How long has it been...

[BlueTrain]

How long has it been since you could buy a suit with two pair of pants? And for that matter, how long has it been since you could buy a suit that would be described as "heavy?"

The latter question arises from L.L. Bean's advice in 1940 for someone about to go on a fall hunting trip: wear from home your heaviest business suit.

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

You can buy a heavy suit, but not in the regular shops. Lighter cloth is the order of the day and will probably remain so for as long as people have central heating in their houses (and everywhere else!).

In RTW you now see suits being sold as separate trousers/jackets units, though of the same cloth, so that you can match a more appropriate fit between trousers and jacket according to your shape. Under those circumstances buying an extra pair of trousers is possible.

 

[brendanm720]

I make no guarantees regarding the weight of the cloth, but in addition to the separates RTW option mentioned by Dirk, almost all of the MTM outfits will happily make you another pair of pants as well.

 

[emigran]

I t probably was an Easter Sunday Suit... bought at Robert Hall and it was 1960...I was 113 that year...

 

[Hemingway Jones]

You can buy a suit from a company like Cordings of Piccadilly that is nearly as thick as armour, if that's what you're looking for. Otherwise, with more climate controlled buildings, the very heavy and very light fabrics have fallen out of favour in the off the rack shops.

 

[BlueTrain]

Although I rarely wear a suit anymore, in spite of my question, there are times here in the summer as well as winter when a warm garment is appreciated. The best fabric I've ever seen for a jacket was described as "thorn proof," but I'm not sure it was suitable for trousers. The jacket I had in that fabric was a kilt jacket.

 

[Dirk Wainscotting]

I have several pairs of trousers I wear in winter (mostly about the house) which are very heavy. They are old though. Two of them were made in the mid 1950s.

Not many people want to go through the trouble of any cleaning that doesn't involve throwing garments into a washing machine, so proper trousers are simply out of favour among the majority. The same people have managed to convince themselves that jeans, or wrinkly cotton trousers with a baggy seat, are a suitable replacement for actual trousers that flatter your form.
It's actually far easier today to clean trousers than it was before the 1970s. Machine washable wools, safe stain removers, decent and inexpensive steam irons irons for pressing. Who even irons though? Most of the people I know don't even own an iron. They probably think there's a phone app you can download for the problem of wrinkled clothes.

 

[BlueTrain]

I iron! I do my own shirts and washable pants. But it's really easier to take anything to the cleaners. The cleaners do all my non-washable woolens but I don't trust them with anything else. I'm probably the only one here who does his own dress shirts but on the other hand, I'm one of the few who actually wears dress shirts.

 

[Seb Lucas]

I bought a suit with 2 pairs of trousers this year down here. It's still a selling feature where I live. Medium wool.