Exploring The Cotton Suit
Wearing a TCR1982 cotton suit (Brisbane Moss - 320g), paired with cotton bespoke shirt and artisan wool-silk necktie.
Wearing a TCR1982 cotton suit (Brisbane Moss - 320g), paired with a white T-shirt.
Thinking about getting a cotton suit? You may be wondering if it's practical to have one made?
Let’s break it down by looking at the fundamental question behind every decision to tailor a garment; ‘when and where am I intending to put this on?’
Typically, you're either dressing for work or for leisure. To put it simply, any reason that falls outside of ‘work’ falls under the ‘leisure’ category. This affects how versatile and useful your new cotton suit will be.
From my personal experience, I’d say that cotton plays better in ‘leisure’ settings, that is unless ‘leisure’ is a part of your work. I tend to find myself wearing either the jacket or trousers separately in most occasions. As a full suit, it feels like there has to be a good enough reason to bring it out, especially when we are looking at the South-East Asia region. Separately, I can easily put either the jacket or the trousers on and head out to town with ease.
Before you commit to a cotton suit, know that cotton wears out aesthetically faster than wool. This may work in or against your favour depending on the look and purpose you are trying to achieve. This ‘aging’ effect on the fabric can create a ‘ragged’ impression, which has a sort of unique appeal to it.
In the two photos, you can see the contrast in both looks, where the left photo carry off a ‘professional’ image well enough (with the aid of a necktie) to a certain extent while the styling in the right photo brings about a smart look whilst carrying a casual vibe. Zooming in on the details, you can identify the subtle creases that give the look a slightly ‘ragged’ feel that was mentioned earlier.
A cotton jacket would easily work well in the context of styling for casual and leisure purpose, as there is a variety of options for the shirt and trousers to match it with. Referring to the right image above, the look will work just as well if the trousers were to be replaced with a pair of denim jeans.
Now, let’s explore having a cotton suit tailored for work. The industry you belong to decides how much you get to enjoy your cotton suit. Some industry let you dress more freely, while others observe stricter dress-code rules, like in law or finance.
To sum it up, having a cotton suit added to your collection is certainly wonderful. If the full suit doesn’t work out well for you after some time, you can still use the jacket or pants separately (as long as you don’t wear out either of the pieces). What is truly important is that you are keen enough to explore the look comfortably, and carry it confidently.
Sincerely,
Alexander K
