How acceptable is linen?

I love the look of linen, but I agree it's only good for a once and a while sports jacket/shirt, not a good choice for your main attire. I only take linen to the cleaners. Never washed it in a machine myself.

I have a navy blue linen suit that I've worn in a variety of settings - I think it works very well for day and night in mediterranean/California type weather - warm the day, cooler at night, but not too extreme in either direction. I also wear the jacket as an odd jacket quite a bit as well. The suit is stiffer than most linen I've encountered. It's Borrelli, on the heavier side and it resists wrinkling better than any linen shirt or trousers I've ever worn.

Originally Posted by SuitingStyle

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are you supposed to iron linen or just let the wrinkle be? Also, does linen shirt shrink more than cotton if you put into a regular washing cycle? Got my first linen shirt today (yes, never owned linen before), but no idea how to care for it.


Wash shirts in cold are warm water with like colors and hang dry. You can iron, if you can iron. I have my shirts pressed at the cleaners for a couple of bucks. I dry clean all my linen trousers.

i prefer to steam my linen suit. quick and is better for the fibers, no?

I like linen. I especially like linen pants. To me, a nice and clean pair of linen pants says casual yet relaxed business environment. Perfect for low key California business setting...

Have you thought about 70/30 linen/silk fabric? Great fabric with all the nice linen properties like, coolness, sweat absorbsion, heavy weight (yet cool to touch) yet airy... at the same time, it wrinkles much, much less. I'm not talking about silk like the fabric we saw on silk shirts of the '80s. The silk fabric used with linen are much more coarse and rough to touch.

Originally Posted by MellonC

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I like linen. I especially like linen pants. To me, a nice and clean pair of linen pants says casual yet relaxed business environment. Perfect for low key California business setting...

Have you thought about 70/30 linen/silk fabric? Great fabric with all the nice linen properties like, coolness, sweat absorbsion, heavy weight (yet cool to touch) yet airy... at the same time, it wrinkles much, much less. I'm not talking about silk like the fabric we saw on silk shirts of the '80s. The silk fabric used with linen are much more coarse and rough to touch.

I'm thinking about getting some linen pants myself. You say 70/30... have any examples to show?

Not the exact example but similar... http://www.westportbigandtall.com/sh...7&categoryId=9 and this one http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=44670 again, just an example for the fabric....

Originally Posted by Sator

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Remember: black= formal and linen=informal. If you try mixing the two, you end up with an oxymoron, something quite peculiar, neither fish nor fowl.

Yet you have said that linen vests are permissible in the spring and summer? Perhaps the OP is thinking about formal wear in the daytime. Here is my question: surely, linen checkered pants qualify as formal day wear in the summer?

IMO, the old traditional/classic rules about formal dressing should not be upholds in all climates. Wearing full black tie in 90+F and over 80% humidity is not fun at all.

But, instead of linen you could always explore light weight wool fabrics, but the downside is that they tend to wrinkle more than the typical.

I enjoy linen during summer. I wash my shirts and trousers in cold water, hang dry, and iron. I put on my linen blazer and a tie for business casual and social events where a tie is needed.

Originally Posted by JayJay

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I enjoy linen during summer. I wash my shirts and trousers in cold water, hang dry, and iron. I put on my linen blazer and a tie for business casual and social events where a tie is needed.

If I may ask, do the cleaning instructions of your items permit machine wash? Do you hand wash? Would you wash a linen piece if its instructions said dry-clean only?

Originally Posted by Scoundrel

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If I may ask, do the cleaning instructions of your items permit machine wash? Do you hand wash? Would you wash a linen piece if its instructions said dry-clean only?
My shirts and pants are J.Crew (hence, cheap but good enough quality) and the instructions suggest washing in cold water. I also have a Black Fleece linen shirt that also specifies cold wash. I do not put linen in the dryer even though it can be done. My blazer is Black Fleece and will be dry cleaned, if ever needed.

In past years I have owned linen in which dry cleaning was recommended. For nice dress trousers and shirts where fading was a concern, I did dry clean them. After a few years though, I started washing the shirts. Fading was the only downside to washing rather than dry cleaning.

Originally Posted by Scoundrel

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Yet you have said that linen vests are permissible in the spring and summer? Perhaps the OP is thinking about formal wear in the daytime. Here is my question: surely, linen checkered pants qualify as formal day wear in the summer?

The reason that summer day wear waistcoats were made of linen (and evening waistcoats of cotton) is simple - traditional coating was about 18-20 Oz Oz weight, and if you had an 18 Oz waistcoat too, it could get pretty warm. In any case, the waistcoat would not be that visible underneath the coat even if it did wrinkle.

If the coat and trousers needed to be cooler, there was always the option of mohair blends. Linen coats and trousers were always reserved for casual dress.

I was faced with this conundrum today. It's going to be 98F in NYC today and I have a lunch with some relatively important donors and the Director of an important cultural institution. The purpose of the lunch is for them to hit me up for money in the long run.

Normally I wear linen suits to work without a thought. (Irish linen is the best -- wrinkles less and in a better way than Italian linen.) But today I concluded it would be too informal and instead opted for a navy tropical suit, white oxford buttondown and madras bowtie. I'm hoping the Panama hat will help outside.

Linen is, as has been said, an informal fabric. It's truly wonderful, and if one accepts the wrinkles it broadcasts a sense of complete comfort with one's self and one's position. (i.e. : you don't need to impress anyone.)

If there's someone you need to impress, or a place where a seriousness of purpose is required, linen is not the cloth of choice. That's why: garden parties, weddings, baptisms, a somewhat unstructured work environment, dressy sporting events -- OK. Funerals, job interviews, meetings with heads of state or corporate clients -- not.

I could have worn linen to my meeting -- as I am the one who will be hit up -- but as I am on the younger side of the crowd, it would have been disrespectful to the Director and the older donors.

Originally Posted by YoungFogey

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I was faced with this conundrum today. It's going to be 98F in NYC today and I have a lunch with some relatively important donors and the Director of an important cultural institution. The purpose of the lunch is for them to hit me up for money in the long run.

Normally I wear linen suits to work without a thought. (Irish linen is the best -- wrinkles less and in a better way than Italian linen.) But today I concluded it would be too informal and instead opted for a navy tropical suit, white oxford buttondown and madras bowtie. I'm hoping the Panama hat will help outside.


I could have worn linen to my meeting -- as I am the one who will be hit up -- but as I am on the younger side of the crowd, it would have been disrespectful to the Director and the older donors.

It's situations like these when you'd be better off with wool/mohair blends. Cool, but with a much more 'finished' look.