Summer and Sunday best?

[avedwards]

I'm debating whether to wear a linen suit or not myself. I was okay wearing a vintage wool suit yesterday when it was 21C but I find wool uncomfortably warm when walking long distances, no matter how light weight or breathable it is. I'm determined not to let the summer get the better of me this year though. I may consider a navy blue linen suit (the only readily available colour other than beige) as it is dark enough not to look too out of place in the UK.

I've found very few shops stock linen suits around here. One shopkeeper in a conservative menswear shop even told me he doesn't sell anything made of linen because it is an awful material which creases and instead showed me his summer suits which are made of man-made fibres (his shop went down significantly in my estimation as a result).

 

[Lokar]

Are you based in a city btw, avedwards? Obviously in cities traditionally in the UK you'd never wear beige or linen (or straw) but if you're in a tiny town, village or hamlet, it'd be completely okay. I'm aware you're not a fan of the Jeremy Brett Holmes, but it was very accurate when it comes to representing Victorian dress and in one episode even he wore a beige suit and panama.

The suit was wool rather than linen, but 1) that was Victorian strictness, if you follow that you'd need to wear top hats and frock coats, 2) Nobody except you and a few other vintage enthuisiasts would appreciate that there's any difference, and 3) it's a few degrees warmer at the top end now than it was 120 years ago. I'm perfectly happy to wear linen and beige, as long as I'm not going into a city. Then I will wear a lightweight grey suit instead. Luckily, I'm very much a country chap.

 

[avedwards]

I spend the vast majority of my time in Nottingham, and when not there I'm usually still in some sort of built up urban area. That's why I'd prefer navy blue or grey linen. I don't go by Victorian rules, usually I go by what would have been acceptable in the 1950s, which gives me a lot of flexibility given my age. I just think that I'd rather be slightly un-British and be comfortable in a creased linen suit than be British and hot and uncomfortable in a heavy weight wool suit.

 

[Lokar]

Oh, I didn't mean you followed Victorian rules, just that if they thought it was okay (and they had strict rules) you shouldn't worry. In all the photos I've seen of you you look fantastic and have obvious style. I'm sure you would easily be able to pull off dark linen in a city.

And yes, especially since suits are so rare (and many people think they're uncomfortable) it's important we look and feel comfortable - that way we might get more people into wearng them!