Surviving summer working a job that requires a suit

bradp · May 30, 2014

NefariousSabatour said:
turn all your pants into cut-offs.

I'm all for it. but i once wore horizontally striped socks and my boss FREAKED OUT (the horror!!) so i'm pretty sure my leg hair would start WW III.

juuceman · May 30, 2014

I'd love to know which of the sdny judges are staunch conservative business dress advocates. I've seen some of them out, late at night, in jeans and leather, and others not so much.

msulinski · May 31, 2014

I work in Manhattan also. The walks can be brutal some days. In addition to cotton, you could try tropical weight wool. I have a suit made in Holland and Sherry Crispaire that is 7.5 oz and unlined. It is probably the coolest-wearing suit I own.

On the way home, I would loosen the tie and open the top shirt button.

There seems to be some debate over undershirts. I am in the camp that believes they help. I have a bunch of Uniqlo Airism shirts that are supposedly designed to keep you cool. They seem to do a decent job.

Balfour · May 31, 2014

Leave conservative business dress suits in the office and change when you get in.

David Reeves · May 31, 2014

Depending on the cost of a summer suit(s) you could probably just spend that money on cabs.

In terms of clothing you may want to consider a silk/linen blend suit with an unlined jacket, Loro Piana does a nice cotton and linen blend shirt as well.

NWTeal · May 31, 2014

Walk to work in a shirt and pants. Put the tie and jacket on in the office. I think an undershirt helps in that you're going to sweat anyway, might as well keep it from showing through your dress shirt.

gringodaddy · May 31, 2014

When it's 90 and humid in ny it doesn't matter what I wear. I sweat like a bastard. I keep a couple of blue jackets and a few ties in my office

bradp · May 31, 2014

I find less of an issue with upper body sweating issues than with...lower body (?) sweating issues. Walking to work sans jacket/tie is easy, but that doesn't fix a sweaty ass. I like the cotton/tropical wool suggestions.

Holdfast · May 31, 2014

I'm fortunate not to live somewhere that gets particularly hot & humid, but on the few days that are warm, I find tropical weight wool and linen to both wear much cooler than cotton, at least in terms of jackets. I actually find cotton jackets fairly stifling, but ymmv, I suppose.

Having said that, I agree with David Reeves upthread: if you're considering buying a new summer suit just to cope with 3 months, and you're pretty confident you won't need summer suits in future, then just spend the money on taxis instead. Simpler, and a better result in terms of comfort than walking in hot/humid weather in any sort of suit!

EliodA · May 31, 2014

Living in tropical SE Asia, I can tell you from experience to avoid cotton and linen suits altogether. When it's that hot you're gonna sweat anyway and both cotton and linen absorb moisture, quickly getting wrinkly and losing shape. Better wear fresco type wool. It lets moisture evaporate, which even makes you feel cooler too.
And don't forget an undershirt, helps keeping your dress shirt look acceptable.

Monkeyface · May 31, 2014

I live in a very humid (95+ humidity), albeit not very hot climate, and cotton is the worst. It runs hotter than a normal wool suit, and doesn't breathe much as well. Linen does work, but wrinkles very quickly, while fresco breathes very well and wrinkles less. I'll be working in NY for a month as well during the summer, and I'll be wearing linen shirts, which will help a bit, but more importantly, I'll just share a cab to work with a coworker. There's really nothing else you can do to beat the humidity.

bradp · May 31, 2014

Monkeyface said:
I live in a very humid (95+ humidity), albeit not very hot climate, and cotton is the worst. It runs hotter than a normal wool suit, and doesn't breathe much as well. Linen does work, but wrinkles very quickly, while fresco breathes very well and wrinkles less. I'll be working in NY for a month as well during the summer, and I'll be wearing linen shirts, which will help a bit, but more importantly, I'll just share a cab to work with a coworker. There's really nothing else you can do to beat the humidity.

when you all refer to "fresco" wool, is that synonymous with the "tropical" weight wool some other posters have referred to? if so, any suggestions on where to get a reasonably priced suit of this material?

Monkeyface · Jun 1, 2014

bradp said:
when you all refer to "fresco" wool, is that synonymous with the "tropical" weight wool some other posters have referred to? if so, any suggestions on where to get a reasonably priced suit of this material?

Not exactly, fresco is a specific fabric made by Minnis, while tropical is a much wider range. NMWA carries fresco suits, but I'm not sure whether you'd find that reasonably priced. Your best bet would be to go MTM or search on ebay.

gringodaddy · Jun 1, 2014

Fresco is an open weave, not synonymous with tropical weave. It looks and feels coarse (in a cool way) as opposed to smooth, tropical wool. I'd also love to hear where it can be had in rtw clothing.

msulinski · Jun 1, 2014

There isn't much out there in RTW fresco. My usual MTM place didn't have any either. I ended up having to order the cloth directly to give to the MTM maker.

Keep in mind there are several weights of fresco. For a summer suit in NYC you will want the lightest weight.

Surviving summer working a job that requires a suit

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