• Hi, I am the owner and main administrator of Styleforum. If you find the forum useful and fun, please help support it by buying through the posted links on the forum. Our main, very popular sales thread, where the latest and best sales are listed, are posted HERE

    Purchases made through some of our links earns a commission for the forum and allows us to do the work of maintaining and improving it. Finally, thanks for being a part of this community. We realize that there are many choices today on the internet, and we have all of you to thank for making Styleforum the foremost destination for discussions of menswear.
  • This site contains affiliate links for which Styleforum may be compensated.
  • We would like to welcome House of Huntington as an official Affiliate Vendor. Shop past season Drake's, Nigel Cabourn, Private White V.C. and other menswear luxury brands at exceptional prices below retail. Please visit the Houise of Huntington thread and welcome them to the forum.

  • STYLE. COMMUNITY. GREAT CLOTHING.

    Bored of counting likes on social networks? At Styleforum, you’ll find rousing discussions that go beyond strings of emojis.

    Click Here to join Styleforum's thousands of style enthusiasts today!

    Styleforum is supported in part by commission earning affiliate links sitewide. Please support us by using them. You may learn more here.

How many wears can you get out of a high quality suit?

citizenshame

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
356
Reaction score
14
Assuming the fabric and construction are decent, how many times can you wear a suit before it...wears out? 100? 50?

I ask because my job requires me to wear a suit every day and I'm trying to figure out how long my current suits will last me at this rate.
 

Harold falcon

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Dec 6, 2009
Messages
32,028
Reaction score
11,364
What kind of job do you do?
 

bowtielover

Distinguished Member
Joined
Nov 1, 2007
Messages
2,375
Reaction score
5
That depends on the quality of the suit, I ahve a few that are going on 5 years now that I still get some use out of but usualy around 3 years or so I start to notice they are losing the luster and it's time to move on to the next one.
 

stylomilo

Well-Known Member
Joined
Jun 22, 2009
Messages
87
Reaction score
0
It also depends on the fabric & care -I've had some bespoke suits for over 10 years that I'm still wearing. If you have your suits in a Zegna 15 mil mil, I'll say you have one year before the jacket will show signs of fray
 

citizenshame

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
356
Reaction score
14
Originally Posted by harvey_birdman
What kind of job do you do?

I'm a lawyer and I sit in a chair all day.

I realize its difficult to define high quality, but most of my suits are Zegna, Corneliani and Canali. I hang them and brush them after every wear and rarely dry clean.
 

citizenshame

Senior Member
Joined
Feb 23, 2008
Messages
356
Reaction score
14
Originally Posted by stylomilo
It also depends on the fabric & care -I've had some bespoke suits for over 10 years that I'm still wearing. If you have your suits in a Zegna 15 mil mil, I'll say you have one year before the jacket will show signs of fray

Also, by talking in years, we're really not getting at the heart of the question, since some people wear individual suits more or less frequently than others. How often per year did you wear those suits that lasted ten years?
 

globetrotter

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Sep 28, 2004
Messages
20,341
Reaction score
422
I don't have a suit that is less than 8 years old - 400 or more wearing each.
 

archetypal_yuppie

Distinguished Member
Joined
Jan 9, 2010
Messages
2,855
Reaction score
591
My oldest suit has gone through about 4 years of 1 to 2x/week wear. Pants belt loops in back are falling apart, and I had the front pockets replaced, but the suit is otherwise in good shape.

Prob about 200 wears on the suit. It could go surely another 2 years if I replaced the belt loops. The jacket by itself could probably go another 10 years, but pants wear out much more quickly...

Assuming I'm able to maintain my physique, I will try to have my suits made with 2 pairs of pants in the future. But starting in two weeks I'll no longer need to wear suits. What a relief.

It gets old when its 90* out, or at the end of a 12 hr day.
 

lasbar

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Oct 13, 2006
Messages
22,718
Reaction score
1,322
The important thing is to have enough different ones to rotate them ...

You can keep a normal suit nearly 10 years more for a bespoke if you maintain them properly..
 

JayJay

Stylish Dinosaur
Joined
Jun 25, 2007
Messages
24,297
Reaction score
439
Originally Posted by lasbar
The important thing is to have enough different ones to rotate them ...

You can keep a normal suit nearly 10 years more for a bespoke if you maintain them properly..

+1. Rotation is key to a suit lasting a long time.
 

Fuuma

Franchouillard Modasse
Joined
Dec 20, 2004
Messages
26,940
Reaction score
14,529
Originally Posted by lasbar
The important thing is to have enough different ones to rotate them ...

You can keep a normal suit nearly 10 years more for a bespoke if you maintain them properly..


There is no reason to believe that.
 

orthofrancis

Senior Member
Joined
May 23, 2008
Messages
265
Reaction score
1
Originally Posted by JayJay
+1. Rotation is key to a suit lasting a long time.

Yes, and if one never wears them, they'll last even longer.

The question is really not how long, but how many wears will they last. It's pointless to say my suit looks great after 10 years, if it's only worn once a month, or it looks like hell if worn 1xweek for 3 years.
 

deveandepot1

Distinguished Member
Joined
Dec 17, 2008
Messages
8,096
Reaction score
59
Originally Posted by globetrotter
I don't have a suit that is less than 8 years old - 400 or more wearing each.

You haven't bought a suit in 8 years?

edit- You are likely the only MC styleforumner who can say that.
 

Featured Sponsor

How important is full vs half canvas to you for heavier sport jackets?

  • Definitely full canvas only

    Votes: 55 36.4%
  • Half canvas is fine

    Votes: 59 39.1%
  • Really don't care

    Votes: 16 10.6%
  • Depends on fabric

    Votes: 26 17.2%
  • Depends on price

    Votes: 26 17.2%

Staff online

Forum statistics

Threads
505,151
Messages
10,578,798
Members
223,879
Latest member
StyleSavvyDad
Top