The best summer suits for every gentleman’s budget
Words: Alex Woodhall
It’s a perennial sartorial dilemma: how do you look smart when the sweltering heat is tickling your sweat glands to the point that they can’t contain themselves? Our female counterparts, it has to be said, have it far easier in this department. The normative dress code restricts us gentleman to long sleeves, covered legs are often more than one layer — hardly ideal when the mercury has risen to the scientific barometer of bloody hot.
This intrinsic nature of the male wardrobe and societal dictate means that dressing as you eat, seasonally that is, is utterly crucial to keeping kempt all year round. Fabric, then, is the key to success here. Not less material, just the right stuff. A closet cut from the correct cloth, you could say.
So, pack away those heavier wool, mohair or cashmere – you lucky devil – suits and get yourself fitted with something that won’t cook you alive. Whatever your budgets, here are some starting points, all of course constructed from natural and importantly, breathable fabrics.
Under £150
Just snipping in at the lowest end of price spectrum is a superb suiting option from high street heavyweight Marks & Spencer. Whilst you may have pre-conceptive misgivings, the retailer has smartened up over recent years. Banish the thoughts and the stigma for a second, and actually take a minute to shop around the range. Male model extraordinaire David Gandy fronts and wears the stuff in equal measure, a sartorial cosign of the highest degree if there ever was one.
This light khaki — or by a less stylish name, beige — suit sets the season off on the right foot and is perhaps one of the most under-utilised tailoring tones going. Consider one for your next summer social invite, or Friday in the office. The modern, slim fit is up to the minute but suitably adult and it’s cut from a summer weight wool to keep you cool, in every sense of the word.
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Further reading
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