The suit is a rare artifact in fashion history.
It’s a garment that has remained popular throughout our lifetime, our parents’ lifetime, and our grandparents’. In fact, today’s modern two-piece suit got its start no less than 300 years ago. That’s three centuries of rich history, evolution, and innovation.
Very few garments can claim that much space on fashion’s grand timeline.
We can still see glimpses of each era in modern menswear. These echoes of history can be leveraged to create a fully classic and polished style for the gentlemen of today.
To understand how 21st-century suits echo their compadres past, it’s best to start at the beginning.
Pre-1800s: The Beginning of Men’s Suit History
| Iconic garment | Long Coat |
| Style icon | Beau Brummell |
Our first glimpse of the suit comes from 1600s court dress.
The powdered wigs, knee-high breeches, and flowy tailcoats might seem worlds away from the suits seen on today’s runways. But if you look closely, you’ll notice the key elements of a three piece suit. Coat, waistcoat, and trousers, all cut from the same cloth.
Beau Brummell is the well-known fashion authority from the Regency period who transformed this look. He set perhaps the first suit trend—influencing men to ditch the “foppish” styles in favor of a simpler clean-cut look. He standardized the dark long coat, white dress shirt, and pale waistcoat/trousers combination that’s common in today’s semi-formal wear.
It’s also worth noting that French military uniforms during this period mimicked the “suits” of civilian dress (and will look highly familiar to menswear addicts today).
Try this: Emulate the Regency style with a modern twist. Wear a dark navy blazer with stand-out buttons over a white dress shirt. Put on some light beige trousers and a pair of brogues. For a preppy feel, add a light blue patterned necktie.
1800-1900: Suits Continue to Evolve
| Iconic garment | Frock Coat |
| Style icon | Prince Albert |
The Victorian and Edwardian eras saw some interesting developments for menswear.
Prince Albert was known for popularizing the frock coat—a knee-length double-breasted jacket with peak lapels that looks quite familiar to today’s gentleman. These coats were typically worn over a waistcoat and black trousers. The style eventually loosened up to include a more casual single-breasted, notched-lapel version.
The frock coat soon morphed into the morning coat, which featured a cutaway front and longer tail. These jackets were ideal for hunting and sporting and became standard dress in the early 1900s. They formed the foundation for the “lounge suits/sack suits” which were about to become wildly popular in Britain and the United States.
During this time, the concept of “black tie” attire was also invented. While full dress coats with tails were the norm for formal events, the new shorter dinner jacket started taking over among the fashion elite. These jackets became the tuxedos of today.
Try this: Today’s suits are all short in length—but with the right outerwear, you can get the same elegant frock coat look. A solid charcoal overcoat gets the job done by maintaining the long “skirt” length of the Victorian style while showing a classy peek of tie and dress shirt at the neckline.
World Wars: The Suit as Uniform
| Iconic garment | Wide Lapels, Wide Trousers |
| Style icon | Fred Astaire |
In the years following the first world war, the sack suit developed into the standard American uniform. We welcome all its loose-tailored glory.
Short lounge coats featured wide peak lapels and boxy waistlines. In a surprising move compared to today’s fashion, men would often wear these jackets over double-breasted waistcoats. Trousers were high-waisted, straight-legged, creased, cuffed, and very wide.
Perhaps due to this iconic silhouette, the 1930s and 40s became the golden age of men’s fashion. Everyone wore suits for business, casual, and formal occasions. Celebrities like Gary Cooper and Cary Grant drove men’s fashion straight from Hollywood and inspired a nation of really well-dressed gentlemen.
Try this: Rock the wide lapel look in a perfectly tailored double-breasted suit. The peak lapels and double-row buttons perfectly recall the dapper wartime look, while modern tailoring keeps trousers well in check. For a modern twist, have your suit made in a rich chocolate shade.
Post War: Expanding Our Sense of Fashion
| Iconic garment | Beatle Suit, Disco Suit |
| Style icon | David Bowie |
The suit reached its moment of peak popularity in the 1950s when every man wore an identical-looking dark suit practically every day of his life. From there, something interesting happened.
As the decades passed, trendsetters made major changes to the suit we’ve grown to love.
The 1960s saw men wearing slim-cut suits with cigarette- thin trousers. Lapels grew narrower or disappeared altogether in the case of the classic “Beatle suit,” which was inspired by collarless Indian styles.
The 1970s watched the close-tailored three-piece suit come back into fashion, with a disco twist. Lapels stretched comically wide, and synthetic and natural fabrics were chosen for their bright pastel shades and interesting patterns.
The 1980s brought us into the age of the power suit. Two-piece, single or double-breasted, loose-fitting, and representing strength and wealth. Wall Street’s standard uniform, in an enduring classic style.
Try this: Take inspiration from the mod look of the 60s and purchase a skinny-cut suit with narrow lapels—but give the whole outfit a 70s-style facelift by choosing a patterned or unique-colored fabric. We love a good glen plaid suit for this purpose, but you could also make an equally bold statement in mallard green wool.
Bringing Men’s Suit History to Today’s Gentleman
The well-dressed gentleman of today maintains a style that’s balanced between the old and the new.
His closet contains the classic black tie tuxedo that rose to popularity in the early 1800s. He wears his favorite workhorse business suit to crucial boardroom meetings, perhaps not even realizing he’s evoking the slim 1960s silhouette. To mix things up, he has a 1940s style double-breasted dinner jacket and a copper glen plaid blazer which recalls the glorious color craze of the 1970s. The exciting choices he makes every day define a style that’s solidly 21st century.
Men’s suit history is built on centuries of unique innovations and decades of personality. Give your wardrobe that same depth by filling your closet with a curated mix of historically-inspired and decidedly modern garments.
Make an appointment with Knot Standard today to experience the true heights of modern menswear.
Your personal stylist will walk you through our catalog of over 8,000 unique suiting fabrics, take extensive measurements, and help you create a suit (and a wardrobe) that takes inspiration from the past and breathes potential into your future.