Dappered

Affordable Men's Style

Hot Weather Suits: Linen vs. Seersucker

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Hot Weather Suits – Linen vs. Seersucker

The Turaeg think you're a wuss.
The Turaeg think you're a big fat wuss.

Who turned the heat up on the planet?  The entire Northern Hemisphere feels like Mother Nature bumped the knob on her oven to “broil.”  It’s summer, it’s hot, and yet that’s no excuse to not wear a suit.  You just need to make sure it’s a suit that’s made to reflect the suns rays, all while letting your body heat escape through a breathable fiber.  Make the right choice and you’ll be more comfortable and look better than most.

Now is it really possible to wear long sleeves and pants and not die of heatstroke?  Of course.  Just look at the Tuareg tribes who have been living in the Sahara forever.  You don’t see many of them walking around in tank tops and cargo shorts.  You’ve got two real options when it comes to suits for blistering hot summer days.  Here they are…
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Linen Suits – J. Crew Ludlow $386.00 | INC Cotton/Linen Suit – $100.00

The J. Crew Linen Ludlow and INC Linen/Cotton blend.
The J. Crew Linen Ludlow and INC Linen/Cotton blend.

Linen breathes like no other.  Wearing a pure cotton suit is a step up from wool, but a linen or linen cotton blend suit is an upgrade from that.  They wrinkle like all hell, but that’s more than acceptable.  The J. Crew Ludlow is obviously the much higher quality of the two and the fit is perfect.  The INC Cotton Linen is still available at Macy’s at a ridiculously low price.  For all the guys who earlier this year thought that maybe a pure-white INC linen suit might be too much?  If it’s now over 100 degrees every day where you live… that might no longer be an issue.
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Brooks Brothers Fitz. Seersucker – $238.00 (reg. 398) | Jos. A Bank Seersucker – $199.99

Two older brands trim up for summer.
Two older brands trim up for summer.

Seersucker is superior to a flat cotton fabric for hot weather because the stripes in seersucker are raised.  The space between each stripe allows for the fabric to sit higher up on your skin, causing the air to circulate more freely between you and your suit.  Is seersucker a little dandyish?  Yeah, but it’s really hot.  And seersucker works.

The Brooks Brothers Fitzgerald line is their slimmest, with narrow lapels and thankfully higher arm holes.  The seersucker suit from Jos. A Bank is unusually modern looking for that brand.  It’s widely available in four different color options,  the silhouette doesn’t look half bad,and at $200 it’s affordable.  Maybe consider sizing down in the jacket just in case it shows up and it’s a little big.

Good luck staying cool this summer.  And for God sakes if you do choose to go the “it’s just so damn hot I think I’ll run naked behind this here news reporter” route…  have the common decency to wear a ski mask:

Comments

  2. Have you actually seen the Jos. A. Bank suit in person? Because even though it looks good on their website, in reality it might still be one of their usual sacks with too much shoulder padding.

  3. I haven’t seen it in person, but if you click through to their website, the description does say: “Soft shoulders.” Through the body it’s probably a little boxy, but, I’d just size down in the jacket and have it darted in by my tailor. I’ll see if I can fit a field trip in to check one out in person.

  5. I’m sorry, but it would have to be a special occasion to get me in a suit in these temps. I would consider a breathable dress shirt and a light undershirt, but adding a third layer is too much for me when the thermometer edges closer to 100.

  6. Haven’t seen that in person either, but for $200? Not bad. I like the peak lapels (and usually I’m a notch guy)

  7. @TheMeInTeam: Just got back from an in-store field trip. The jacket isn’t bad. There is some shoulder padding there so it’s not like it’s unstructured or anything, but I wouldn’t say too much. Contouring is minimal but the body isn’t huge. They only had a 40L in stock and I’m either a 40S or 38R but I tried it on anyway. It’s light, the arm holes are decently high for a Jos. A Bank, and if I got it in a 40s and had my Tailor do her thing, I think it’d look good. I’d still probably size down though in the jacket just to minimize the cutting and stitching she’d have to do. I’m more of a linen suit guy myself but if I was really gunning for a seersucker? These aren’t too bad (but I think it’s fair to assume that the Brooks Brothers will be much better.)

  8. So whats does the Dappered man wear to casual things during the summer? Say like to school in Texas heat.

  9. I wear a bad ass raincoat with khakis and desert boots to summer school since its been raining a lot in houston

  10. @markin: What kind of school? High School? College? Not a suit to either… you’d be drawing a lot of attention to yourself. Too much if you ask me.

  11. lol I agree, no suit to either. I’m not from the south, but it has been 95+ with high humidity for the past week or more up here so I might as well be. I’m currently taking a summer class, but it falls right after work. My workplace is pretty casual, so I just wear the same thing to both.

    I’ve been mixing up light colored chinos, different shorts from J.Crew/Banana Republic, with my express polos or various button down shirts (sleeves rolled up, and untucked) I own. I’ll then wear my PF Flyers or nice sandals or desert boots depending on the pants/shorts.

    I think that sort of outfit (lots of ways to mix and match) works pretty well at looking better than average but also staying cool.

    Speaking of dress shirts I have come to the hard realization that I really can’t stand any shirt except for the express fitted 1MX. Nothing comes close to the fit. I’m thinking express’ other fitted shirts (striped and the ones with epaulets) are probably around the same fit too. This is pretty much because of not only the actual fit around the body but also the length of its tails. So many other shirts are super long and I don’t ever really like to tuck in unless I am wearing a jacket or sweater or something over it.

  15. @Joe, have you ever looked at Haspel suits? My brother turned me onto them, and they’re basically all I buy now. They’re boxy off the rack, but I get mine pinned back and then they look great. There’s a seersucker now available for dirt cheap at Sierra Trading Post, though I already have a pincord one from them so I don’t really need a seersucker. Anyway, what do you think of them?