Features
A history of the suit
The invention of the modern suit, as a two or three pieces garment, is usually put down to the common sense of the English country gentleman of the late 18th century, acting in concert with his uniquely skilled London tailor. The story, however, goes much further back.
It was in Edward III’s reign that the notion of tailoring first took hold, although the word itself did not come into use until very late in the 13th century. Up to that time clothes were not shaped through cutting and construction, but hung more or less loosely, so that everyone looked rather like a relative of Friar Tuck.
It was the Italian Renaissance and humanism that changed the way people wanted to look. The loose robe or tunic was shortened, tightened, snipped and stitched to the contours of the body.
The new look proved a popular sensation to the discomfort of men in holy orders who were quick to equate tight clothing with loose morals. French observers attributed the English victory at the Battle of Crecy in 1346 to divine retribution against their side for dressing so indecently.
Italy lost the style lead to Spain, which instituted the sombre elegance of black. In England black was combined with cream, which is still today‘s formula for formal grace. Spain in turn abandoned cultural dominance to France; from powered wig to silver-buckled shoes, the Spanish gentlemen became chrysalis encased in brocades and satin, velvet and lace.
Charles II, upon returning from exile after the Cromwellian interlude, determined to invent something that would be distinctly English, and that would end the tyrannic vagaries of fashion by staying in style indefinitely.
On 3rd February 1661 Samuel Pepys, a son of a tailor, stepped out for the first time in his ‘coate’ which was a knee-length version of a loose riding garment that in its new form replaced the original tunic - padded doublet.
The introduction of the straight-cut, figure-fitted ‘vest’ took place in 1666. It was promoted personally by the king, and soon everybody who was anybody was wearing vests, or waistcoats, as they came to be called.
By 1670 bulging French ‘petticoat breeches’ was replaced with a much narrower style, cut to the knees. It was then that a three-piece suit was formally introduced, first in a line extending to the present day.
In France regulation wear at the Court of Versailles was still the outfit required of high society. Unlike their doomed French cousins, the upper classes of England were far from wasting time at Court, much preferring to romp about their country estates. Hunting was their particular pleasure, and since it was hardly possible to mount a horse in courtly grab, something had to change. And so coat-skirts were cut away at the front, leaving only tails at the back. It was at this point that the English country gentlemen made his great contribution to the future of civilisation.
Brocades and velvets were replaced with plain cloth cut for comfort and ease of movement. A hard-wearing woollen riding coat worn by country folk attracted the Aristocrats. In the 1770’s colours sobered to such extent that a shade of brown became so common that entered the language as a description of anything dull or monotonous.
The mood was infectious. Goethe in his novel written in 1774, The Sorry was of Young Werther, dresses his hero in a blue English tailcoat. This ‘Werther dress’ would be gradually accepted in Germany and eventually become standard throughout Europe.
In 1795, George Bryan Brummell made the acquaintance of the future George IV, Prince of Wales, and proceeded to mesmerise him with his wit and an extraordinarily fastidious sense of style. Though profligate and self-indulgent; the Prince as pupil proved the perfect conduit for the teachings of Burmmell, whose word on the exact cut of a coat or the starching of a stock could consequently not be denied.
Brummell established new rules. Quality became something one knew when one saw it, but was difficult to describe. It came down to cut, fit and exquisitely minute detail as well as to the sometimes mystical relationship of a man with his tailor. It has been said that Burmmell’s clothes were distinguished and seemed to melt into each other with the perfection of their cut and harmony of their colour.
Following the young Brummell, the tailors of London developed techniques for moulding the fine English cloth as a sculptural medium. Brummell’s arrogance and cruel wit eventually alienated the Prince and gambling brought on his ruin, but his dictates endure as the essential code of the well-dressed gentlemen to this day. Even his preference in blue colour would endure to the extent that the navy suit became the uniform of million through much of the 20th century.
During the 19th century the tailcoat evolved into formal dress. ‘Frock coat’ was replaced with the day after day tailcoat. Initially intended only to ‘lounge’ in, the tailcoat evolved into the suit as we know it.
