Image via Complex Original
Whether you're climbing the corporate ladder, a guy who leans to the dressier side of things, or just a dude who needs to attend the occasional wedding, all of us have worn a suit in our lifetime. But when putting on a jacket and trousers, have you ever stopped and wondered how, exactly, the suit became a standard part of any stylish man's wardrobe? Why are elements like lapels, ties, cuffs, and break even a thing? The modern iteration of the suit has become familiar after an existence of over a century, but we bet you're not as knowledgeable as you might think when it comes to the style staple. Click through 12 Things You Didn't Know About Suits, because knowledge reigns supreme over nearly everything.
There are over 220 components in a suit.
There's a reason why a bespoke suit can take weeks, if not months, to complete. It's the same reason why expert tailors have to apprentice for years before they're allowed to construct a full suit. It might just look like a suit jacket and a pair of pants but the actual construction of a suit includes over two hundred and twenty components. If you ever head to the London's famed Savile Row and are lucky enough to be shown the cutting room floor, you'll be overwhelmed at the number of tools, materials, and things you can't even put a name to are required to create a suit.
The suit would not exist without Beau Brummell.
Beau Brummell is the OG of menswear. He was ahead of his time, living it up as an eccentric dandy who was a social star of England's upper crust—he claimed to take five hours a day to get dressed and polished his shoes with champagne. Brummell is largely credited for being the first person to establish the idea that the importance of one's outfit should rest on tailoring and fit. By the early 19th century, he had influenced literal royalty so thoroughly that England's most notable figures of high society converted to Brummell's manner of dress, which was the prototype for the modern-day suit. It's wild to think that an individual is solely responsible for the ubiquity of the suit, but it's true. A statue of Beau Brummell even stands on a street that is stocked with shops that cater to suit-wearers.
The British Empire helped make the suit the unofficial uniform for men around the world.
In the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the British Empire was the superpower the rest of the world (whether willingly or unwillingly) looked to as arbiters of taste. As Britain's military and colonial efforts spread across the globe, so too did elements of its society and customs, including the way the English dressed. During this period, King Edward VII was king, and he was the first British monarch to rule during the rise of mass-produced newspapers and photography. When he visited various countries, the image of him in a suit caught on and resonated with men outside of the United Kingdom. Soon, the suit was making the global rounds as the standard means of dress.
Savile Row tailored military garments and uniforms before suits.
Every menswear enthusiast knows that Savile Row is the Mecca of suits; some of the world’s most expertly tailored creations come from this one street in London. However, before beautiful suits found a home on Savile Row, the street was known for designing military garments and uniforms for high-ranking British and Scottish officers. It wasn't until European leaders such as Napoleon the III, Queen Victoria, and other members of royalty across Europe began to come to street for their tailoring needs did the street open up and begin tailoring clothing outside of the military arena.
To be a tailor on Savile Row, you are required to possess a serious set of skills.
To protect its reputation of creating some of the best made suits in the world, The Savile Row Bespoke Association was established in 2004, and requires all members to be at the top of their game before gaining entry as a member. The requirements and skills include:
-Individually cut a paper pattern produced by a Master Cutter
-Have personal supervision of production by the Master Cutter
-Employ at least one salaried apprentice cutter or tailor at any given time
-Typically create a two-piece suit almost completely by hand – with at least 50 hours of hand work
-Provide an expert cloth consultant on the premises
-Offer a choice of a least 2000 fabrics to the customer, which may include a range of exclusive cloths
-Retain full customer records and order details
-Provide first-class after care for garments including sponging, pressing, repairs and button matching
The term "bespoke" has an interesting origin.
Bespoke is a term that was born out in the tailoring world of the 17th century. A traditional bespoke suit means a customer selects the fabric that his suit will be constructed from. These reams of fabric lived in the tailor's shop, so if another customer asked for the same material, he would be informed that that specific option had "been spoken for."
Extra stitching on a new suit isn't a bad thing.
Ever worn a brand new suit and realized there's some extra stitching on the shoulder? You might think whoever put together your suit did a sloppy job; however, it’s actually the other way around. When a suit is being constructed, rough stitches with white thread are used to hold the different pieces of fabric in place. These are called the baste stitches. To show the quality, craftsmanship, and time that went into the creation of a well-made suit, tailors tend to leave the baste stitch on the shoulder of the suit as an indication to the customer that they made a wise choice.
Functioning cuff buttons have gross origins.
Early in the 19th century, medical personnel in the military were still required to be suited up. However, when performing surgery in the heat of battle, these doctors and surgeons would routinely get their jackets stained with the blood of their patients. To avoid having a jacket ruined with these nasty stains, the tailors on Savile Row introduced functional buttons on the cuffs of a jacket's sleeve. Theyse were named the surgeon cuff. This allowed these battlefield doctors to easily roll up their sleeves and avert having to walk around with blood-soaked sleeves.
Leaving one suit button undone stems from a fat king.
It’s common etiquette to leave the bottom of your suit button undone. What most men don’t know is the history of undoing the last button of the suit was due to the rotund King Edward II. The king kept packing on the pounds until he could no longer fully button his waist coat. To relieve the pressure of the fitted vest, he one day casually unbuttoned the last button for a little more comfort. Of course, his lackeys quickly followed suit to make Edward feel at ease. As the general public began to see the king with his bottom button undone, the masses quickly adopted the maneuver on their waist coats and suit jackets. Today’s modern suits continue this tradition by being designed to leave the last button undone, and with a cut that flares slightly at the hips.
The most expensive suit in the world is Stuart Hughes's diamond encrusted suit.
The Stuart Hughes Diamond encrusted suit is currently the world’s most expensive suit, clocking in with a $892,250 price tag, shattering the previous record holder by nearly seven times the price. The suit is constructed out of a blend of wool and silk, but what puts this suit in a league of its own are an absurd amount of diamonds. The jacket portion of the Stuart Hughes suit is lined with over 480 diamonds that come to a total weight of 240 carats. Only three were made, and each required 600 hours of labor. It serves as just another reminder that price doesn't equal taste, since this looks like something you'd see at a "Jersey Shore" themed wedding.
The pockets on new suits are sewn shut for a variety of reasons.
Ever tried on a brand new suit and noticed that all the pockets on the suit are sewn in completely shut? Tailors make sure the pockets of a suit are sewn in for many reasons. The first reason the pockets are tightly closed is to make sure that the suit maintains its correct shape when it's in the final stages of being completed during the pressing process. This is the same reasons vents are typically sewn shut. Secondly, the suit looks much better on display when the pockets are tightly sewn together. Finally, the pockets are sewn together to keep the suit clean and free from customers' grimy hands. Once you do cop a suit, you should get a sharp pair of scissors and carefully snip your pockets open so you can put them to use.
The reason why male and female suits button on opposite sides is due to very outdated circumstances.
For men, the buttons have always been placed on the right hand side of the jacket, while women's jackets have always had buttons on the left. The reasoning behind this difference is rooted in the way upper class men and women used to dress a few centuries ago, along with a few assumptions. The men’s buttons are on the right hand side of a suit because, back in the day, it was assumed that men dressed themselves and were predominantly right-handed. Women of high society, on the other hand, dressed with the help of a maid. Having the buttons on the left hand side made it easier for the maid, since she was facing the wearer. And now you know how to avoid the embarrassment of accidentally wearing a women's suit.
