A double-breasted suit? Really?

Can one really wear double-breasted suits if one isn’t the Prince of Wales, under 50 and not a puffy banker? If you would have asked me last week I wouldn’t even have bothered answering such a silly question. Today though, I’m slowly warming to the idea that, maybe, it doesn’t need to look that bad. And it’s all thanks to Jeremy Hackett. As always. Once again has he found a classic, gentlemanly way to make the double-breasted suit look good. Or not just good, great.

He justifies it with saying

… Now it is more softly tailored and more relaxed, the shoulder is narrower and the coat length shorter, somehow it looks new and fresh and distinctly smarter and I believe there is a whole generation of men who have never worn this style and therefore are unaware of its historical baggage.

“Its historical baggage” referring to the awful look we recognize as the sleazy-stock-market man of the early -80s or the estate agent look of the early -90s (they have always been a bit slow the estate agents, haven’t they?). And who knows? Maybe Mr. Hackett will once again manage to squeeze in an article of clothing that not many other designers have payed attention to for quite some time, and we will feel that we cannot live without in a year or two. Because to be perfectly honest here, a double-breasted suit really can look quite dapper, wouldn’t you say? It is a shame that it has been out of fashion for so long and I’m really looking forward to get one sooner rather than later.

I guess this is what appeals to me with really good quality gents fashion. The timelessness of it all. That there are garments that can be brought back, reinvented, styled up and then we think “gosh, why did it take so long for this to come back?”. Most of Jeremy Hackett’s clothes are like that. Like if you buy a suit on Savile Row. You know that it can be kept for ages and it won’t look tarnished or as if you’re completely out of touch with fashion. Rather the opposite. These are suits, shirts, shoes or what-have-you that are almost over and above fashion.

However, I must ad that the double-breasted club blazer, you know the dark one with brass buttons galore, just isn’t convincing yet. Not even the Hackett ones. I know Mr. Hackett himself thinks it the most basic garment in any gentleman’s wardrobe. I’m not convinced though. But, I’m looking forward to how he can reinvent it! It might happen this year or it might be another ten, but I know that if anyone will make it happen it is Jeremy Hackett.