Temperate climates may have four seasons but wardrobes benefit from three, despite the clothing business's division of the year into two. Clothing's autumn/winter and spring/summer seasons do not quite do the trick when it comes to tailored clothing, for jackets wear comfortably within a range of perhaps 25 degrees Fahrenheit (15 degrees C).
Men's jackets are worn without additional outerwear between freezing and perhaps 90 degrees F (32C). Since that range is considerably greater then may be accommodated by two jacket weights, there are going to be temperatures at which a man is going to be uncomfortable with a wardrobe built for only two seasons.
Many men choose to span this temperature gap with a topcoat. This is practical. Wardrobe building is easiest when a man acquires mid-weight items first, and then expands to cover his summer requirements with light-weight stuff. He dons his topcoat when the mid-weight cloth is no longer warm enough, and a single coat may substitute for several heavy suits or odd jackets. The challenge with this approach is that walking any distance outdoors on very cold days means the lower legs can become uncomfortably cold. The solution of course is to wear heavier trousers, which leads the wardrobe into the third season, that of heavy cloth.
For climates with perhaps two very cold months of the year, four heavy suits (14-16 ounce/420-480 gram cloth is about as warm as most men can wear in heated offices) are likely to cover the temperature gap. In addition to more flexible temperature control, heavier suits mean that on many days the topcoat can be left at home, simplifying one's personal logistics considerably.
A first heavy suit should probably wait until a man has at least six suits for summer and six more in mid-weight cloth. But that is the time to begin considering how to bridge the termperature gap.
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
The Temperature Gap
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5 comments:
Excellent points.
The real issue for me is less winter than summer. The New York City sweltering August can be quite moist in a tailored suit. Open to any and all suggestions...
Alec
Will,
I like your trimester approach to suits.
So you are recommending 6 mid-weight suits for Fall and Spring, 6 Summer suits and then 4 Winter suits? What colors do you recommend for each of these 3 wardrobe seasons?
-John L.
@Alec: I second your difficulty.. Seoul's summers are remarkably humid, though many of the men here seem to manage with unlined lightweight wool jackets. It seems the lining's the thing to mind as much as the weight of the fabric itself.
Will, for those of us who haven't built up to such a variety yet, does it seem sensible to acquire odd jackets of varying weights to deal with the changes in weather or do you prefer to tackle suits before such jackets are purchased?
What a selection of beautiful suits! Almost all of my suits are gray, too, though I do not (yet?) have the same variety.
Alec (& AP),
May I suggest seersucker, poplin, and linen as your summer suiting fabrics? I would go with half-lined jackets.
John L.,
I may be in the minority here, but I believe that all your clothes should be in your seasonal palette. Color theory for people holds that there are four basic types, each called by a seasonal name, and that people look their best when they stick to colors from their season. In addition to always looking lively (rather than wan or sallow, as wrong colors can do), another advantage to this approach is that all your clothes go with each other. You can find out more by searching "color seasons."
John, more blues than grays for summer and more grays than blues for the mid-weights. The sixth suit might be tan but one out of twelve is about right.
Artic, A "Friday suit" like a glen check is more flexible than any odd jacket, in my opinioon.
And Tucke's Dad, I deleted your comment inadvertantly. Were I you I'd get a sixth mid-weight, one or two summers and a heavy suit in that order.
Even mid-weights differ. A 12 ounce mid-weight is really only suited for the cooler six months of the Bay area climate, and a ten ounce is distinctly cool on a 60 degree day.
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