Revival of the Generic

I think it’s not a far stretch to assume my journey through tailored menswear has been similar to most of my peers. My only claim to fame would be that I probably evolved some aspects in a fairly short amount of time.

Among the many things I could dive into on that subject like high-waisted trousers, full cut vs tapered, quality vs quantity and so on, the concept of seasonal suiting, or rather seasonal suits, is one that came to mind during the f/w commissions.

The past few years my approach to building a wardrobe has been seasonal, as in creating a spring/summer wardrobe and a fall/winter wardrobe where only the season-appropriate garments are in view while the rest is in storage.

As far as all-season garments goes, for the most part my high-twist suits are the only ones that are in my line-up throughout the whole year. That said, I don’t remember having worn them during the colder months at least the past 2-3 years.

I like this approach. Aside from it perhaps being a sartorial step in terms of maturing one’s wardrobe, it also adds a sense of ritual and I catch myself looking forward to changing wardrobes more so than before I started this approach.

The other part of this is that it has changed how I commission, I’m always aiming for fabrics typical for the most “extreme” of each lot, meaning summer and winter. Granted, I already own a sufficient amount of garments that applies well to spring and fall. But what this means is that it’s been a day and a half since I ever considered the generic worsted wool suit that I reckon we all started off with.

Now, I have no intention of returning to that and as mentioned, high-twists to me serves this role well although I consider them a part of my spring/summer wardrobe when categorising.

This however changed last fall.

Among the fabrics in Ring Jackets f/w collection I found a 15 micron, Super 170’s cloth, summerly light at 240g, but a rather tightly woven cloth, then adding a full jacket lining and there it is; the generic all season suit.

Not really though, but on paper to me this was one of those suits that I couldn’t really place on my now seasonally separated garment map. Of course, that was my own bias playing tricks on me because in the end, taking a step back, the answer is right in front of me: it’s a fall and spring suit! Which is when I will mostly wear it.

What made this somewhat exciting to me was the touch and look of this fabric. It doesn’t read like a summer suit, nor a winter suit, but it doesn’t look misplaced in neither season either.

It bridges the conventional expectations of each respective season and wiggles itself in-between (which unlike tie-wiggling is a good thing). In a way it looks appropriate when you wear it in the season you’re in.

Most of this is due to the fabric having a sense of texture without actually being textured and the colour being bright but in a way that doesn’t look off in winter, nor too dull for spring.

If you’re losing track of where I’m going with this, what I am trying to convey is, a sort of reminder to us overtly obsessed with seasonal fabric individuals, there is a place for the generic, in-between suit. At least a few.

Now back to flannels and tweeds.

Fabric Specs

Ermenegildo Zegna

　→ 15 micron

• 100％ Super 170’s Wool

• 240g