In a previous post One Elegant Suit that Works for Every Occasion: 5 Design Tips, we have described how to design one suit thats works for all occasions. Now let's look at how you can dress that suit up or down for different looks:
Business
Wedding / Gala
Casual
1.) The business look
Your 3 piece suit offers you many ways to wear it for business:
With vest & tie:
The most formal look - can look too formal and overdressed for business with this type of suit.
With vest & without tie:
Our favourite, a strong, confident look. The lack of tie makes it less formal, but the vest gives it an air of professional confidence.
Without vest & with tie:
Your safe bet which always works. Just find a good looking tie and make sure your shirt fits really well. Your shirt should not billowing at the waist, but be neatly tucked into your waistband.
Without vest & without tie:
A rather casual business look - but works as well. You want to look for a strong shirt colour, maybe even pattern to give it a more distinguished look, or add a pocket square for a unique note.
2.) The wedding / gala look
For a formal event like a wedding, you'll want to dress up your suit to the nines. That means:
Make it 3 piece (wear your vest), and
Add a neckwear (bow tie, tie or similar), and a pocket square
Basic rule for tie and pocket square:
Even though there is a growing trend in the wedding industry for bride grooms (and maybe groomsmen) to wear the tie and pocket square from the exact same fabric - it is still a hard DON'T for everyone else.
Never wear tie and pocket square from the exact same fabric, meaning same colour and pattern!
Tie and pocket square should work well together though. Complementing colours are a good option when you are confident to pull off the more colourful look. If not, a safe option is when the pocket square and tie have the same main colour but a different pattern.
3.) The casual look
Drop the suit pants. Depending on the colour and pattern of your suit you can combine your jacket with jeans, chinos or corduroy pants.
The more confident you are, the sharper you can set the contrast between the elegance of your jacket and the casualness of your trouser.
Keeping the vest helps to further emphasize the contrast between formal elegance and casualness, and also makes for a great look when you take of the jacket:
We hope this short guide on how to dress up your one suit for different looks has been inspiring to you. For more style advise from The Tailor Network read the following block posts:
If you want to put the concepts into action, we welcome you to see us for a free Design Session to create the perfect suit for you.
Our in-person design sessions are free, and you are not committing to anything.
We will discuss your ideas and preferences, walk you through the styles, fabrics,
and all the finishing touches - and together design the perfect suit for every occasion.