All
dressed
up
A suit is so much more
than a sum of its parts.
Whether you are all
dressed up in white
tie, morning coat or a
more casual lounge suit,
Ascott Living looks at
the best way to achieve
sartorial elegance
There was a time when many
men would proudly boast OF
owning just one suit, a multi purpose
(usually black) formal affair that was taken
out of the cupboard and dusted off for
weddings and funerals – and perhaps the
odd celebratory event in between, an outfit
never influenced by time or fashion.
Historically a suit marked you out as
being of a certain class, with a level of
executive responsibility. In fact in the
12 AS COTT LIVING
US and Europe, a type of collar was used
to describe your job: blue collar worker
was the terminology given to those who
performed manual labour while white
collar workers were those with office jobs.
And there’s no doubt about it: even in
this age of equality, wearing a suit makes
people sit up and take notice.
As time has gone by, the suit has
grown in popularity for all occasions.
Indeed the menswear market in 2014 was
6.
predicted to top US$402 billion according
to ReportLinker — a 14 percent increase
over just five years. As class barriers break
down, this uniform of the middle classes
has lost its sombre associations. While
many have seen casual Friday extend
to the rest of the working week, there
are others who spend hours poring over
different fabrics, getting excited about weft
and weave, single or double breasted and
the changing fashions for lapels.