10 suit wardrobe

Let's discuss the staples of a decent wardrobe. I'm slowly upgrading my RTW suits into bespoke replacements, so I want to make sure I get it right, and don't choose something I'll regret a year (or 5) in the future. I'm ignoring formal wear like dinner suits, morning coats etc.

Work suits:

1. Navy solid
2. Charcoal solid
3. Mid-grey sharkskin
4. Grey flannel chalk-stripe
5. Navy pin-stripe

Casual suits

6. Blue linen
7. Light-brown or tan linen
8. Light grey solid
9. Mid-grey Prince of Wales check
10. Not sure here - maybe mid/dark brown?

With some of the casual suits, I might go for patch pockets so they can also double up as sports jackets. Any thoughts, suggestions?

I sorta hate solids. What say you about a navy pencil stripe? Particularly for jerb interviews?

anyway, I can't think of a solid suit that I own. Closest is a grey hash thing (it's a JosBank grey trio w/the trio being blacks).

Charcoal suit has stripes. All my navys have stripes (pen or pencil, now). My greys are the hash thing, striped, or herringbone.

^lulz @ no solids. I'd actually go the other way and make #5 a navy solid, maybe cashmere blend in a herringbone weave? Consider fresco instead of linen for #6. Nice list though. What climate do you live in?

Think seasons, not degree of formality. At only ten, you really don't have much room for strictly casual suits. So:

5 flannel (navy, air force blue, charcoal, medium grey, light grey)
5 fresco (same colors, but feel free to ditch the charcoal and/or navy for lighter colors)

Other ideas:

- are you planning any as DBs?
- nailhead or birdseye are great fabrics. check out pictures of gazman's in the whnay's good taste thread that I'm too lazy to find right now
- especially for a casual suit that you could use as a blazer as well, consider maybe a big windowpane. could be brown even.
- i'd strongly recommend getting odd jackets/trousers as well and not just using casual suit jackets as your only odd jackets
- for your light grey, getting flannel would be teh sechsie.



mafoofan said:

Think seasons, not degree of formality. At only ten, you really don't have much room for strictly casual suits. So:
5 flannel (navy, air force blue, charcoal, medium grey, light grey)
5 fresco (same colors, but feel free to ditch the charcoal and/or navy for lighter colors)

Click to expand...

^I'm not sure that all flannel/fresco is the best idea. Both are gorgeous fabrics, but don't you want something in the middle? Even if some of your flannel of a lighter weight, the stuff wears hot. Fresco is so open that even at heavier weights you're not going to want to wear it on a day that is moderate temperature during the day and then cools off a bunch at night, if you're going to be wearing your suit through the whole thing. At least 1-2 in a mid-weight worsted would be a good idea IMHO. There's more than just summer and winter.

Also there's more than just daytime. Depending on what your social life is like, you might consider one "evening suit" that's not a dinner suit but isn't so business-y, maybe with a bit of mohair or silk for some sheen, and in a dark or midnight blue. Just a thought.

unbelragazzo said:

^lulz @ no solids. I'd actually go the other way and make #5 a navy solid, maybe cashmere blend in a herringbone weave? Consider fresco instead of linen for #6. Nice list though. What climate do you live in?

Click to expand...

I'm in the UK, so it's a temperate climate: 5-25C is typical, and it's rarely above 30 or below 0. A couple of suits to handle hot summer days, and trips to warmer climates, should be enough.

One fresco suit could be a good idea though, the crease-resistance would make it great as a travel suit, and having one work suit with a warm weather bias would make sense. Probably best in mid-grey, so if I need to do business abroad, it's formal enough, but with that colour it's also sufficiently versatile to double up as an evening/weekend suit.

unbelragazzo said:

Other ideas:
- are you planning any as DBs?
- nailhead or birdseye are great fabrics. check out pictures of gazman's in the whnay's good taste thread that I'm too lazy to find right now
- especially for a casual suit that you could use as a blazer as well, consider maybe a big windowpane. could be brown even.
- i'd strongly recommend getting odd jackets/trousers as well and not just using casual suit jackets as your only odd jackets
- for your light grey, getting flannel would be teh sechsie.

Click to expand...

I was thinking to get the grey chalkstripe as DB, also quite like it in dark charcoal pinstripe/chalkstripe. I've not worn DB before though, so still debating that. Do you have any pics or ideas for DB suits?

I thought of windowpane but I think they can look a bit too loud in a full suit, I don't feel comfortable wearing something that might cause people to stare at me.

About odd jackets...I did actually think of just getting maybe 2 or 3 more casual suits (blue linen, and light brown/tan I think are essential for spring/summer), and then do sports jackets + odd trousers for weekend/evening wear. I tend not to wear a tie outside of work or formal occasions, and sports jackets + odd trousers I think are better with the tie-less look. This would also keep the cost down a bit and allow more variety - although I do love things like grey PoW check, and light grey, I'm not sure I actually *need* them. Whereas I would consider a navy blazer, a grey sports jacket, and maybe a green and a brown for the country, to be necessities.

For nightlife, I haven't thought about it as much, as most people I go out with never wear suits for socialising. I think mid-dark blue, tan, light grey, dark brown could be good, and agree that a bit of sheen helps the look. Really this deserves a whole other thread.

Light grey flannel...something like this maybe?

For your work wardrobe, get spare trousers and rotate; in my opinion, two/three suits with spare trousers is a better option then five suits.

I would not class' flannel' as a work suit, although in depends on your environment.

As for casual suits, I think you need a greater mix:
Heavy weight suit, e.g. tweed
Autumn/Winter suit, e.g. flannel
Same weight as work suits, e.g. PoW worsted
Spring/Summer suit, e.g. Fresco
Light weight suit, e.g. linen

Coincidentally I'm putting together my 10 suit wardrobe too. Here is my list. I have 6 so far, the 7th is being made.

Winter
Agnelli windowpane RAF blue flannel, DB

DB Medium gray flannel 13 oz Lesser 30648

DB Lesser 16 oz 29608 navy sharkskin

SB Smiths botany sharkskin blue 3816

Flannel options- 3 piece SB gray vs DB PoW vs DB chalkstripe

Summer
SB Blue Dormeuil Tonik 9/10

SB Charcoal Gray charles clayton 9/10

SB Navy Lesser tropical 8/9

SB lesser golden bale 11 oz medium gray 30166

Dark tobacco Minnis fresco 10/11 DB

This what I would do:

Charcoal 3 piece SB solid Golden Bale

Silver 3 piece SB Dormeuil Mystic Mohair

Navy 3 piece SB Dormeuil Tonik

Light Grey DB 14oz flannel Dormeuil Ice

2, 3 piece SB WBill Tweeds in a heavy weight (use as separate jackets if not suits).

Navy H Lesser Rope Stripe DB 14 oz

Prince of Wales check DB HLesser 12 oz

2 cotton suits from Loro Piana cotton. 1 khaki the other Brown or Cream.

Medium Gray Flannel, Single breasted

navy double breasted

Whatever michael caine's blue suit was in alfie

Black cotton suit

pale gray double breasted

pale gray light flanel, single breasted with a belted back

Dinner jacket

that gray glen check suit from Dr. No

pale gray double breasted

Not sure what the last one is



mafoofan said:

Think seasons, not degree of formality. At only ten, you really don't have much room for strictly casual suits. So:
5 flannel (navy, air force blue, charcoal, medium grey, light grey)
5 fresco (same colors, but feel free to ditch the charcoal and/or navy for lighter colors)

Click to expand...

I very much agree with seasonality but personally would not do 5 flannel suits for winter, or 5 fresco suits for summer.

Winter: navy, charcoal and a pick and pick mid-grey in appropriate weight worsted wool, made up with vests to add functionality; dark navy or midnight blue double breasted; and a flannel suit of your choice for less conservative business dress situations - I would do something in a subtle glen plaid or PoW since I think this looks best in flannel

Summer: navy and charcoal in tropical wool, single breasted; mid-grey fresco, single breasted; petrol blue single breasted (or double if you feel you won't roast); and a tan suit in the fabric of your choice (linen, fresco, etc).

I think this will give you variety of colors and fabrics and also more conservative business dress options. You also have a few double breasted and three piece suits to mix things up.

Work:
Solid navy single breast two button
Solid navy single breast two button
Solid navy single breast two button
Solid navy single breast two button
Solid navy single breast two button

Casual
Seersucker
Seersucker
Seersucker
Seersucker
Seersucker