10 suit wardrobe

[Despos]



There could be 500 year cycles for weather for all we know.

So dress appropriately!

 

[Balfour]

Everyone discovers a sweet spot in cloth weight and that's what they like to wear day in and day out. Like I said, with some it's a lighter weight, some mid weight and some prefer heavier weight and they tend to wear their preferred weight regardless of the season. If you have 10 suits for each season you have more leeway. Look at Manton's posts. He has practically an index of what cloth weights and weaves he can wear and at what temperatures. He has a keen sensitivity to cloth weights and seasonal temperatures. If anything, I have three seasons in my wardrobe and find that most versatile but 10 & 11 ounce is the sweet spot..

This certainly resonates with me. I overheat easily, so I avoid heavier fabrics given the mild London winters. On all but the coldest days, I find 11 ounce is right for me (and still find ways to avoid the boredom of plain worsteds). Equally on really hot summer days I need something lighter or open-weaved, but they don't come around that often here (by East Coast standards) so only form a small part of my wardrobe. It really is possible to find three-season cloth here and I rarely go above 11 ounces for things I will wear in town. Heavier tweeds of course for winter activities in the country.

 

[patrickBOOTH]



So dress appropriately!

Gotta make sure that I am covered for the next 500 years.

 

[Tropicalist]

Very true. I have a Scabal plain weave that is like royal blue and it gets a lot of attention at work. Too much perhaps.

the issue is the colour not the weave

 

[sartorialnoob]

I wanted to post this when I saw the thread but didn't have a chance to snap a picture till now. I am a lawyer and used to wear suits more often than now but with the advent of business casual, I haven't had occasion to buy a new suit in years. I own exactly ten suits.



From left to right, charcoal pinstripe three button, charcoal (very nearly black herring bone DB), charcoal 3 button, charcoal 2 button, medium grey 2 button, plaid grey two button, light grey two button, navy 2 button, brown birdseye two button, brown flannel DB.

If I was starting from scratch, I would probably do things differently, but this group works quite well for me.

 

[unbelragazzo]

^seems mostly pretty heavy. is there not much summer where you are? looks like some nice stuff though.

 

[sartorialnoob]

The three lightest greys and the navy are not too heavy. The DBs are at the other end of the spectrum and only see fall and winter wear. Summer is more of an issue for me now, but I rarely wear suits. When these were more typical of my work wardrobe I was in the upper midwest -- Milwaukee, Chicago, and Minneapolis for the most part.

 

[hendrix]



Chris, what clients do is not necessarily what they should do.
Buying most of your suits in a particular weight of cloth is sheer idiocy, regardless of how many people do it--unless you live where the weather doesn't change. Assuming one experiences both hot and cool seasons, and he is not some sort of biological miracle whose body temperature adjusts itself,

Woah, woah, woah, I must be one highly evolved creature! I have noticed remarkable capacity of my body to maintain a core body temperature of 37 degrees, regardless of the environment

My abilities include the capacity to perspirate - expiring water on the skin surface whose subsequent evaporation requires a loss of heat energy - and to regulate the blood circulation to limit or enhance heat loss to the environment.

 

[chogall]

Gotta make sure that I am covered for the next 500 years.

A morning dress or a tail coat with cape for your burial?

 

[OTM]

Funthread, I'll bump and play:

Ok, so I have:

Dinner clothes
Navy solid (3p)
Charcoal plaid
Mid-grey bird's eye
Dark grey herringbone (DB)
Dark blue plaid (DB)
Navy check (DB)
Black and white plaid
Khaki linen
Seersucker (DB)

Where should I go from here?

 

[patrickBOOTH]

I would say a solid twill, or gabardine. You have a lot of patterns and weaves, but not enough basics, imo.

 

[tim_horton]

I will slightly revise my choices:

Three season:
Navy worsted single breasted, 11-13 oz.
Charcoal worsted single breasted, 11-13 oz.
Mid-gray pick and pick worsted single breasted 11-13 oz.
Midnight blue double breasted 11-13 oz.
Navy pinstribe double breasted 11-13 oz.

Winter:
Charcoal flannel double breasted
Gray glen plaid single breasted

Summer:
Navy linen single breasted
Charcoal fresco single breasted

Tenth is dealer's choice...

 

[OTM]



I would say a solid twill, or gabardine. You have a lot of patterns and weaves, but not enough basics, imo.

Thanks for the response! The charcoal's and the mid-grey's patterns are both very subtle, bordering on solid (at least from more than three feet away), a look I very much like.

I am thinking next should be Air Force blue and then, maybe, petrol, both in medium weights.

How does that sound?

 

[patrickBOOTH]

Well, it seems that you have made up your mind already.

 

[rob]

I have been dumping my RTW and converting to bespoke over the past year or so , so the ten suit wardrobe has been on my mind. But rather than just a top ten, I plan on buying an average of 4 bespoke items per year for the next ten years or so (and I'm ahead of schedule). That's 40 items. Seems like a lot but it adds up quickly. Obviously, it won't all be suits but hopefully a well thought out, full service wardrobe that works in any situation that comes up. So, I won't hijack this thread but I will put down what I've done so far and ask for input on the next purchases.

Already have:

SB 3 roll 2 Navy blue pin dot that resolves to solid (and a softer blue) a few feet away - mid weight
SB 3 roll 2 Mid-gray sharkskin - mid weight
Sb 3 roll 2 Fresco (ish) - forget the actual cloth - blue blazer suit - mid wieght
DB Navy blue hopsack - mid weight

In the works:

SB 3 roll 2 light gray hopsack - mid weight
SB mid blue (with some gray in there) typical weave - mid weight
SB mid-night blue tux with vest
Carmel color db overcoat

Non suit stuff:

SB 3 roll 2 (3 patch pockets) brown (melange) flannel
mid-weight gray hopsack trousers
heavy weight pearl gray flannel trousers
heavy weight mid gray flannel trousers
light weight wool light gray trousers
light weight wool tannish trousers

I think the non-suit stuff comes into play to have a complete wardrobe but, that said, I will shortly have 6 suits in rotation, all med-weight. But, what do I buy next. Saw some of the London Lounge linens yesterday that looked really good and it would be fun to branch out from the mid-weights. Let me know your comments on what I have and what I should get.

Cheers,

Rob