Reports of demise of men’s suit greatly exaggerated
It might have been removed from the basket of goods used to calculate the UK’s annual inflation rate but that does not mean the suit is dead. If it really were the death knell for the staple of men’s business attire then surely the Office for National Statistics would have replaced it with some tracksuit bottoms or even some shorts? Instead, what’s taken its place is “a formal jacket or blazer”. It is an admission that these two very strange years of pandemic living have altered our daily sartorial habits but not transformed them completely.
As offices vacated and many of us adapted to working from home, a clear shift to “top-down dressing” emerged (remember the “Zoom shirt”?). But when the government dispensed with Covid restrictions, a return to the workplace forced us to dust off our commuting wear and re-evaluate our wardrobes in a fresh light. The transition from elasticated waistbands and Uggs to formal trousers and brogues has been a tricky one, however, and most of us are navigating our new style somewhere in between.
A year ago, Marks & Spencer produced a range of “semi suits” featuring the kind of stretchy fabric one might associate with sports attire. At the time, the head of menswear design told me: “Customers are looking for hybrid pieces that are smart enough to wear into the office but still offer the comfort and relaxed style that they have been accustomed to.”
I think, one year on, this remains the case. Office workers still long for the comfort of their work-from-home wardrobe but equally desire options that give off an air of professionalism. It’s a “casualisation” of our wardrobe that’s not casual at all. Indeed, the current definitions of “hybrid dressing” and “casualisation” have nothing to do with
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