Even that requires a tailored suit, not an off the rack one. I just can't see the dichotomy the author mentions. Suits are clothes and they can be modern or not just like anything else. The differences are that older clothes were generally made to last longer, and that suits can be tailor made. But suits can be also cheap and low quality, they can be ill fitting, and here it doesn't matter if they're old or modern.

As for comfort, look at clothes you'd wear for relaxing on the couch or for extended periods like a long flight. A suit can be comfortable for a suit but otherwise they're mainly a matter of looks rather than comfort.

I don't think you can adjust all of that with suits either. Unless you have them tailor made. But you can also have your jeans tailor made. I was never happy with the state of male trousers, so I had some tailor made. It doesn't have to be a suit.

The same goes for the rest of the arguments. Buttons? Plenty of jeans have buttons. Plenty of suit pants don't.

Do you want pockets? Ever heard of cargo pants?

And jackets can certainly have advantages, but that doesn't have to be a suit jacket. There are other kinds of jackets.

It's fine to like suits if that's what you like, but none of this is unique to suits. Except ties.

">Suits are made to be able to be tailored to the wearer’s measurements. But modern clothes aren’t."

It's understandable that modern pre-made clothes have to trade off the number of sizes and fittings. Unlike tailored clothes, economies of production mean they cannot be an ideal fit for everyone.

However, what I find completely inexcusable is that modern pants' pockets are almost inevitably too small, and often even zippers are too short making changing in and out of them awkward. These are rarely an issue with suits.

I'm fed up having my smartphone, keys and coins fall to the floor whenever I sit down. The problem is even worse in vehicles as the seats tilt back further. I've permanently lost smartphones because of shallow pockets.

Unlike clothes' sizes, there is no intrinsic limitation to pocket sizes, so why do we continue tolerate pockets that are not fit for purpose?

It's not only a pants problem, shirts regularly have pockets that are too shallow to take a pen, even the upper pockets of my overalls are not deep enough for a pen let alone a notebook or 6" rule.

Surely I'm not the only person who whinges about this. Why are pocket sizes a problem nowadays when never so decades ago?

> I didn't see any defense for neckties

I've told my wife I'll wear one to my funeral.

Yeah sorry the womens clothes rant was a bit of venting off while speaking about clothing.

Regarding neck ties this was my only comment:

> Note: ties feel a bit useless but at least they hide my belly when movement slightly opens the shirt.

Also adjustments have nothing to do with comfort unless before the adjustments it was a clown suit. You'll look better if it's tailored but it's not more comfortable than a sweat suit. Whoever says a suit is more comfortable I just take as performative in the sense that they really like wearing suits for other reasons and extend that feeling to other attributes.

Suits are not practical clothing for daily life, it's just natural it faded away to special occasions, and even there it's only because of tradition, ties are the most dorky-looking accessory if you really think about it without associating suits with looking good by default.

I own tailored suits, Italian dress shoes, tailored shirts, silk ties (both neckties as well as bow ties). I'm writing this from experience, I had a whole 15 years phase of being interested in clothing for men.

You can also look way better with contemporary clothing, designed with beautiful cuts forming interesting silhouettes, just don't buy bad-looking/cheap-looking clothes. Those can also be much more practical for daily use, they can be made with great fabrics (including wool), are usually easier to take care of, and don't make you look like a try-hard with a formal attire in day-to-day situations.

Casual clothes are not just sweatpants, jeans, hoodies, etc. there's a whole world of contemporary clothes that aren't chinos with polos and boat shoes.

Suits have become symbols of power, if you are not trying to look like that but want to look good there are plenty of other options available...

> When a suit is your daily driver, you'll get it tailored and set up correctly.

How far back in time do you have to go for that to be generally true? I'm 70 from South West England and I hardly know anyone who had a tailored suit, almost everyone just bought them off the peg even when I was very young. Even fifty years ago wearing an actual suit to work where I lived was relatively rare too even for people who were more than a generation older; it was something that only people in a few professions did (lawyers, estate agents, some doctors, some academics, etc.).

How is that possible? In my mind in an ideal piece of clothing you can equally do (light) physical activity, or just lay around, and is low maintenance, easy to wash, doesn't wrinkle. A suite the antithesis of this.

> Its a tragedy that most men only wear suits for special occasions

What, exactly, has been lost here?

Suits look extremely hot and uncomfortable. I've never worn one. I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars to have one tailor made to my proportions. I don't like the way they look. Why on earth would I wear a suit?

Just wear a light colored linen suit without a tie. You’ll look great

Suit is the antithesis of clothes. It's uncomfortable and you need to pay attention 24/7 not to ruin it. Basically the male equivalent of high-heels. The first thing I require from clothes is practicality - I don't want to shit myself every time I step into mud or get sweaty or am cold or whatever.

>offer their condolences if you're in a suit (either a wedding or a funeral)

Nice, nice

I have similar sensory issues with long pants and long sleeved shirts. I have avoided wearing a long sleeve shirt nearly entirely (I actually can handle dress shirts somehow) for decades now.

It really sucks. I have similar problems with room temperature. If I'm too hot or sweaty it's extremely difficult to focus on work.

The worst part is that my air temperature tolerance isn't, like, coherent. In the summer I'm far too hot at 72 degrees and have to run the AC more than is reasonable. Then during the winter I am far too cold at 72 degrees. It's very silly. I tend to forget how much this affects me, and delay turning on the heat in the fall for too long, and just kind of struggle for a while without realizing it.

Lol, I grew up in a place with miserably hot and muggy summers, but I was very self-conscious of my skinny legs because someone made a weird comment one single time, so I almost never wore shorts through all my teenage years.

I eventually got over that, but now I live in a much cooler climate where shorts aren't really expected, even in the warmer seasons, and I'm grateful because I do feel more comfortable with pants (and long sleeves, for that matter).

Different strokes/neuro-eccentricities for different folks!

I myself have got very little problem with fabric on my arms or legs in general. The problem is, of course, temperature. Without any sort of reference to suits that are short sleeved, short legged, and a single layer of fabric, it feels like the article is just way off base. It's great that the author has found something he enjoys. But there are many reasons why others don't share his enthusiasm.

I consider myself "neurotypical", and have been working from home for a while now not getting any younger.

I don't even bother with clothing at all sometimes. It's also nice to shower midday and cook all my own meals. It's very nice to skip daily driving. It's amazing to not be too exhausted keep my home clean.

My point is, don't assume that neurotypical people aren't carrying at least some amount of stress from the things that bother you. It's just clearly a lot less stress.

Do you have sensory issues with specific fabrics as well? I have the same issues with long sleeves and it’s made much worse when it’s polyester. I can tolerate loose long sleeved cotton/linen pants much better.

I am exactly the same way. This year I had to attend a wedding during the heat wave in Germany (no AC anywhere). It was a sensory nightmare. Other guests seemed to just tank it or even somehow enjoy the weather…

I don’t think I’m Neurodivergent, but I hate long sleeves, too. And short sleeves, I like long sleeve shirts with the cuffs rolled or pushed up to the elbows.

Side-effect of being very tall and outgrowing shirts quickly as a youth.

You’re not neurodivergent, wtf people self diagnose like this as if it were some great discovery about themselves. Here’s another discovery you may not have made yet: we cannot know what others feel inside, even when they claim to tell us… they will just say what they think they should say or you want to hear. Revealing your inner thoughts is extremely difficult for most people, neurodivergent or not. Guessing others feelings about things also.

I'd be curious to try a high-quality tee, I may have never worn one. I kind of assumed beyond a certain floor (100% cotton, decent fit) the price is just brand recognition? I end up wearing a lot of tees from events or bands, and I have noticed the Gildan ones do feel a lot better usually, but that's about the only difference I ever feel in tee shirts

You can also learn to make your own tshirts. Sewing is a useful skill in general, and tshirts are pretty easy. The neck band is a bit of a challenge, but other than that it's just cutting fabric to a template and sewing pieces together using a sewing machine.

So you get your fabrics and tailor for less then two bucks?

Otherwise no, custom-made shirts are not universally cheaper than off the shelf

I wonder how much of that is subsidized by the proprietors pursuing the custom-tshirt business lyfe

Where is this?

Cost optimisation. It really comes down to cost. Maybe not over full lifetime, but still at purchase time.

Modern fashion dictates simply wearing whatever you are most comfortable in. Most people don't find suits to be comfortable (because they don't put in the effort to get them properly fitted, granted), and thus default to other styles of clothing. But if suits are what you are most comfortable in, then that is what the fashion suggests you must wear. Comfort is the fashion.

I do enjoy wearing suit pants that are lined. It's like wearing satin shorts.

Linen, linen blend.

Polyester is great. Not in suits perhaps, but otherwise, it doesn't absorb sweat and so it's a much better option than cotton in warmer climates.

The argument he makes is that suits are designed to be easily tailored, and tailored for many different aspects of the body.

Modern clothes aren't as easy to tailor, because the seams aren't placed well for tailoring, and the patterns / fabric shape also doesn't tailor well.

I have a pair of jeans where Levi's has inexplicably decided to use buttons instead of a zipper. Why??? It's a struggle every time i go to a urinal.

I think zippers from 40 years ago were much more likely to fail than they are today. I remember multiple failed jacket zippers when I was a kid, and having to fix them at the worst time.

But I can't think of any zippers, other than ones put under too much stress like an overstuffed bag or suitcase, that have failed recently.

Real backpacks should come equipped with a replacement zipper. In a secret pocket you will remember about it when you will need to remember.

The pain you feel when the zipper of your beloved 20-years old backpack fails is overwhelming. It rips through your soul. And all I want to do in that moment is to remember that I have a secret pocket inside it which keeps my replacement zipper. The feeling of having it there ready for me to fix my brother in arms will also give me an extra 20 years of good life. Small things. Matter. So much.

A well designed set of buttons is much faster to open than a zipper, and about as fast to close. I've got a number of jeans with button flies where opening them is a single handed smooth motion. I've unfortunately also got a number where it's a real fight for each individual button.

I also love my hoodies, but zippers do get stuck every now and then if there’s anything on the way or if you accidentally zip them without locking the bottom thingy. So I’d prefer some sort of hoodie with 4-6 big buttons that I think I’ve seen on the street but not in stores.

> Suits, neckties etc are decorations to project status, they are not functional, IMO. Same with shoes.

The function of suits is to flatter the imperfect human body, by adding structure and bulk in places like the shoulder, to slim the waist, and basically make the typical male look like a V. The necktie adds visual interest, basically an arrow pointing to your face and not the rest of your body. The wig hides an obvious indicator of aging. Hats were very useful when people spent a lot more time outside.

I don't know of many who think shoes aren't functional, other than the most diehard barefoot advocates.

You can think that appearance isn't functional, but tons of studies show that people do judge each other on appearances. Projecting status is the function of clothes, suits just occupy a rung above what is currently popular and what people usually want to project. People wear jeans all the time even though they don't work in the trades.

I don't ever get compliments if I'm not wearing a suit. Not a single one.

This is just a cultural effect.

You would be very surprised at how well a good summer suit can breathe. If you tell your tailor that you need a suit that you can wear outside in the summer, they absolutely will point in the right direction with regards to material and fit.

I wear shorts and a t-shirt about 360 days a year. Long sleeves and pants are reserved for weddings, funerals and avoiding poison ivy and insect bites.

Jeans are the weirdest default style, a throwback to when they were a symbol of the US's cultural domination. They're often designed to project an image of hard work and use that very few of us do today. They are one of the few pieces of clothing that we intentionally buy pre-damaged with fades, rips, and holes since it skips over the actual hard work we would need to do to achieve those fades, rips, and holes.

In modern times, there are better options than jeans for almost all work tasks, and modern jeans are usually not designed for work as they're cut too slim and made with spandex. Jeans are basically a costume.

What's stopping you? I know it might seem a flippant question but I mean it seriously.

Such clothing, or at least a plausible copy, would be much cheaper now than it was then. I don't do the kingly robe thing but I do wear colourful clothes almost every day and people love it. I was stopped in the street yesterday by a woman who wanted to take my picture.

Fancy robe at home (union said no to RTO gelul, camera off because I don't want to explain the fancy robe), mid suit to the office once in two weeks to prevent the card from being blocked, a normie shirt for the calls when the camera is better to be on.

After writing this I wondered myself how sick would it be to be able to walk around in robes or togas. There must be a reason that kind of clothing has had so much success.

It sounds like I would like more personalised but I would like to know how you imagine it working.

Years ago the a custom shoe maker opened with a laser scan of the feet in their ‘shop’ (no products) and then choosing shoes online that they made to fit. They couldn’t fit my feet (I don’t know why). They no longer exist as a company.

I had some shirts from an online custom fit shirt maker, send your measurements and they make shirts. Taking my own measurements without the skill of a tailor is hard and the results were okay-ish but not great. Doubtless if I had kept doing it I would have improved - at great expense and waste.

I know someone who buys several pairs of the same jeans online at once, expecting that “the same” measurements will vary a lot because mass-manufacture of clothes doesn’t do fine tolerances, and has the intention to send most of them back. (And I stress this isn’t buying multiple sizes to choose the best, it’s buying multiple same-size expecting they will actually be noticeably different fits).

I can’t see that industry turning into significantly better ‘custom’ while still being ‘mass’.

The problem is that mass-produced clothing is not really machine-manufactured, it's assembly-lined and streamlined but most of the work is done by rooms of women with sewing machines (try designing a shirt or pants that can be 100% machine made). We can automate parts like the pattern cutting but the whole system is set up for 1 big order and there's no existing logistics chain to handle 1000 individual orders in many different styles.

The suits they make for bodyguards often have hidden stretch panels for greater mobility.

In reality, the sport coat was originally designed for equestrian sports. Modern fashion has turned the sporty features into aesthetic features. A equestrian wouldn't buy a normal sport coat and someone looking for a nice jacket to wear to brunch wouldn't buy a polo jacket.

This slightly resembles what I'd buy as a sport coat but the cut is a bit different because this coat is actually intended for horseback riding whereas my sport coat is cut for general comfort.

https://rjclassics.com/products/knight-melton-hunt-coat-blac...

Very cool. I'm now actively searching for a yukata. Thanks for sharing!

not really, and you dry clean them pretty seldomly

Is he a confident person and handsome/good build?

Ie maybe it's not the suit or the suit alone

> Even a with scratch built tailored suit, the trousers would wear through though.

And this is the ultimate downfall of a suit. When jeans and t-shirts start to show wear then they transition from street clothes to work clothes and continue to live a useful life. As for suits, well, having a tie dangling around machinery isn't the best combo. Not even during peak suit did people wear them in the field.

Does it have to be any hat or that particular hat that I'm seeing in my head now?

If I see a person with a generic arm tattoo, hoodie with skateboard logo, and sweat pants, it express the same amount of uniformity as a person in a bad off-the-rack suit with a boring tie.

Only if you're exceptionally lazy with it. Sure, everybody's got to have a black suit for winter weddings and funerals, but you've got a lot more freedom with your summer suit. Whole range of shirt colors, neckwear is a whole world of fashion choices, etc.

I also find ironing a waste of time. That’s why I only buy non iron shirts.

And suits are not the only piece of clothing with many pockets or with buttons. So the whole argument is “I like custom fitted suits”

Author here. Women clothing is another whole beast. Not sure if it’s due to fashion or historical reasons but convenience is the last priority in women’s fashion.

You'be been waiting for a blog post to make this decision?

True, and that's one reason suits disappeared:

People had to wear a suit and wanted it to be as cheap as possible, which led to a race to the bottom in suit quality. In the end we had fused jackets and synthetic fabrics which made you sweat with people in turn not even bothering to get cuffs and hems adjusted. Absolutely horrible. This is why casual took over.

Maybe it's time for us to recognize that a good suit serves you for years and decades and as such can cost a few hundred bucks.

And despite the little supply due to classical menswear being irrelevant today, there are also incredible deals to be found at goodwills and the like.

They are kinda high maintenance too, can't just throw a bunch in a washer machine.

If you're comparing good jeans and a good t shirt then not In my experience. Likewise you can also buy a crappy suit for not a lot of money. I think the core point stands that a suit gives pretty good bang for your buck now and hasn't been enshittified as much as casual clothing is.

Gloom weather season coming to the continent, everybody needs a good excuse to fly to their tailoring destination of choice, get a suit tailored and visit some temples. Or whatever you do there.