The man's suit of clothes is a set of garments which are crafted from the same cloth. The word suit derives from the French suite,[1] meaning "following", because the trousers and waistcoatfollow the jacket's cloth and colour. There have been various styles of suit, the most common of which is the lounge suit, which originated in England for wearing in the country.[2] The other types of suit still worn today are firstly the dinner suit, part of black tie, which arose as a lounging alternative to dress coats in much the same way as the day lounge suit; and secondly, rarely worn today, the morning suit. This article discusses the day-time lounge suit (as opposed to specifically evening variations like black tie), which is part of the 'informal' dress code. A business suit is a lounge suit suitable for wearing when conducting business.
The variations in design, cut, and cloth, such as two- and three- piece, or single- and double- breasted, determine the social and work suitability of the garment. Often, the man's suit is worn, as is traditional, with a collared shirt and necktie.[3] Until around the 1960s, as with all men's clothes, a hat would have been also worn when the wearer was outdoors. Suits also come with different numbers of pieces: a two-piece suit has a jacket and the trousers; a three piece adds a waistcoat; further pieces might include a matching flat cap.
Originally, as with most clothes, a tailor crafted the suit from his client's selected cloth, a process known as "bespoke". The suit was custom made to the measurements, taste, and style of the man. Since the Industrial Revolution, most suits are mass-produced, and, as such, are sold as ready-to-wear garments (though alteration by a tailor prior to wearing is common). Currently, suits are sold in roughly three ways:
bespoke, in which the garment is custom-made from scratch entirely for the customer, giving the best fit and free choice of fabric;
made to measure, in which a pre-made pattern is modified to fit the customer, and a limited selection of options and fabrics is available;
and finally ready-to-wear, which is least expensive and hence most common.[4]
Fabric:
Suits are made in a variety of fabrics, but most commonly from wool. The two main yarns produce worsteds (where the fibres are combed before spinning) and woollens (where they are not). These can be woven in a number of ways producing flannel, tweed, gabardine, and fresco among others. These fabrics all have different weights and feel, and some fabrics have an S (or Super S) number describing the fineness of the fibres. For hot weather, linen is also used, and in North America cotton seersucker is worn. Other materials are used sometimes, such as cashmere.[7].Silk and silk blended with wool are sometimes 
used. Synthetic materials, while cheap, are very rarely recommended by experts.[8]
The main three colours for suits work in business are light grey, dark grey, and navy, either with or without patterns. In particular, grey flannel suiting has been worn very widely since the 1930s. In non-business settings or less-formal business contexts, brown is another important colour; olive also occurs. In summer, lighter shades, such as tan or cream, are popular.[9][10]
A man wearing a pinstriped pattern suit
For non-business use tweed has been popular since Victorian times, and still is commonly worn. A wide range of colour is available, including greens, browns, reds, and greys.[11] Tweeds are usually checked, or plain with a herringbone weave, and are most associated with the country. While full tweed suits are not worn by many now, the jackets are often worn as sports jackets with odd trousers (trousers of different cloth). In the US and UK, suits were never traditionally made in plain black, this colour instead being reserved for formal wear[12] (including dinner jackets or strollers). However, the decline of formal wear in recent years has meant that black, as well as being popular in fashionable scenes,[12] such as clubbing, is now also being worn in formal contexts (such as to a funeral or religious function) in place of the traditional more formal wear.
Traditional business suits are generally in solid colours or with pin stripes;[13] windowpane checks are also acceptable. Outside business, the range of acceptable patterns widens, with plaids such as the traditional Glen plaid, though apart from some very traditional environments such as London banking, these are worn for business now too. The colour of the patterned element (stripes, plaids, and checks) varies by gender and location. For example, bold checks, particularly with tweeds, have fallen out of use in America, while they continue to be worn as traditionally in Britain. Some unusual old patterns such as diamonds are now rare everywhere.
Inside the jacket of a suit, between the outer fabric and the inner lining, there is a layer of fabric that has the purpose of letting the coat keep its shape; this layer of cloth is called the canvas.[14] Expensive jackets have a floating canvas, while cheaply manufactured models have a fused (glued) canvas.[15] A fused canvas is less soft and, if poorly done, damages the suppleness and durability of the jacket,[16] so many tailors are quick to deride fused canvas as being less durable.[17] However, some selling this type of jacket claim that the difference in quality is very small.[18] All bespoke suits use a floating canvas.[19]
Shirts with suits Main article: Dress shirt
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. This type of shirt is sometimes called an Oxford shirt; however, this properly refers to a shirt made from a specific kind of fabric, namely Oxford cloth, in a specific style (i.e., with button-down collars). The (dress) shirt is ironed, neatly tucked into its wearer's trousers, and otherwise worn according to the etiquette described in the article Dress shirt.
The classic shirt colours are light blue or white, with white considered most conservative. However, numerous colours and shades are available, with pastels particularly popular in America, though less-formal colours are not always acceptable. The most formal type of dress shirt worn with a standard suit is a shirt with linked, but not French, cuffs, which are closed using cuff linksor silk knots instead of buttons. However, 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 casual use with a sports jacket or without a coat at all, though they have long been acceptable in America. 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.
Working with neckties 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, while the foreground of the tie should contain the colour of the shirt and thereby "pick up" on the colour of the shirt. Ideally, the tie should also integrate the colour 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 interpretation.
In recent times however, it has become popular to match the necktie colour with the shirt or even wearing a lighter coloured tie with a darker shirt, usually during formal occasions. Some of the most common knots are the Four-in-hand, the Half-Windsor, the Windsor (or Full-Windsor), and the Shelby or Pratt. A Four-in-hand, Half-Windsor,
or Windsor is generally the most appropriate with a suit, particularly by contemporary guidelines. Once properly knotted and arranged, the bottom of the tie can extend anywhere from the wearer's navel level, to slightly below the waistband. The thin end should never extend below the wide end. In the 1960s, it was fashionable for men as well as women to wear scarves with a suit in a tied knot either inside a shirt as an Ascot or under the collar as a would be worn like a tie. This style was more common towards anyone in the art departments such as film directors or more commonly musicians
[citation needed]. This style began to fade by the mid 1970s and came back in the 1990s mainly for women. It did however make a small comeback by 2005 and some famous stars wear them. Although some wore scarves back in the 1960s, ties were still preferred among business workers. It has become fashionable to wear a suit without a tie and with an open necked shirt among young men. Sometimes it can be deemed fashionable to wear a black shirt with a black jacket, with the tie being black containing stripes, so they "pop-out" with the black shirt. This is more of a casual wear rather than business.
New Fashion Tip:
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