Bespoke tailoring can create beautiful garments. However, how you wear the suit is just as important as the suit you wear. What we mean by this is that there are many factors to do with how you wear a suit and what accessories you pair it with that can improve or detract its appearance. If you learn how to optimise the appearance of your suits, you’ll really cut a dash. In contrast, wearing the garment badly can completely undermine even the most marvellous bespoke suit. Luckily, there are plenty of tips and tricks you can use to enhance a suit’s appearance.
Perhaps the most obvious manner in which you can improve your suit’s appearance is to pair it with the right shirt. Colourful shirts - even patterned shirts - are acceptable with grey and black suits (though you should opt for a dark colour for black suits), but not for blue suits or other, more exotically coloured garments. This is because an excess of colour in an outfit can be overwhelming and is likely to distract from the tailoring and make the suit appear cheaper. For these suits, you should consider either a white shirt (which lends them a charmingly old-fashioned, rather gentlemanly appearance) or a black one (which creates an edgier, more fashion-forward look).
Less self-evident is the fact that you should only ever fasten one button of a suit. Having all of a suit’s buttons done up causes the garment to crumple whenever you sit down. Instead, preserve the appearance by only fastening the middle button (or top button, when wearing a two-button suit). This button should ideally be placed at the part of your waist where you naturally bend when sitting, as this will further minimise crumpling.
Lastly, don’t be afraid to accessorise. A white or brightly-coloured pocket-square against a dark suit can create a classy contrast that speaks of the wearer’s keen appreciation of how to use colour to their advantage. Meanwhile, a high-quality silk tie (and even a tie pin) can lend an air of timeless refinement to any suit.
There are innumerable more complex tricks that the truly fashion-conscious may also take advantage of. However, if you remember the three basic pointers given in this article, you’ll never have to worry about looking anything less than immaculately well turned-out.