lightweight mens suit

jackreacher

Hi all,
recently started a new job which has me wearing a suit five days a week.
nature of the the job is catering so hard wearing is a must.

someone recommended marks and spencers suits as they have a mesh panel in the jacket which makes them nice and light.

havent been able to locate them as of yet so looking for any pointers either online or bricks and mortar.

thanks all

jack

jackreacher

anyone

Cerberus

How do you mean you haven't been able to locate them? Marks & Spencer or their suits? Where are you located? If Dublin, then there are a number of their stores. One on Grafton street, one in Dundrum shopping centre, one in Blackrock. Not sure if the one in Blackrock does mens clothes. I'd second M&S for reasonably good suits at reasonably good prices. I think as long as you keep away from the complete bargain basement stuff for a €100 you'll be OK. If you're going to be wearing a suit 5 days a week and around/handling food all day then you will need to buy a number of suits. Ideally 3 to 5 I would say. No matter what "hard wearing" suit you get, if you wear it 5 days a week every week then the arse is going to fall out of it after a few months. Dry cleaning is very harsh on suits so ideally you want to keep them away from there as much as possible. Your other consideration is that your suits are going to stink of food so they are going to need a breather for a couple of days in between wears. If funds are tight them try to start out with at least two suits and alternate them. Another recommendation, if you're in Dublin have a look in Massimo on Dawson St. They are doing a "buy one get the second one half price" deal and their stuff seems good. I picked up two suits for €500 the other day but you could go cheaper. Hope some of this helps.

jackreacher

hi cerberus,
im based in kerry and for some reason the mns in kerry halved the size of their menswear dept and all the suits got dropped.

does the idea of a lightweight material suit being hard wearing mae sense?

Cerberus

Hi Jack,
To my mind the idea of a lightweight suit that is hardwearing is not unreasonable but the trade-off will be the look, fit and feel as the type of material that the suit will be made off will be different. Most suits are either made of cotton or wool and variations will be blends of these with other materials - e.g. materials that make it stretchier, shinier or more hard-wearing (suits can be made of other stuff but I'll assume that you're not going to be rocking a tweed or linen suit to a catering workplace).

So if you're going for something that is lightweight and hardwearing just bear in mind that you may have trade-offs between breathability and look/feel/fit. So on a hot day it may sweat a lot. However, given the environment in which you're going to be working, you might be as well lean towards the hard-wearing variety.

With regards where you're going to get the suits, just go into any mens suits shop locally. You'll get good advice from someone who probably has worked with suits all their lives and it's also good to support local businesses. If you feel that you're going to be coerced into buying something more expensive that you intended, then just set out from the very start that the suit is likely to take a lot of abuse, require a good bit of dry cleaning and therefore you don't want to go spending a lot of money on a fancy suit that will not stick up to this abuse. I'm not sure of your financials but I'd be aiming to get something for around €200-250. Anything less than that will look like it was less than that, in my opinion. Ask them if they'll do a deal for you then if you buy two suits or if you buy an extra pair of trousers (trousers always wear out before the jacket so some people buy two pairs of the same trousers with a suit). Colour-wise, you can't go wrong with dark grey or navy.

jackreacher

spent a very frustrating day today. went to 3 different menswear outfitters between killarney and tralee.
found it very hard to find a suit in my size that was lightweight and comfartable to wear.
because im a 36 waist and 40 jacket im limited to the remus mix and match range which is quite heavy and the not very breathable.
found it very irritating that every time i found a stylish lightweight suit it was available in the either the right jacket size or the right pant but not both.
can anyone point me to another type of suit witha mix and match size range

Cerberus

Sorry can't help you man, I'm in Dublin. Sounds like you're going to have to make some compromises on the suit so if you can't find a mix n match suit that you like. Most places are reluctant to do mix n match as they end up with a load of odd pieces that they can't sell and can't send back so they have to take the hit on them. Most of the time I pressure them into doing it but I'm generally just one size out on the pants so they usually do as they will usually be able to match the jackets and pants in the size I leave behind.

Sugar Free

jackreacher wrote: »

spent a very frustrating day today. went to 3 different menswear outfitters between killarney and tralee.
found it very hard to find a suit in my size that was lightweight and comfartable to wear.
because im a 36 waist and 40 jacket im limited to the remus mix and match range which is quite heavy and the not very breathable.
found it very irritating that every time i found a stylish lightweight suit it was available in the either the right jacket size or the right pant but not both.
can anyone point me to another type of suit witha mix and match size range

The simple answer is to buy the suit with the right jacket size and just take the trousers to a tailor to have them altered. For the majority of men, off the rack suits never fit very well without some alterations.

Cerberus

Sugar Free wrote: »

The simple answer is to buy the suit with the right jacket size and just take the trousers to a tailor to have them altered. For the majority of men, off the rack suits never fit very well without some alterations.

Usually true Sugar Free but I imagine that the pants that come with a 40 jacket are usually 32/33" waist. IANAT (I am not a tailor) but I'd imagine altering them to a size 36 would be a bit of a stretch, no pun intended (: There just wouldn't be enough material left over to do this. The leg girths would also have to be modified most likely. If it was this simple, then any of the places he went to would have suggested this to him.

jackreacher

got sorted eventually, went to burton in the end. picked up a grey and black suit with spare pants each for 260.
in the end i had to compromise on quality. the suits probably wont last as long but at least they are comfortable and look good on.

thanks all