INSIDE KNOWLEDGE

Air pollution isn’t just bad for your lungs; it goes into cloth, especially a garment made with wool. The good news is, if you brush your suit with a clothes brush you can get rid of those small particles, and you don’t have to dry clean so often. Brushing helps to remove moths’ eggs, too.

Advances in technology have led to more advanced fabrics: crease-resistance, coating that repels spillages, increased breathability. There are really sophisticated fibres which can be woven into cloth to give it certain qualities—comfort, strength, softness.

Which suit to choose comes down to your lifestyle and personality. If you travel a lot, you might want a suit that creases less and can be folded easily. If you work in an air conditioned office you might want more of a traditional wool, whereas if you get warm easily you may want something more breathable. A fresco weave is particularly good for creating something cooler and easier to pack.

When you pack a suit, I recommend you fold the coat inside itself. Fold one shoulder over the other so the linking is on the outside, then fold it over again. The trousers you can fold in the normal way.

An unstructured garment—a jacket without a lining—is a great smart-casual option. It looks good with jeans and it’s lighter, so in summer it can be a really great choice.

A waistcoat offers an extra layer of warmth and they are smart, so even when you take off your jacket it gives that extra feeling of being ‘dressed’. It’s a bit of fun, too—you can wear one in a contrasting colour or material to your jacket, or a fun pattern. It adds a bit of personality.

Getting a second pair of trousers will double the life of your suit. Trousers wear out much faster than a jacket—particularly the seat and the crotch area, due to friction.

It is good advice to iron a pleat into the front of the trouser, near the top. When you sit down, it releases the fabric and avoids creasing around the crotch area, which makes them look baggy.

Hang the trousers from the heel, if you are using a trouser hanger. The weight of the waistband will pull down and un-crease them, so you won’t need to press them so often, which also means less wear on the suit. Flattening the cloth is what makes it shiny.

Made-to-measure has come a long way. They have created some brilliant machines that can imitate some of the handmade processes, and cut more closely to the individual’s shape. It’s not the same as bespoke, of course—which is done entirely from scratch, by hand—but it does give the customer a chance to choose their fabric and style.

Taliare

5a Seymour Place, W1H 5BA

taliare.com