While every brand and retailer on earth sells clothes according to seasons, when it comes to suits and blazers, you’re more likely to see year-round fabric compositions than anything else. That’s understandable given that most men really just need one suit in their life—to wear to a funeral, wedding or religious service.
One of the dogmas of the online menswear crowd is that such a suit or blazer is basically a myth. Think about it: how can one garment handle the most extreme seasonal weather conditions in a typical city or town in the U.S.? If it’s light enough that you won’t be sweating to death in late July, how could it possibly be comfortable in the frigid depths of February?1
This is one reason I dress seasonally. Not only is it somewhat practical in that sense, it’s also something about my wardrobe that brings me joy. If you’re a parent you know that a great trick to stave off your kids’ boredom and familiarity with their toys is to rotate them into and out of storage. Well it turns out human psychology gains appreciation for things in their absence throughout adulthood, so every 6 months or so I get to pull clothes out of storage that I haven’t worn for a while and “rediscover” them. Right now I’m excited to be pulling out my flannel trousers, cold-weather sport coats, sweaters and winter coats.
Nonetheless, these past two years or so I’ve been re-evaluating that supposed myth of year-round tailored clothing. I’ve noticed two hangers staying on my closet shelf each season while the rest of them get rotated out. On one hangs a navy suit in a medium weight pin dot weave wool from Eidos. The other is a dark navy double-breasted blazer in a high-twist wool that resembles hopsack from Ring Jacket.
The navy suit functions as that one sincere suit that Put This On advocates that every man should have. I wear it to weddings, funerals and any other formal-enough event where only a suit will do (I own a pair of black cap toe shoes for those occasions as well).
But it’s the navy blazer that’s caused me to re-evaluate my strictly seasonal attitude. That’s because it’s become my go-to blazer, regardless of what month it is on the calendar. The fabric feels resilient so I don’t worry about it too much. I put smoked mother-of-pearl buttons on it, which makes it a little more versatile than if it had gold buttons or navy buttons (although I want to switch them out for brown horn soon just to change it up). And the weave of the wool is breathable enough for when it’s hot, but not so light it feels weird to wear in the winter.
Once my brain started breaking down those seasonal boundaries, it began thinking about other clothing items more flexibly. For instance, while I’ve long advocated for wearing cotton-linen shirts year-round, I’ve reserved my cotton-linen trousers only for the warm months. But to be honest that somewhat ignores the reality of the climate where I live; only today on November 1st does the forecast finally show temperatures below 70°F every day for the next 10 days. And it’s not like those cotton-linen trousers are some super light, flowy weave that’ll let the cold wind right through; they’re twill, which is the same as any pair of chinos. So yes, while they wear cooler than plain cotton chinos or a wool dress pant, in my climate they’ll be just fine at least through December.
And so to answer the question in the title, the answer is no, year-round tailoring is not a myth. But what those year-round garments look like doesn’t have to be the boring, mid-weight, plain-weave suits that most department stores sell. They can be interesting, textured garments in surprising fabrics like hopsack, cotton-linen blends or pin dot wool.
1I know what you’re screaming internally: We live in climate controlled buildings, cars and public transportation. This is what layering is for!!!! Yes, I know. It’s OK. Calm down. go back
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Where can I get that high twist navy blazer?
This particular one is from 2020 so it may not be stocked anymore. Check out my “shop my closet” page and I have like a half dozen links to different similar jackets (this one is listed under the “warm weather blazers” section]. Some might not be in stock at this point, but that reminds me I should update those links since it is kind of a year-round piece.
I’ll give my size advice: Size up 1 on Ring Jacket’s TAJ jacket fit. If you go with The Armoury’s Model 6 (which is made by Ring Jacket), take your normal size.
Thanks. A bunch of those links are dead.
Where did you track down smoke grey MOP buttons?
The retailer I bought the jacket from had them. But, YW Buttons is where I am probably going to buy the horn buttons I want to do: https://www.ywbutton.com/Smoke-Mother-of-Pearl-MOP-Suit-Buttons-p/jsbtrns.htm
Perfect, thanks much!
I also like dressing seasonally. But I do have several items that can be worn most of the year. The trick is to get something that has an open weave to help keep you cool in the summer, but enough weight so that you don’t get too cold when the weather turns chilly. For instance, I have a pair of mid-grey high twist three ply trousers that get use in all but the coldest days. The three ply gives it quite a bit of weight, which makes it wearable during colder days. I also have a rather heavy hopsack suit that is similarly versatile (although I use the jacket by itself more often than I do as part of a full suit).
Agree wholeheartedly with post and comments above, dress seasonally, but don’t get too married to fabrics/fabric content. I have a two lightweight flannel suits that can be worn well into spring, and in early fall, likewise, I have a slubby cotton field jacket that is more appropriate for fall winter, despite the fabric content. Also, like R Abbott above, I have some heavier (I don’t know the ply, three? four?) high twist trousers that work great in the summer, but also transition well into much cooler (but not the coldest) weather.