Suited Summer Style
There’s no doubt that summer is a warm season; tank tops and leg-baring are plentiful in these months. It might not be an ideal clime for neckties and suits, but you’re almost sure to dress up at one point in the season or another. Just because everyone else is in beach attire doesn’t mean one can’t dress up; you simply have to adjust to the temperatures.
Suits have several different style elements to them, and it only takes a couple of tweaks to make the whole suit-and-tie shebang so much more summer-friendly. When done subtly, you also lose none of the professionalism and dressiness that every suit should possess.
Khaki Suits
The suit-and-tie equivalent of white jeans, the khaki suit is a go-to summer style option. Its lighter color will probably make it the most summer-appropriate suit you own, while opening up a whole new color palette of shirts and neckties for you to use.
Buy a khaki suit like you would a navy one. You don’t want anything cutting edge: plain notch lapels, a trim fit and a touch of padding at the shoulders. Perhaps the one thing to do differently is the cut; to maximize that summer vibe, you can get the sleeves and leg cut shorter to show some extra skin – the sartorial theme of every summer. This should then be paired with classy shoes sans socks, the way Italians do summer fashion.
Pastel shirts and sober (read: dark and preferably solid) neckties keep you understated and professional at work. If you’re up for taking a few office style risks, though, you can try bolder colors like an emerald green shirt with an off-white tie for a reverse palette. The bolder look tends to work with khaki because the latter is a ‘softer’ color.
Gray Suits
The classic gray suit will never be excluded from any conversation where office fashion for men is involved because it’s such a classic choice. No matter what season or trend is ongoing, no man can ever go wrong with a simple and well-cut gray suit.
Considered side by side, you’ll notice that gray suits are markedly different between fall and summer. The summer versions, in particular, come with much lighter colors, usually labeled ‘slate’ or ‘dove gray’ to fall’s ‘pepper’ and ‘charcoal’. Besides taking in less heat (refer to high school physics books for the reason), the lighter and softer colors let you work more easily with the brighter neckties and shirts in the typical summer wardrobe.
Black Suits
Formal events do not decline with the arrival of summer and – as long as it’s not hosted in the outdoors and under the sun – there’s no safer choice than a black suit. Of course, black doesn’t sound like the most summer-friendly of colors; a couple of style tweaks are in order to make it fully fashion-appropriate for the season.
Because there’s only so much you can do with the color, adjusting the fabric is the next most effective step. You could ask the boutiques for summer weight wool (which they usually start stocking in March), or go straight to heat-friendly linen. The latter option has the added bonus of having an immediate and distinctive texture, setting you apart from all the other black suits in the crowd – even before they look at your shirt and tie.
Rocking a suit in the summer isn’t rocket science, and doesn’t have to be uncomfortable either. There are several workarounds to the fashion obstacle that is the heat; you simply have to choose one among them, and then make it look good.
Other Suggested Articles:
Mens Summer Fashion Basics
Casual Spring Fashion 2011
Your Mens Ties Team