The Striped Suit: A timeless classic

Of all men’s suitings, none has ever matched the glamour and popularity of the striped suit. At one time or another in the thirties, the striped suit probably graced every pair of male shoulders, from the humble to the most famous, from the unemployed to the chairman of the board.

Click here to view more of this Flannel Chalk Stripe Suit

Although its stripes have to be positioned perfectly for maximum effect, this pattern’s innate appeal derived from its vertical line. Elongating any physique, the striped worsted quickly established itself as the patriarch of all patterned dress suits.

Click here to see more of this Chalk Stripe Woollen Spun Suit

The variety and scale of classy suiting stripes are endless. They can be in single, double, or triple tracks, against a plain or fancy background. Lines can be faint or bold, from subtle shadows to hairlines to pins, up to pencils or chalks, in spacings ranging from narrow to wide.

Click here to see more of this Anthracite Grey Chalk Stripe Suit

History of The Striped Suit

The striped jacket and matching trouser formed their own partnership around the turn of the century when the lounge suit started to replace the black jacket and odd striped trouser for business dress. When the Prince of Wales launched the daytime vogue for shadowy chalk stripes, he elevated the stripe suit to a new level of cosmopolitan consciousness.

The examples of stripes here illustrate the proposition that when executed knowledgeably, the two-colour tailored ensemble can add up to more than just a simple two-colour look.

The Striped Suit - Part of the modern business attire

Many modern online style guru's suggest to wait with getting a striped suit if you do not have your collection of basic suits in your wardrobe. The great thing with the solid navy, the solid charcoal, the solid medium grey and the solid light grey is that you could wear those almost every day and change out your shirt, change out your tie, change your pocket square, perhaps even sometimes change your shoe style and you are going to find out that people are not going to notice that you are wearing the same suit.

A striped suit however, stands out, so people will remember you as 'that man with the striped suit.' Those other suits do not necessarily draw attention to themselves like a striped suit does, because they are simple classics and many people are not going to notice if one day you are wearing a navy suit and the other day you are wearing a charcoal suit. But a striped suit demands to be noticed.

The Striped Suit: Perfect for Short and Heavy Men

Without question, correctly cut cloths can definitely aid the short, stout man in appearing taller and thinner. Vertical Striped patterns help to elongate the figure, the eye needs to be distracted from the waistline and led north to the shoulders and south below the knees.