Tips: How to dress in a BUSINESS / TAILORING style?

Have you ever wondered why, in 10 years, jackets have become 20 centimeters shorter and why our silhouettes seem to have faded so much? The tailoring tradition escapes the vagaries of fashion.

This is surely why your grandfather was able to maintain his presence from year to year with a tweed jacket that sometimes seemed normal to you, sometimes too long and too wide for him.

Tailoring is both a craft, that of master tailors, and a quest for the classic elegance specific to each man. But it is as a clothing style that we will study it. By this I mean that you will be able to adapt the tailoring to your tastes, and mix it with other influences (the purists will scream, but too bad!).

Tailoring uses timeless and always elegant pieces such as jackets, shirts, and pants other than jeans (cold wool, flannel, or corduroy pants). As you can imagine: no semi-slim jeans, sneakers or t-shirts here.

On the other hand, rarer pieces will be invited to the party, like the tweed jacket that every good gentleman wears in the countryside. This is also the case for somewhat forgotten accessories like pocket squares and buttonholes.

The principles of sartorial art

Two main factors can explain the longevity of the tailoring style . The first is the almost mathematical knowledge of the human silhouette and the different cuts. The second is to be codified according to well-defined rules.

Let me explain ! First of all, it is the same pieces that come back: jacket, shirt, pants. Additionally, the color palette is limited, consisting primarily of white, blue, and gray, plus a few tones of brown sprinkled with pops of brighter colors.

Far from limiting creativity, these rules and well-defined color palettes allow you to express an infinite number of shades, gradients, and patterns.

To give you an idea, there are literally hundreds of shades of gray , not to mention all the possibilities offered by different weaves. A cold wool works well for a tweed for example.

It is a style aimed at men in search of true elegance (which can be as discreet and old-fashioned as it is flamboyant and modern). But also to those who love noble materials and the craftsmanship done upstream.

Trend and streetwear are two words totally banned here. If there was a tailoring style motto: “Everyone has their own ideal garment, regardless of fashion”.

Criteria for choosing a men's suit

There are many criteria to find the ideal garment. We play on all the possible dimensions of a piece to find the perfect match with the body shape of its wearer.

• For a jacket, there are real questions about the fit, the width of the shoulders and the length of the jacket .

• For pants, we ask ourselves a thousand questions about their length, their width at the thighs and their opening at the ankle, or even their waist height.

This questioning is also found in the design and finishes.

For a jacket, we focus on the width and length of the lapels, the fit and work on the shoulders, the presence or not of a chest pocket, the number and location of the buttons, etc.

Finally, we are interested in the pattern which helps to define the silhouette: stripes, checks or chevrons, in multiple variations.

The shape and width of the lapels, the number of buttons, the design of the pockets are all subtle details that allow you to change the look of a jacket.

High-end tailoring details

For those who want to move upmarket, here's what you should expect if you have a small budget of at least €400 for a jacket for example, but it's easy to go much higher!

Beautiful materials

Indeed, if the fabric seems completely ordinary to you, there's no point.

Be careful, this assumes that you know what an ordinary and completely bland fabric looks like...

Also remember to look at the composition of the label, there should only be natural materials (wool, a little cashmere, etc.), except for the lining.

Neat buttons, not ordinary plastic. They can be made of horn or less traditional materials such as wood.

Beautiful manufacturing details

For a suit to be truly durable, you need at least semi-canvass, which gives the jacket a better fit.

Very clean and sometimes open buttonholes. The further down the line you go, the sloppier the buttonholes become, sometimes reduced to the strict minimum.

On the other hand, when you move up the range, they are very clear and often with a slight relief. Once again, don't obsess over these little details. The cut, material and color remain the elements on which you must be uncompromising.

Art of tailoring and morphology

“To each their own body type, to each their own clothing.” To really take advantage of the tailoring style, you need to precisely and realistically identify your body type , and especially the way in which you want to highlight it.

Are you looking to grow?

To appear tougher?

Or, on the contrary, to reduce your slender silhouette?

A few more centimeters...

To grow taller (and slimmer), you need verticality: this involves the patterns (vertical stripes), the finishes (long and thin lapels), the construction (a high armhole and fitted sleeves), or even the assortment (a bottom and a top of a similar color, connected by a sober belt, so as not to create a breaking line and therefore horizontality in the silhouette).

And for a stronger physique...

On the contrary, to appear smaller or more robust, look for horizontality through patterns (horizontal line shirts and ties), accessories (tie clip, pocket square), construction (wide and short lapels), colors, and adjustments you can make yourself like hemming or stacking .

Sartorial art, a long-term project

Imagine your wardrobe as a coherent whole, a sum of timeless pieces all dedicated to highlighting your body shape and capable of responding to any situation, from the most formal to the most relaxed.

A durable wardrobe

Abandon the consumerist logic of short-term purchasing, return to the habits of your grandparents by purchasing pieces that will last you for years. Both in terms of quality and finishes.

Of course, you can still use these pieces in modern outfits, don't forget to mix styles.

Quality is in the details

Know how to identify the forgotten signs that will distinguish a ready-to-wear piece from a suit piece, as we saw for the jacket. Finishing work is also important: flap pockets are more expensive to make, especially if they are buttoned.

Also pay attention to the number of seams per centimeter and the quality of the interior seams. The bottom line: the more expensive a piece, the more subtle its signs of quality.

Timeless clothes

Finally, sort through your wardrobe and identify these timeless classics of the men's wardrobe: a well-cut jacket, neither too long nor too short , with two or three buttons.

In the same way, banish these hyper-fitted shirts, made of synthetic materials that can be worn in summer. The same goes for three-button stand-up collars.

For pants, avoid crazy carrot-type cuts (unless you have very muscular thighs and a thin waist), drop crotch and skinny; invest in sober wool pants, chosen in anthracite or navy blue tones. For a touch of eccentricity, aim for Prince of Wales patterns.

It's possible to take casualness a little further with a linen suit, but that assumes it's impeccably cut and you have a solid wardrobe behind it...

Tailoring style, for what type of man?

The tailoring style is aimed at those who operate in a very codified and formal environment. It will be perfect if you work in the world of finance or consulting. We must then differentiate between two things:

• the tailoring style outside of a strict professional context (mismatched pants and jacket for example)

• the tailoring style as you imagine it, namely an impeccable suit, and the little accessories that go with it.

There is a brand that strives to perfectly illustrate this style, it is Husbands, whose wardrobe will illustrate our words:

Respect implicit codes

Be careful though, your hierarchical position will allow you more or less eccentricity. Don't overdo it when faced with a fairly conservative boss.

To correctly calibrate your outfit, you can play on several variables: colors, patterns and accessories (cufflinks and pocket squares, often reserved for senior company executives).

Geoffrey even once found himself working in a consultancy firm where suspenders were the sole prerogative of the manager, any attempt to wear them would have been extremely misinterpreted.

Learning the codes offers several advantages: mastering a notion of proportion foreign to fashion but adapted to your body shape (because the right cut is essential in this style, much more than following a trend).

You will also develop an innate sense of pattern play, to create subtle contrasts that will highlight your outfits. You will also ensure the longevity of your wardrobe by choosing timeless pieces, which will last you for years thanks to manufacturing quality of which you will be able to recognize the most subtle signs.

It's an essential step that you have to go through at one point or another, a bit like music theory: tailoring provides a healthy framework on which to base your style.

Knowing how to adapt to the context

However, a nice formal suit will not fit in with more relaxed settings . For example, if you are still a student, high school student or you work in a more casual environment (creative, graphic design, etc.), the people around you may not understand “what you are playing”.

The nature of the pieces will be too serious and too out of touch with your environment, and the notions of timeless proportions will remain misunderstood.

A jacket of a normal length will, for example, seem old-fashioned. Just apply certain basic principles to have a silhouette as highlighted as possible, this will already prevent you from having the same Celio hoodie with extra wide stripes as your neighbor in class.

The budget question

You will necessarily be limited in terms of budget: buying the jacket that you will still wear at 30 will cost you a lot, and this is not a concern you should have right away if you do not have a fixed income.

Simply try to reduce unnecessary expenses and focus on pieces that are inexpensive but durable in terms of style, timeless pieces like medium gray flannel pants for example.

Also practice the 80/20 logic : a beautiful shirt that you will wear often will be much more valuable than four shirts that you will wear rarely, without any real pleasure.

Armed with these few rules, you will have a head start when choosing your first costume for your internships and interviews.

It is better to treat yourself by buying a very nice shirt that you will wear often and that will last, rather than buying three or four shirts that you only like moderately.

The transition from quality to quantity

Sustainability also rhymes with sustainability. Beyond this perfect harmony between design and morphology, we will also look for real manufacturing quality.

This culture of quality has disappeared with the rise of the consumer society: the contemporary man owns five suits purchased in supermarkets, manufactured in factories, with a lifespan of a few years at most.

Our grandparents only had one and the same suit , worn every day without fail but ordered from the local tailor who made it with devotion and without compromise for several weeks: a true love of a job well done.

This authentic, unadorned quality is characterized by discreet refinement:

• a canvas jacket;

• hand buttonholes;

• a Milanese woman;

• horn buttons or even a hand-sewn felt.

These are expert details, but never ostentatious. This is what makes this style so appreciated by lovers of beautiful, timeless things.

Start gently

Concerning these quality indicators, I can only recommend that you approach them with a certain perspective. Not everyone can necessarily afford a 1600€ canvas suit.

If you are limited financially and the high end is inaccessible to you, choose two things.

• the cut , it must obviously highlight your body without exaggeration, but I'm not telling you anything there,

• the color , there is no point buying an expensive jacket if it is black (no black in your wardrobe, except very beautiful pieces or suits dedicated to funerals)

So much for the hand-mounted buttonholes and horsehair interfacing. This will be for when you have a little more budget.

If, for example, you have a budget of €200, don't overlook a well-cut jacket in a pretty color simply because of its plastic buttons where you would have wanted horn buttons. .

If you are a student and you need a first suit for an internship, you are particularly concerned and will have no other choice than to go for entry-level ready-to-wear.

So in practice, how do you get started with tailoring style?

Jacket

It all starts with the jacket, the basic building block. It will initially be blue or gray, to be sure you can wear it easily. The material will be wool, and that's it.

Please note that wool flannel (wool with a soft and slightly hairy appearance) gives a very elegant appearance to wool. Underneath this jacket, a light shirt, often white or very pale blue. You will stand out thanks to a beautiful tie.

In this regard, knitted ties are often underestimated, even though they bring a character that contrasts with the banal silk twill tie.

Trousers

Trousers are the item that can easily pose a problem, as there are seasons when the offer is uneven and sparse among brands. But for some time now, a more colorful offering has been returning (garnet, brick, burgundy, turquoise, sea green or duck blue). I can only encourage you to try these new colors, combined with a very neutral colored jacket.

And you will see that very easily, these shades will add a very pleasant touch.

On the brand side, it's really on a case by case basis, but most brands offer sober pants depending on the collections. Let's still mention COS which focuses on regularity with timeless wool pants, or Gant Rugger, Gant's casual line, which has a very nice wardrobe if you like the tailoring style .

Finally, consider tailor-made, not necessarily the most expensive if you choose your size carefully.

Assembly

Putting all of your pieces together is relatively simple , as shirts and pants are often neutral. As a result, you can very easily pair a bright red knitted tie with a detailed jacket.

The shoes, the clutch and possibly a pair of colorful socks will complete an outfit with touches of color.