People ask us all the time which colour to start with, and the answer has not changed in nearly thirty years. Charcoal. Not black, because black belongs at funerals and formal evenings and looks slightly odd everywhere else. Not navy, which is a touch softer and less formal. Charcoal sits neatly in between. Dark enough for the most serious room you will ever walk into, light enough that nobody mistakes it for black, and happy with almost any shirt, tie and shoe you own. Cut for you in a good worsted, it is the suit the rest of your wardrobe gets built around.
Why we always start people here
There is no formal or business setting where charcoal is the wrong answer. Interview, board meeting, client pitch, court, a formal dinner, a wedding you are attending. It handles all of them without a second thought. Navy loses a little authority at the top end. Black is too funereal for work and too stiff for most social occasions. Charcoal sits precisely between the two, which is why it has been the default serious suit for well over a hundred years and shows no sign of moving.
Charcoal covers more ground than you would think. A true charcoal, a medium-dark grey with a hint of warmth in it, is the most useful of the lot. Push it nearly black and it reads more formal. A mid-charcoal woven as a herringbone gives you texture that nobody notices from across a table but that lifts the cloth in daylight. Add a fine chalk stripe and you have the old banker's suit. All of them are good. It depends on what you need the suit to do.
Choosing the cloth
Charcoal is at its best in a fine worsted, a smooth firm weave that takes a crease, hangs cleanly and shows the colour honestly. Super 100s to Super 130s is the sensible band for a suit that will be worn hard. Fine enough to look right, tough enough to survive being worn twice a week for years rather than months.
For our climate, a light charcoal tropical worsted at 200 to 240 gsm is the year-round choice. It breathes on the walk from the car park, holds its shape once you are sat in the air conditioning, and comes back to itself after a long day or a flight. Keep a heavier 280 to 300 gsm worsted for the cool weeks from November to February, if you want a second one.
We keep charcoal suiting from Holland & Sherry, Vitale Barberis Canonico and Scabal on the shelf in a spread of weights, weaves and quiet textures. Come in and we will lay them out, and rather than pointing you at the most expensive length we will ask you how and where you are going to wear the suit and pick from there.