It is always interview season in DC, whether it’s moving up the ladder or escaping the Hill to kick the drug habit. Several years ago, I found myself with not quite back-to-back interviews: one was in Foggy Bottom and the other in L’Enfant Plaza. If you're unfamiliar with the capital's geography, those locales are situated diagonally from each other across the National Mall. It was a fine April morning, so I decided to enjoy the sunshine and walk. Springtime in the district is deceptive. It can appear perfectly nice until you step into the sun. My jaunty walk started out well enough thanks to the light breeze and mid-70s temperature, but by the time I had passed the Washington Monument I had shed my jacket, rolled up my sleeves, and was panting like a dog in Georgia. When I arrived at my destination, the security people inquired as to my health, probably because I was drenched in sweat so badly that I could barely see. Things did not improve by the time I met my interviewer; he had a persistent look of concern throughout and I did not receive an offer. Walking across the mall was a mistake, but it could have been lessened if I had worn a more suitable material.
They say clothes make the man, but the fabric makes the clothes. The primary difference between an uncomfortable suit and one that you actually enjoy wearing is the material. A cheap suit made of plastic will invariably be hot, uncomfortable, and not worth your attention. In contrast, a well-made suit out of a light, breathable fabric can be a godsend any time of year. The primary cost of a suit will depend on the fabric you choose, making it imperative to understand your options.
Each fabric has its own particularities and considerations. There are, however, several key factors that are used to describe them. Understanding this lexicon is required to accurately understand the swatch books you’re flipping through. You'll also want to be able to touch every potential fabric that you are looking at. These things will be on your skin so you want to find something you find agreeable. Get your hands into those swatches and give them a good pinch or try on some sample pieces before you commit.
Weight. Every piece of fabric is defined by its weight, measured in grams (g). For example, you may see a woolen fabric with a weight of 200 g. My engineering brain doesn't quite like the system because it is an incomplete unit. What is actually being measured is the weight of the fabric per square meter—that 200 g wool means that if you laid out a bolt of fabric, each square meter would weigh 200 g. The higher the weight, the heavier the suit and the warmer it will be. For an all-around suit, I like to be somewhere between 160–200 g. Any heavier and you enter the realm of jackets and overcoats. Lighter weights can be good options if you are stuck in a hot and humid climate, with the consideration that portions may be partially transparent under certain conditions. I'm not shy, but I wouldn't want to embarrass my wife.
Fineness. The second dimension of a fabric’s character is how soft it is. The softer it is, the finer it is. This parameter is directly tied to and measured according to the diameter of the fibers used to make the fabric. Larger diameter fibers make coarse, less fine material while smaller diameters yield softer, finer materials. In general, the finer the fabric, the higher the price. This fact does not mean that finer is always better. I personally do not like the feel of super fine fabrics.
Blends. It is common to find fabrics that are composed of multiple materials. For example, you may find a wool blend with some percentage of silk or other material to enhance the fabric. Blends can be a good way of mitigating the detriments of one without sacrificing the benefits of another. Keep in mind that just because a fabric is not a pure material does not mean it is bad or adulterated.
Texture. Just as patterning can change the color of the suit, the choice of weave can also change the overall texture of the suit and give it greater depth. My black suit has a textured square weave that is interesting without sacrificing its formality. Not all textures are appropriate. You can make a velvety texture out of most any fabric even though velvet is an awful choice for a suit (gives me the feeling of Styrofoam).
Synthetics
Your common, bottom of the barrel suits are going to be made out of some synthetic material. The revolution in plastics of the mid-20th century impacted fashion, and probably not for the better. Before, one had to invest in quality garments made out of natural fibers, while the proliferation of synthetic materials facilitated the accumulation of microplastics in our systems and make us chafe with discomfort. If you've had a bad experience with a suit, it was most likely synthetic. The awful suit I was wearing that day as I was walking across the National Mall was made from polyester. Polyester does not breathe, it does not vent heat, and it is not made for a climate that routinely enters the triple digits with near 100 percent humidity. If you choose to make a suit out of this material, you will regret it. I would recommend only buying it as a last resort, like if your luggage is lost on your way to a funeral or some other important event.
Wool
The ur-material for making suits, sheep's wool is the most common option you’ll encounter. There are many different sub-varieties as well. Tweed, which we associate with college professors, is a specific type of wool only produced in the Hebrides of Scotland. There are several universal factors used to describe your wools. The most important of these is the fineness of the fibers. You'll usually see this reported as “super” plus a number, like super 120, super 150, or super 80. This number describes the diameter of the individual fibers, where a larger number—confusingly—is a smaller diameter fiber, making it a finer piece of cloth. A higher number isn’t universally better, it's just a way of comparing fabrics and identifying what your personal preference is. Those differences help wool be an all-around fabric you can wear any time of year. A heavier weave is really only suitable for northern climates, it would be awful to wear down here in the summer, while a 160 g or lower wool fabric could be used anywhere.
Warm Weather
The potential for wool to be worn all year does not mean that it should. There are several fabrics that are objectively superior at mitigating high heat and humidity. No matter how light the, wool fabric is, it's always going to be a better insulator than these options.
Linen. There's a hypothesis that the biblical prohibition against making cloth of mixed fibers came from the cloth tithes paid to the priests. Linen is labor intensive to produce, but it is one of the most breathable and comfortable fabrics in a hot environment. The priests, wanting to maximize their comfort, would naturally be predisposed against any kind of adulterated fabrics. Linen is a great option in the mid-Atlantic and, for a while, I only wore linen pants and it made a tremendous difference both while commuting and throughout the day. The main problem is that it wrinkles like a son-of-a-gun. The act of putting the garment on almost irreparably wrinkles it for the rest of the day, and it only gets worse from there. You need to re-iron it between each use or else you enter total shlub territory. There are ways around this problem, like using wool-linen blends to add a little bit of structure. That’s what I chose for my summer suit, and it works pretty well.
Cotton. The dark horse king of summer fabrics. Not just any kind of cotton will do, seek out seersucker. While commonly associated with southern mint juleps, this fabric originates from the Indian subcontinent, where you want to have a breathable, light fabric, and in both regards it excels. Seersucker uses a different weave that has alternating bands of low- and high-density fabric, essentially creating channels for heat to escape. I myself have a seersucker jacket and feel several degrees cooler compared to other jackets. The only downside is that is difficult to find seersucker in a pattern that isn’t garish. The traditional color scheme is alternating blue and white stripes, which makes it difficult to pull off for a full suit; I only wear my jacket as a mix and match. It is also rare to find custom options in other colors, but they do exist. If you find one, consider a solid black, blue, or brown.
Bamboo. A reasonable question would be how one make’s fabric out of bamboo? It must undergo some chemical transformation to turn that hard, woody material into something pliable like cloth. Historically, industry has used the same method for making rayon, involving some unfortunate chemical usage that is not environmentally friendly. New developments, called the lyocell process, allow for a better process that does make this more of a green material. If you buy a European fabric, it is likely produced by this method, but your mileage may vary from other global textile mills. But why would you want Bamboo in the first place? It is marketed as light and breathable, allowing for greater temperature control with a nice glossy exterior that mimics the characteristics of other more expensive natural fibers. The glossiness is true, but I have never worn one of these garments and can't speak to the heat dissipation capabilities. The recommendation is, therefore, pending.
Exotic
The rest of the fabrics worth discussing are quite expensive. For the average person, you're only ever going to see them as minor constituents in a blended fabric. They're either hard to extract, of limited quantity, or the demand is sufficient to raise the price substantially. Nevertheless, their use in blended fabrics are worth discussing.
Silk. The most classic of exotic fabrics. There's even an interesting tale of how Justinian, the Eastern Roman emperor, sent a special operations group to China to acquire the silkworms necessary to build a domestic silk industry. Silk is a tremendous fabric; it is light, pliable, can be warm or cool, and imparts a glossy look to the garment. Some of the older James Bonds would wear fully silk suits. What you’ll commonly encounter is a wool-silk blend with no more than ten percent silk content. That limited amount can still yield a better feel to the fabric.
Other Wools. You can make wool from more animals than sheep. The Angora goat yields mohair and the cashmere goat gives you cashmere. Both of these can be blended with sheep’s wool to increase the fineness (both goat wools have thinner fibers) and increase the insulating properties. The ultimate wool is harvested from the vicuña, an alpaca-like creature from South America. It was prized by the indigenous peoples for its insulating properties—thanks to the hollow structure of the fibers, and the animal appears on Peru’s coat of arms. Vicuña wool is rare because each animal produces a very limited amount, making a full suit of it incredibly expensive, starting in the tens of thousands of dollars. Such a suit would be a subtle way to flex wealth, because it only comes in a natural golden-brown color that someone not in the know wouldn’t be able to identify. Put it on the list for when you win the lottery.