Well…in Albany today, January 9, 2011,  if feels as if it’s zero degrees Fahrenheit!

If you will be wearing a suit over the next 3  months in this frigid climate, the best suit fabric to consider is a lofty, but heavier-weight flannel suit.  A flannel fabric is a warmer cloth than what you would purchase off-the-rack or custom for wearing all year.  Flannel, with its lofty texture, also will provide a decidedly different look than a worsted super 130’s fabric as well.  If you are concerned that the jacket might be too warm for you in your office setting, I recommend having your custom jacket designed with a “1/2 jacket lining”.  This is my personal favorite.  (I know when I practiced as a CPA that most office heating systems were not too user friendly and oftentimes were too set to a very high heat threshhold.)

The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit sums it up pretty well.

SPECIAL JANUARY SALE

This month, if you order a custom flannel from our premier Vitale Barberis Collection, you will receive a FREE ready-wear seersucker or poplin suit. Here is a sample of your flannel fabric choices.

Why seersucker or poplin?  Well, I couldn’t think of anything better than a suit for the dead of winter paired with a suit for the hottest days of the summer!

Classic blue seersucker from Haspel

If you don’t know anything about seersucker and poplin, here is a little history lesson.

HISTORY LESSON-SEERSUCKER

How did our forefathers wear suits in the summer heat?

For the last century, Haspel has defined a uniquely American style, pioneering the seersucker suit and making preppy looks de rigueur at Ivy League campuses throughout the country. Today, at a time when younger men are increasingly dressing up and embracing modern interpretations of classic looks, Haspel has taken on a new, modern resonance.

With its 2010 collections, Haspel has sought to capture and reinterpret its heritage as a family-owned brand whose patriarch, Joseph Haspel, famously never wore socks and publicized “wash-and-wear” fabric by swimming suit-clad in the Atlantic Ocean. The clothes reflect polish without pretention, anchored by an iconic style that’s never been out of fashion.

The seersucker suit was born in the early 1900s when a New Orleans tailor, Joseph Haspel, took the cloth normally used for laborers’ overalls and used it for high-end business wear.

“He knew it was going to be functional as well as fashionable,” said Haspel’s great-granddaughter, Laurie Haspel Aronson, president of the 100-year-old Haspel clothing line in Baton Rouge, La.

To popularize the suits, Haspel began selling them to young, up-and-coming Ivy League students, Aronson says. They loved the suits’ look and comfort, and when they took them back to campus, the look caught on.

In 1946, Haspel created a buzz during a fashion trade show by wading into the Atlantic Ocean wearing one of his trademark blue and white seersucker suits. As reporters watched, he hung the suit up to dry, then put it on for a cocktail party that evening.

The “wash and wear” suit was born!

I have never washed a suit, don’t recommend it, and have never jumped in the ocean with my seersucker on…but I can attest to the fact that a seersucker suit is as comfortable a suit as one can wear on a hot summer day, and always looks fresh…whether worn as a suit with a tie, a suit with open collar, or with a pair of jeans and loafers sans socks for a truly casual look.

POPLIN

Poplin suit...perfect even on a beach!

A poplin suit is a slightly stiffer, solid alternative to a seersucker suit.  It is made of polyester and cotton, doesn’t wrinkle, and provides a slightly more business-appropriate alternative for those with a taste for less fashion adventure.  Tan and oyster poplin suits have become a very popular choice for grooms and their groomsmen at “destination weddings”.

SALE

If you are interested in this very special offer…one free ready-wear seersucker or poplin suit with each custom flannel suit ordered in January…contact me this week at 518-859-3718 or email me at vince@christopherscustom.com for your appointment.