While suiting and formal-wear trends for men aren't seasonal (unless, of course, you're talking about the weight of the cloth) and play out over several years, 2011 and 2012 continue the dominance of two qualities that any modern suit you purchase should have:
The classic part is the easy part. A good suit for this decade will take the best elements from the peak eras of men's suiting (think the formality of the Victorian era, the savoir faire of the 1930s and the skinny detailing of the 1960s) and apply them to a modern silhouette.
The masculinity of a suit is less easy to define, one can't simply enter a tailors and say you want a suit infused with masculinity. No such things exists. Instead, suits for 2011 and 2012 are all about a cut that compliments the male physique, a suit that broadens the shoulders and trims the waist highlighting (or at least implying) an exercised body. In short, it's about a cut of a suit that makes you, the wearer, feel more masculine, more confident, more likely to be dripping in sexual confidence.
So knowing the fact that you're looking for something both masculine and classic, what are the technical elements you're looking for?
- classicism
- masculinity
The classic part is the easy part. A good suit for this decade will take the best elements from the peak eras of men's suiting (think the formality of the Victorian era, the savoir faire of the 1930s and the skinny detailing of the 1960s) and apply them to a modern silhouette.
The masculinity of a suit is less easy to define, one can't simply enter a tailors and say you want a suit infused with masculinity. No such things exists. Instead, suits for 2011 and 2012 are all about a cut that compliments the male physique, a suit that broadens the shoulders and trims the waist highlighting (or at least implying) an exercised body. In short, it's about a cut of a suit that makes you, the wearer, feel more masculine, more confident, more likely to be dripping in sexual confidence.
So knowing the fact that you're looking for something both masculine and classic, what are the technical elements you're looking for?
Suit Cuts: on-trend shapes
You'll find terms such as skinny and slim peppered throughout this tailoring trends guide, but fear not: I'm not referring to the 'skinny boy' suit popular into 2009, with proponents of that style having themselves moved on to other styles the skinny boy suit has had it's day. But, despite this, the terms of skinny and slim remain simply because unstructured, boxy suit cuts are out of fashion. So for 2011 / 2012 look for something that is neither overly-skinny nor overly boxy, instead look for a suit cut that would appeal to a military officer, one that accents a sense of the masculine through three key silhouette elements:- broad shoulders
- a slim waist
- slim trousers