Suit
[citation needed] The suit's origins trace the simplified, sartorial standard established by the English king Charles II in the 17th century, following the example of his one-time host King Louis XIV's court at Versailles, who decreed that in the English Court men would wear a long coat, a waistcoat (then called a "petticoat"), a cravat (a precursor of the necktie), a wig, knee breeches (trousers), and a hat.
The paintings of Jan Steen, Pieter Bruegel the Elder, and other painters of the Dutch Golden Era reveal that such an arrangement was already used in Holland, if not Western Europe as a whole.
Good tailoring anywhere in the world is characterised by strongly tapered sides and minimal shoulder, whereas rack suits are often padded to reduce labour [citation needed].
[27] The patch pocket is, with its single extra piece of cloth sewn directly onto the front of the jacket, a sporting option, sometimes seen on summer linen suits or other informal styles.
[4] Suit jackets in all styles typically have three or four buttons on each cuff, which are often purely decorative (the sleeve is usually sewn closed and cannot be unbuttoned to open).
A cuffed sleeve has an extra length of fabric folded back over the arm, or just some piping or stitching above the buttons to allude to the edge of a cuff.
Traditionally, the bottom button of a waistcoat is left undone; like the vents in the rear of a jacket, this helps the body bend when sitting.
However, at various periods throughout the last century, flat-fronted trousers with no pleats have been worn, and the swing in fashions has been marked enough that the more fashion-oriented ready-to-wear brands have not produced both types continuously.
This was very high in the early half of the 20th century, particularly with formalwear, with rises above the natural waist,[35] to allow the waistcoat covering the waistband to come down just below the narrowest point of the chest.
Since then, fashions have changed, and have rarely been that high again, with styles returning more to low-rise trousers, even dropping down to have waistbands resting on the hips.
Those who prefer braces assert that, because they hang from the shoulders, they always make the trousers fit and hang exactly as they should, while a belt may allow the trouser waist to slip down on the hips or below a protruding midsection, and requires constant repositioning; also, they allow, indeed work best with, a slightly looser waist which gives room for natural expansion when seated.
Suit trousers can be worn at many formal and semi-formal occasions combined with a shirt that has no tie and a more relaxed fashion, which can be considered smart casual dress.
Legend has it that King Edward VII started the trend of leaving the bottom button of a suit as well as waistcoat undone.
A more general rule is for socks to be darker than the shade of the trousers, but potentially a different, instead matching some other part of the outfit such as the shirt or necktie.
By the 1980s, women were entering the white-collar workforce in increasing numbers, and their dress fashions adopted looks not dissimilar from men's business wear.
= Day (before 6 p.m.) = Evening (after 6 p.m.) = Bow tie colour = Ladies = Gentlemen Throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, the tailors of England, Italy, Spain, and France have been the leaders in the design of men's suits.
[42] The slim-fitting mohair and sharkskin suits developed in London and Milan during the 1960s were widely imitated by the mod subculture, and underwent a large scale revival during the late 2000s to mid 2010s due to their association with James Bond and Don Draper from Mad Men.
In the Southwestern United States, men's suits often feature detailing inspired by traditional Western wear, such as a pointed yoke and arrow pockets.
[47] Suit coats similar in appearance to the Ike jacket are also widespread, and it is common practice to wear cowboy boots instead of conventional dress shoes.
Country music singers and modern pop stars like Post Malone[48] or Brandon Flowers of The Killers sometimes wear flashy Nudie suits with rhinestones and intricate embroidery.
During the 1990s, driven in part by the meteoric rise of newly successful technology companies with different cultural attitudes, the prevailing management philosophy of the time moved in favour of more casual attire for employees; the aim was to encourage a sense of openness and egalitarianism.
Traditional business dress as an everyday style has been prevalent in middle- and upper-level corporate management (now sometimes collectively referred to as "suits"),[50] and the professions (particularly law).
Over time, suits have become less common at the executive level aside for job candidates and formal events, remaining in widespread use at other lives such as among middle-class hotel clerks and salespeople.
The combination of a tie, belt and waistcoat can be tight and restrictive compared to contemporary casual wear, especially when these are purchased at minimal cost and quality for rare occasions, rather than being made to be worn comfortably.
This tendency became prevalent enough that the Christian Science Monitor reported that a heavy jacket combined with a necktie and flimsy slacks was "a design that guarantees that its wearer will be uncomfortable" at any temperature.
[52] During the late 1960s and early 1970s, men's suits became less commonly worn, in much the same way that skirts and dresses were dropped by many women in favour of trousers.
Also remarkable is that the suit now frequently appears in Rock, Heavy Metal and Gothic happenings, even though such groups were once known for a rather rebellious tradition of clothing.
Artists and bands such as Nick Cave, Interpol, Marilyn Manson, Blutengel, Albert Hammond Jr of The Strokes and Akercocke are known for the use of formal clothing in music videos and stage performances.
Instead, professional Indian men began wearing the five button Nehru suit, made from khadi to support the local textile industry.
[citation needed] At any occasion where a suit is worn, it would also be acceptable to wear a long-sleeved or a short-sleeved barong tagalog, the national dress of the Philippines.
