Men's Suiting: A Well Tailored History

The best men’s suits combine inspired design with high quality suiting fabric. While suits today evoke images of professionalism and clean design (think Don Draper), men’s suiting has a long and interesting history that takes us all the way back to the early sixteenth century, during the reign of King Louis XIV. During this time, men wore wigs, long coats, trousers and hats. In the eighteenth century men’s suits were very decorative, reflective of the style that became popular among the French.

During King Louis XIV’s 72 year reign, a paradigm shift in male attire was becoming apparent. Around 1650, men had stopped wearing the doublet, hose, and cloak, fundamentals of a man’s wardrobe since early in the sixteenth century. During Louis XIV’s reign, men started to wear coats, vests, and breeches, which we can recognize as the three components of modern male attire.

The balance of fashion power was shifting. Following the civil war, the English moved away from the decorative court style popularized in France and adopted a more practical form. Both the clothing of the gentry and the merchant classes became progressively more sober throughout the eighteenth century. By the start of the 1800′s even kings, consorts, and princes were dressing in a restrained manner that was almost identical to that of their subjects.

At this point in the evolution of clothing, English Tailors, particularly those in London, dominated the male fashion scene. The male style was a clever combination of the sporting attire preferred by the gentry and the business clothing of the newly rich industrialists. The fit, rather than decoration, became the fundamental element of male clothing design. English tailors, experts at their craft and trained to use woolen cloth, developed the art of “molding” cloth close to the body without duplicating the exact body form of the wearer.

A suit is a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers. Lounge suits are the most common style of Western suit, originating in the England as country wear. It was the Brits who first understood the power of clothing to display authority, which lead to the suit becoming an integral part of the male dress code during the 17th century. But it was not until over 200 years later that the sartorial revolution of the suit really got underway, and by the 1900s the modern lounge suit emerged as a fashion front-runner. Famous London street, Savile Row, made its mark on the bespoke tailoring industry, while post-war 1920s saw the new, shorter jacket style rise in popularity.

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, suits are worn, as is traditional, with a collared shirt and necktie. Until the 1960s, as with all men’s clothes, a hat would have also been worn when the wearer was outdoors. Suits can be made in different numbers of pieces: a two-piece suit has a jacket and the trousers, while a three piece adds a waistcoat.

But at the end of the day, what truly makes a suit is not necessarily the man. It’s the material. Quality cloth has always been an important feature of men’s suiting.

Known as the ‘Essence of Savile Row’, Huddersfield Cloth is situated in the heart of Yorkshire’s suit fabric industry in England, in the town of Huddersfield. They are the envy of other cloth merchants, servicing the most established of tailoring houses and fashion labels. Their reputation has spread from Savile Row to every corner of the globe. When it comes to their wares, Huddersfield Cloth likes to keep things close. Fabrics are developed by their in-house design team, and manufactured right there in Huddersfield, England. They maintain their fabrics’ uniquely high quality by using traditional methods blended with the very best of modern technology. All Huddersfield Cloth fabrics are produced exclusively in Huddersfield, United Kingdom and carry the made in Huddersfield stamp on the woven selvedge as a mark of authenticity and quality.

Materials in this article

Super 160s Wool, Gray 2/2 Twill

$ 70.16 / Meters

From United Kingdom

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              $  36.54 / Meters                </span>
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Men's Suiting: A Well Tailored History

From the sixteenth century to Saville Row today, a history of well tailored suits.

Materials in this article

Super 160s Wool, Gray 2/2 Twill