A few decades ago, wearing a suit was unpleasant at best. They were uncomfortable, bulky, stiff monstrosities that made you feel the opposite of cool, powerful, and sexy.
Then along came Mad Men, J. Crew, and How I met your Mother. That was the pivot point. It’s not hyperbole to say those three made wearing a suit fun again.
Those and other pop culture touchstones killed off the hard shoulder pads and cascading accordion pleats our fathers and grandfathers looked and felt miserable in. In came a new era of easier wearing, very sharp looking men’s suits. Other brands and retailers followed.
The overall philosophy that wearing a suit should be fun and make you look awesome thankfully continues today.
Inside J. Crew’s suit jacket construction.
J. Crew usually excludes their suit separates from their regular rotation of codes and promos… but not now. It’s their twice-a-year suit sale. And as J. Crew makes suit separates instead of traditionally nested suits, you’ll get to pick the size of the jacket and then the size of the corresponding trousers. Getting more precise can help minimize post-purchase tailoring costs. It’s also great for those who don’t fall into the usual suit sizing “drop” zones, as traditionally “nested” suits come with a jacket wedded to a pair of trousers (industry standard is a “drop 6″ Example: a nested 40R jacket would come with 34” trousers.) That’s not so with J. Crew. Separates are much more flexible. You pick what you want.
Ready or not here comes wedding season, interviews, etc. Or maybe you love wearing a suit because it just looks great. NOTE: Brace yourselves for noticeable price increases due to inflation, the new tariff realities, etc.
Their flagship Italian wool suits. Fabric comes from Loro Piana, which is a famous Italian fabrics producer. Six colors to choose from including a very summer-wedding-ready pale grey. Half canvas construction. Sleeve cuff buttons are non-functioning for easy tailoring. In terms of styling: know that you are very much not required to wear your pants “flood stage” short as the J. Crew models are doing. That’s just something the stylists seem to do for their photos. Trousers shouldn’t be artificially cropped in terms of fit out of the box. It’s just J. Crew doing J. Crew things with their visuals.
Same Loro Piana superfine wool fabrics, just in their more athletic leaning Crosby fit. Not as many colors to choose from compared to the Ludlow though. C’mon J. Crew! Show the Beast Mode fellas some love! Totally don’t understand why there’s no gray option here.
Slightly different fabric compared to the first suits listed. Fabric is a worsted wool from Italy’s Lanificio Di Tollegno. It’ll look a little more interesting and less flat than most other suit fabrics, without shouting or being weird or shiny.
Same fabric, Crosby fit. Again, the Crosby is their more athletic fitting suit separates with more room in the shoulders, chest, seat, thighs, etc. And if you’re wondering, you can mix and match Ludlow and Crosby items. Say, a Ludlow jacket and Crosby trousers for the quadzillas out there. (soccer players? cyclists? kangaroos?) Just make sure you’re getting the exact same fabric and color so they’ll match.
Yes, some of their shoe (and boot) collection is included in this event. Full review of these oxfords can be found here. Really wish they made these in dark brown along with black.
A smart casual workhorse for many. Every year J. Crew makes an unconstructed sportcoat cut from Moon Mills (UK) cotton/wool fabric. These are them. The solid (but still marled) options have matching trousers, so you can make a suit out of them if you’d wish. But the jackets work just fine if not better as stand alone sportcoats, with their light structure, no lining in the back, and 53% cotton/47% wool fabric. Wear them with jeans, chinos, performance-fabric 5 pockets, etc.
At present, J. Crew is strangely selling two tiers of penny loafers, with bizarrely almost identical descriptions despite them being clearly different:
– A cheaper version (item AV166)
– These shown above (item BJ009)
They’re both called the Camden. But the option shown above appear to be higher quality/of J. Crew’s upgraded “Ludlow” line. Stitched leather sole, “gentleman’s notch” at the heel, etc. Available in brown or black.
From J. Crew’s “unsuit” line, these are unstructured (meaning you can forget that canvassing and interlining graphic towards the top of the post) and meant to be worn more casually than their wool suits. Absolutely no lining in the back and no shoulder pads. Made to look, wear, and feel extra-breezy. Perfect for spring, summer, and early fall. Cotton/linen blend from Ireland’s Baird McNutt. The mid-blue “deep water” option has gotten lots of coverage here on Dappered over the years. It looks great with jeans. It looks terrific with lighter chinos during hotter times. It’s also nice to see them making a true navy, cream, and a few other options.
Available in Crosby Fit? Nope. Not yet at least.
What about the matching pants for those who want to make it a suit? Those can be found here.
Ouch. Tuxedos are expensive. These are no exception. Any savings helps. But again, even these come in separates, which is exceedingly rare if you’re shopping for a tux. Italian wool, shawl collar, traditional one button closure (although the buttons are standard and not covered like a “true” tuxedo).
Available in Crosby Fit? Not for the shawl collar jackets. But they do have black peak lapel tux jackets in their Crosby fit. Trousers are here.
Those are new. And undeniably summery. Certainly not as formal and serious as a wool suit, but that’s sorta the point. Cotton oxford fabric from Somelos, a Portuguese mill “that specializes in lightweight fabrics with a focus on quality and craftsmanship.”
New. Got a review in the works. Tumbled leather. Goodyear welted. Tassel Loafers can be a bit divisive. Some love them and think they’re timeless and refined. Others could do without that…. pair of dingle-dangles up front.
The Up to 30% off J. Crew suits and more event is set to expire this upcoming Monday, April 7th 2025.
From structured and serious, to unconstructed and relaxed.
New blazers, sharp machine-washable trousers, etc.
Multiple new designs. And they look good. But are they too "homage-y" ??
Summery sportcoats, Italian neckties, and an annual reminder.
Bonobos weekday warriors in their icon colors are getting a very rare 30% off.
Five style scenarios (mostly) mined from the big Brooks Brothers wardrobe event.