Marzotto suits

My three Marzotto suits has often been seen out and about and although they haven’t been specifically mentioned here I’ve made some notes about them in the captions when they’ve been posted.

It’s been interesting discussing these suits with the people whom were curious about them, especially seeing as they were bought and altered with the same idea in mind as what I’ve done with t-shirts in Japan.

First of all, it’s not a big secret that I am, like so many of you, on a sartorial journey. 

A part of that journey was Universal Language and although I’ve grown out of most of the suits I acquired from them there are some items left, these three suits being some of them. 

The Universal Language chapter of this journey was an immensely important one to get to where I am now. Through trial and error I found what fit I like, what to avoid and although I wasn’t too knowledgable about fabric back then it at least sparked my interest in learning more about cloths

Going back to the Marzotto suits, although they are the three suits remaining, they are the only suits that weren’t MTM suits. 

Among the many different ready to wear offerings a store like Universal Language provides, these were actually separate pieces; uniform trousers and jacket sold separately. Given that the trouser models are among my favourites I can see how there is merit in offering these as separates, as others probably like them as well.

So to the suit break down and first off, the cloths.

Fabric

All three are from Marzotto. 

The beige and the blue suits are both with the Fabbrica Alta cloth.

The tightly woven twill makes for good insulation but they do not leave you overheated which is always a concern for me.

Both of these cloths have a base colour while the cloth is comprised of different lighter threads so different tints are visible within the weave. As such, although they aren’t textured cloths they have quite a textured appearance.

In the case of the Prince of Wales suit, the cloth is from the Organic Project. Being a proponent of earth tones, most specifically brown, the colour scheme is especially appealing. 

A brownish light gray base with dark brown checks and a lighter brown overlay. 

Suit

The trousers as I mentioned are one of my favourite models, and trouser styles as such. 

I presented them in my trouser series, so have a read here if you want the specifics. 

At the time, this specific model as it is shown here wasn’t available as an MTM option. This was always the big caveat for me when ordering MTM and essentially one of the reasons I didn’t continue ordering MTM from them. I’m not pointing this out as a complaint because after all it comes down to my preferences and others might think differently. 

I’ve acquired a big selection of this model in odd trousers and always wanted a suit with them. 

So when I stumbled across the option to get both trousers and jacket in the same fabric and given that this was the only option to acquire these trousers in a suit, I had to make the move. 

That’s not to say there weren’t any compromises made, which leads us to the jacket. 

Besides the patch pockets and the jacket being unstructured, there aren’t many details fitting with my preferences. 

First of all this is a two button model. That isn’t necessarily such a bad thing and something I could have lived well with if it wasn’t for the second caveat. The fairly narrow lapels.

Even though I have a weak spot for wide lapels the ones on most of my suits and jackets aren’t overtly wide measuring about 9,5cm.

But on this model they are almost reminiscent of the skinny lapels I dread so immensely, that still somehow are quite popular around the world.

They are borderline, a millimeter or two narrower and I would’ve had to opt out to be honest. 

The only part justifying these lapels is the general casual appearance of the jacket. 

Enough about lapels. 

So, the interesting part starts here. 

The jacket as mentioned is unstructured so it’s like a blank canvas for the body to shape.

Moreover it’s cut to be a relaxed fit, even to some extent a slightly drop-shoulder type of fit, all to have a very casual, unrestricted and relaxed appearance.

After reading the description I had a look at the measures and I found that if I went down one size the shoulders would fit neatly, as opposed to the suggested drop-shoulder fit. 

Also, looking at the chest measures, sizing down seemed to offset the overall relaxed fit intended with this model. The only part left uncertain was the waist and the length of the jacket.

So, as you can imagine I was quite curious how this would work out and now you have about the same information I had when ordering these and we can move on to the result.

The only alterations I had to make with the jackets was the sleeve length. Honestly as much of an experiment this was I could not have hit the target better. 

The shoulder fit perfectly, it does fit quite snuggly over the chest but not so much as not being able to button it and the fit along the waist and hips is quite tapered. 

As you might expect based on pictures, the jackets are shorter than what I would opt for if I could choose, but they are no Thom Browne suits, that’s for sure. 

Conclusion

Besides the aforementioned caveats in terms of jacket model I have no remorse whatsoever with acquiring these. They were intended as suits for going out or to dress down but I have found ample opportunity to dress them up and I wear them quite often.

I think this serves as a good lesson in how to try to find ways to acquire a suit or just broaden your style or wardrobe. 

There are options out there if you’re inventive in your approach. Another example of this is one of my friends whom acquired trousers then later on found a jacket in the same fabric and voila, he had a suit. 

Of course, I would also be remiss not to suggest looking for vintage suits and garments and have them tailored. 

In any case, that’s the story behind the Marzotto suits.

Until next time.