From Bombay to the Amalfi Coast and Texas, there is a vast amount of tradition and style within summer suiting. As the mercury rises (and the sweat starts to drop) here are three fabrics we think will help you strut your way into a stylish summer season.
Cotton Cotton or cotton blends can be a superb way to inject some casual charm in to your wardrobe, bringing up the formality from a traditional chinos/blazer combination, or bringing the formality down from a traditional wool suit. Just be wary that cotton can, if on the thicker side, trap heat a little bit more than wool or linen.
Or, if you’re feeling like something a bit bolder, opt for seersucker; the puckered cotton railway stripe fabric dates back to British gents who needed something cool and fresh for the hot-weather colonies, and later become an iconic fabric in the southern states of America where heat was also a problem.
Linen There’s no fabric that spells out summer quite like linen. Of course, it’s more of a casual/special occasion fabric, better suited at a summery wedding than at a corporate workplace, but linen (or a linen blend) is a lot more flexible than you probably realise, particularly in darker shades. As well as being very breathable, it will naturally wrinkle and crease to your body, meaning a more laid-back look to your season approach (even if it can take a little more maintenance). We recommend a wool/linen blend, combining the durability and structure of wool with the effortless charm of linen.
Cool Wool There’s a reason that wool is the king of suiting fabrics: it keeps you warm in the winter, and it keeps you cool in the summer. Banish those thoughts of stuffy, itchy wool of your grandfather’s old sports blazer—Australia’s homegrown Woolmark certified 100% Merino wool, used in all of our wool suit fabrics, is breathable and great for hot summers. The hot seasons are a great time to try a cool-wool fabric (Cool Wool is crafted using lightweight Australian Merino wool with a maximum weight of 190 g/m²) and play with lighter shades to lend your look a more laid-back vibe.
To find out more and to see our summer suiting fabrics first-hand, book an appointment with a personal InStitchu Stylist today.