You don’t have to know much about tailoring to know which clothes look good and which don’t. In the same vein, you don’t have to know much about tailoring to finally go and get yourself measured up for a bespoke suit.
With that said, knowledge is power. To get you on your way, we’ve outlined the essential components that make up a suit below, helping you to know your lapels from your sleeves.
What Should I Be looking for?
We would always recommend contemporary designs, even for the older gentleman. Wide lapels and boxy shoulders are last century and will hopefully never make a return. Instead, you should be looking towards a much slimmer profile, from the lapels to the silhouette of the suit itself.
Your choice of colour is entirely up to you but unless you have several suits in your wardrobe, we would suggest sticking with a simple grey or navy. Leave the pinks and Quality Street (chocolate) triangle greens until you have a decent collection built up.
Finally, you’ll be presented with a choice of material. Avoid corduroy and tweed for now and stick with wool or cotton.
The Collar
The section of fabric that sits on your neck. Not really much to choose from here but we have noticed that some people tend to choose a collar that doesn’t match the test of the suit in terms of colour or material. An interesting touch for a purple velvet smoking jacket but not something you want on a normal suit.
The Lapel
As mentioned, keep it slim. You can’t really go wrong here – in fact, we haven’t seen a large, wide flappy lapel suit jacket on sale for a long time now.
As mentioned above, avoid contrasting colours and materials unless you’re really trying to make a statement and can pull it off.
Pockets
A pocket for a pocket square on your breast is a necessity. Don’t skip this important feature. Some jackets skip this detail altogether or sow it up, not what you want.
The lower pockets that sit on your waist are up to your discretion but we would suggest one on both sides.
Buttons
A debate that has been raging for centuries. To keep it simple, you never want more than three buttons on the front of your jacket. Two is sometimes even better. If three, only do up the middle button and if two, only do up the top.
The buttons on your sleeves are up to you but we suggest no more than three.
The Trousers
Your trousers should be the right length, no excuses. Shorter is always better than longer. The bottom of your trousers should just sit on the uppers of your shoes.
Needless to say, you want a pair of slim fitting trousers that don’t billow around your legs.
Find a Tailor
That was pretty simple, right? All that’s left is to find a tailor who can take your measurements and turn them into a sartorial masterpiece. Mens tailored suits in Sydney can be crafted by any one of the great tailors you will find around the city. If you need a recommendation, simply head online.
Before you know it, you’ll look good enough to step onto the catwalks of Paris.
