The Return of The Three Piece Suit

[MK]

.

The designers always have to make one thing off. They just can't bring themselves to go all the way and do it right. They feel they aren't clever if they do.

 

[Jovan]

This is going to sound quite dorky, but I wrote Express about this and am now writing J. Crew as well. Anyone want to join me?

Be sure to include links to the pictures of Sean Connery and James Stewart in vested suits -- note to whomever it concerns that the women loved them! I am suggesting that J. Crew show a couple of women (wearing something from their dress collection) around a guy with a correctly cut three piece. Would sell like hotcakes to the young men who want to look sophisticated.

 

[Nick D]

A question concerning overlap, the waistcoat I just bought covers fine in the front, but what is considered optimum overlap in the back?

 

[Jovan]

Ideally, it covers the waistband when standing up.

 

[Nick D]

Thanks. It does do that, there's about 1.5" of overlap in the back since it's much higher than the front.

 

[Trotsky]

I went looking for an interview suit today. As a poor student, I STILL do not have a decent suit that fits and looks good.
When I wear vintage (or inspired) I want to feel like I am wear armor, in the metaphorical sense. The better the fit and finish the more confident I feel. With that being said I found a Ralph Lauren 3-piece at Dillards, Charcoal with a subtle blue stripe, beautiful. Three button, runs about $500, which is what I am looking to spend. They'll tailor it for free too and the gentleman I was speaking to was the tailor.

What is the board's opinion of Lauren 3-Pieces? Good price? This was an 11 oz fabric and while not as heavy as I would like, it was pretty decent.

Thanks guys, I was able to talk to the man on an equal level thanks to this board.

 

[cookie]

I went looking for an interview suit today. As a poor student, I STILL do not have a decent suit that fits and looks good.
When I wear vintage (or inspired) I want to feel like I am wear armor, in the metaphorical sense. The better the fit and finish the more confident I feel. With that being said I found a Ralph Lauren 3-piece at Dillards, Charcoal with a subtle blue stripe, beautiful. Three button, runs about $500, which is what I am looking to spend. They'll tailor it for free too and the gentleman I was speaking to was the tailor.

What is the board's opinion of Lauren 3-Pieces? Good price? This was an 11 oz fabric and while not as heavy as I would like, it was pretty decent.

Thanks guys, I was able to talk to the man on an equal level thanks to this board.

There a couple of beauties in the Clearance section of paulfrederick.com for USD200. Three piece and DB....

 

[Big Man]

I'm glad to hear that the three piece suit is making a return.

There are almost 1200 people who work at our hospital here, and I'm the ONLY one who wears a three piece suit (actually, I'm just about the only one who wears any kind of suit). The three piece suit really makes me "stand out" in the crowd (like I need something extra to make me stand out). I believe the look goes a long way in projecting authority, which definitely helps accomplish the assigned mission.

 

[Feraud]

Has anyone else bought a three piece?
I stopped in JCrew yesterday and see their three pieces are still on the racks. The vests are selling as separates for those who like to accessorize with other outfits and/or need someplace to hang their pocket watches.

 

[Nick D]

I bought a 2 piece and found a 4-pocket contrasting (black) waistcoat to go with it shortly thereafter. Still looking for a matching 3-piece, but I like the contrast waistcoat as well.

 

[Fletch]

I'm glad to hear that the three piece suit is making a return.

There are almost 1200 people who work at our hospital here, and I'm the ONLY one who wears a three piece suit (actually, I'm just about the only one who wears any kind of suit). The three piece suit really makes me "stand out" in the crowd (like I need something extra to make me stand out). I believe the look goes a long way in projecting authority, which definitely helps accomplish the assigned mission.

There might be problems for guys who just want to revive the style because it's lost. If 3pc does project authority in the right contexts, it can also connote snobbery, stuffiness or affectation in the wrong context.

I'd say definitely don't wear it in an office where a straightforward look is needed, or anywhere you couldn't bring off a fairly elegant 2pc suit. It still makes a statement; don't be deaf to what it says.

 

[Big Man]

... If 3pc does project authority in the right contexts, it can also connote snobbery, stuffiness or affectation in the wrong context ... It still makes a statement; don't be deaf to what it says.

I agree, "context" is everything. This goes for any kind of clothing (including hats). You should always wear what is "appropriate" for the given situation/location/person.

 

[Nick D]

I usually wear a polo shirt and jeans or slacks when I go to the Uni to study, but some time I'm going to start wearing a suit from time to time, just because. It's not formal, just a bunch of grad students in the department common room and the library, but still, I'd like to.

 

[Fletch]

I agree, "context" is everything. This goes for any kind of clothing (including hats). You should always wear what is "appropriate" for the given situation/location/person.

It ought to be obvious. But sometimes it's hard for us, with our perspective, to realize that the everyday joe of 1935 with his vested suit and pushed back hat is just as foreign to people today as the everyday joe of 1805 with his linsey-woolsey britches and puffy sleeves.

Indeed, maybe more foreign, because the britches can only be a costume today. The 3pc suit can deeply confuse people in ways they are not even conscious of. Is it a costume? Is it for work? Is it because he's a criminal, minority group member, socially or mentally unbalanced, what???

Or am I overthinking? I may be. I just feel a quiet but strong negative push when I get into 3pc suit territory...the now-mostly-abandoned language metaphor of "big shots in 3pc suits"...the hard-to-findness of any really nice 3pcs on the secondhand market, most being 70s tacky or 80s stodgy (pinstripes and only pinstripes, and spare the tailoring, thankyouverymuch)...the revival taking place mostly in frivolous styles (pimp, zoot, low-rise, $1200 green tweed Purple RLs with lapeled vests and such).

The takeaway: Style need not be outlandish, ugly, flamboyant, expensive, or obvious to be transgressive of social norms. Sometimes all it takes is a little subtlety and taste.

The issue with this look is not what's wrong with it, but what's right with it. A suit made to live in and not just be a costume for some interchangeable part sitting in a cube? When you think about it, how subversive is that? How subtly undermining of the messages of today's culture of consuming and producing? How inexplicably outside the rules of the game?

Part of me is deeply afraid to find the suit, have it made, wear it. It just can't be, somehow. There is no room for it in this dimension. I'll fall off the edge of things and just disappear, or some nasty end will befall me - crushed by a falling block of granite, shoved by some filthy street dude into oncoming traffic - and the order of things will be restored.

 

[Big Man]

... The 3pc suit can deeply confuse people in ways they are not even conscious of. Is it a costume? Is it for work? Is it because he's a criminal, minority group member, socially or mentally unbalanced, what ...

I'm not sure I will agree totally with you here. Of course negative/positive reactions to a three piece suit could it could be attributed to geography, age of the wearer, or in my case (I'm sure) projection (i.e. size). Being over 50 and big (I've had people say my picture weighs three pounds), I'm sure that comments (should people think them) are not spoken in my hearing.

I can see where someone, say in their early to mid 20's wearing a three piece suit to a fast food place or even to school, may look out of place (sorry, but that may be unfortunately true). However, an "over 50" man in the same style suit in the same setting may not necessarily look out of place.

Of course I could just be some old fuddy duddy and not know anything (as the 20 something crowd is probabally thinking right now ...) [huh]

 

[donCarlos]

... even conscious of. Is it a costume? Is it for work? Is it because he's a criminal, minority group member, socially or mentally unbalanced, what??? ...

I speak only for myself, but.... socially unbalanced? That´s like you know me personally! I think that it´s exactly my state now I´m so dissapointed by the fashion and today´s world (I know, it sounds like from an 80 year old man, but I´m only 19...) that I created "my own". There´s a lots of space in my world for three-piece suits, double breasted jackets, homburgs, fedoras, spectators etc...

To the topic - I´ve recently seen some waistcoats in my local "thrift store", but none of them in my size. It´s quite hard to dress up a bit when you measure about 6´6" and even harder to find these "extras"...

 

[Big Man]

... It´s quite hard to dress up a bit when you measure about 6´6" and even harder to find these "extras"...

I know what you mean.

 

[PhilS]

Over 50s can wear whatever we want, context be damned. 0...

Almost, that is -- sometimes a vest (and a hat, alas) will be taken as a sign that I am an oddball or snob.

I like three piece suits and I tend to get a vest when I have a suit made, which isn't often, although I don't wear the vest as often as the suit. Part of the problem is that modern suits don't go as well with vests. In the 90s, I bought several silk vests with paisley designs and wore them for a time with regular suits. I was considered an eccentric, but more people liked the look than not. I quit because my profile got thicker and the because it took a ton of work to get everything to match.

 

[Fletch]

Paisley, tho. That at least is obviously a statement. It has - pardon if I'm off the mark here - some theater, some snazz. I can see how folks would enjoy it - it's a ray of sunshine, a bit of color, it brightens people's day.

The plain grey, high rise, 3pc 3 button I'm envisioning is a contradiction in terms today. How can you be an individual and not be showing off? How impossible. How unsettling. How dare an eccentric try to hide in plain sight! How dare he f#¢!! with the categories that way? It's the ultimate snobbery, putting yourself not above us but beyond us - and not even admitting it! Not to mention that it's inexcusable privilege: having your cake and eating it too.

 

[Big Man]

... I was considered an eccentric, but more people liked the look than not ...

And herein lies the great mystery of it all. Three piece suits (and hats) really aren't "in style" as a general rule - but when you wear them almost everyone thinks they look great. [huh]