glad we can now get back on track, thanks for your patience and I hope you’re still dedicated to your dreams and keeping it classy!

I believe every man should own a quality suit. As gentlemen we are all going to need suits, whether for work, interviews or social occasions. With this in mind, we might as well invest in a quality suit that will serve us for a long period of time especially if you don’t intend to fill your wardrobe with suits or don’t find them fitting your area of life.

‘Real luxury is understanding quality, and having the time to enjoy it.’
– G. Bruce Boyer

So what do we really consider when determining the quality of the suits we don? Some may say price, brand, fit, fabric but truly all these are close but not quite. Price doesn’t really equate the quality of one’s suit, especially with the modern brands coming up and the focus on sales and profits. You’d be surprised your favorite brand may not be providing you with quality suits, yea surprise! It’s sad but true; that’s the world we live in. They may not be fully to blame as you know wisdom is wealth, stick through and you may be able to evaluate your suits and get your money’s worth sometime. Let’s delve in.

STITCHING
When you first get your suit it’s important to focus on the stitching; we can’t stress this enough as this will determine how long you’ll wear your suit before you’ll have to see the your seamster. We’d recommend a strong and clean stitching, where you don’t see any strings hanging loose on the fabric rather laying against it in a neat way.

FABRIC
You guessed it right but hey! Let’s get a deeper insight into this as there is a wide array of fabrics being sold in the market that you may not realize may break your style credentials. When checking your suit, you should consider fine yarn this may preferably be wool (the best), fleece e.g. cashmere, silk or linen and should drape naturally. You should also check that the colors are well defined as well as the patterns.

CONSTRUCTION
This refers to the make of your suit. There are two different types of suit construction which are either fused or canvassed which we’ll look into deeper in our subsequent blog posts but just a tip of the iceberg; we advise you go for canvassed suit jacket. A canvassed suit jacket has layers of canvassing material (the canvas), generally comprised of wool and horsehair (sometimes camel), that sits between the outer suit fabric and the inner lining of a suit jacket. While this canvas is hidden from view on the exterior, it plays an incredibly important role in keeping the proper balance, structure and shape of the suit. As you wear a canvassed suit over time, the canvas itself begins to conform to your body’s shape, thereby becoming a better fit the more you wear it. This enhances the fit which I believe is the first test of a quality suit without examining it.

COAT LINING
This one here is pretty obvious as it requires to be quality and preferably fine silk or rayon; well-tailored with emphasis at the hem where the lining is hung, folded and pressed otherwise it may look shady if it’s out of place and sure enough you are a dapper man and don’t want to walk around looking homeless. Make sure your tailor gets this or better yet hit us up and get a quality suit instead.

LAPEL, BUTTONS & POCKETS
Last but not least, this last bit is put together because it’s not that intricate but still vital in determining a suit’s quality. For your lapel you’d want to go for one with a slight roll when they begin to fold back; are not stiff, flat, wrinkled or crimped. The buttons should be made of natural horn, mother of pearl, polished brass, or ceramic and finally the suit jacket pockets should lie flat on the jacket neatly.

Smart Casual

There you have it gentlemen now the next time you go to your favorite suit store you know what to look out for. Why don’t you start with the suit you’ve got on and see what you’ve been walking around in and tell me what you think in the comment section.
Before I go I’ll finish off with a quote from a suit connoisseur;
I’ve always been dabbling in suits, but like a lot of people in the neighborhoods I grew up in, I had my snapback; I had my V-neck. I still got them in the closet. I got my J’s, my Forces; it was standard. – Jidenna

Was this article helpful? If so kindly share with your fellow dapper brothers, there’s no pleasure in keeping knowledge to yourself. Don’t forget to subscribe to get more of these articles.See you soon as we continue to dissect this world of style!