Silly season is over; it’s time to embrace great tailoring once more
“I wear suits now,” says The Bear’s Richie. “It makes me feel better about myself.” In the new series of the hit TV show, which is already laden with Emmy nominations, the reformed deadbeat character finds his purpose in the world of Michelin dining and demonstrates it by ditching his juvenile overalls and finding form in serious suiting. It’s a moment that’s as delicious as the restaurant’s bone broth with grapes.
It also perfectly illustrates the power and presence of a great suit, and what it does to a man’s frame when he puts one on. The shoulders that pull back, the back that straightens, the glorious architecture within the canvas designed to help a man look his best. With September’s arrival, summer’s sandals and shorts are replaced once more by clothes with substance, particularly as we return to the office.
Perhaps I’m sentimental, but the recent passing of Savile Row tailoring icon Edward Sexton was a reminder of the quiet majesty a suit can bestow; Edward was surgical in his approach to manipulating small details to best serve a man’s frame and it showed in the cut and rigour of his distinctive suits.
Then there’s the gradual return of suiting to the catwalks and an emphasis on a sense of properness over slouchy, casualwear-inspired shapes; designers such as Dolce & Gabbana, Giorgio Armani, Givenchy and Hermes putting focus on the slope of a shoulder, the slant of a trousers instead of opting for sportswear.