I own tailored suits, Italian dress shoes, tailored shirts, silk ties (both neckties as well as bow ties). I'm writing this from experience, I had a whole 15 years phase of being interested in clothing for men.
You can also look way better with contemporary clothing, designed with beautiful cuts forming interesting silhouettes, just don't buy bad-looking/cheap-looking clothes. Those can also be much more practical for daily use, they can be made with great fabrics (including wool), are usually easier to take care of, and don't make you look like a try-hard with a formal attire in day-to-day situations.
Casual clothes are not just sweatpants, jeans, hoodies, etc. there's a whole world of contemporary clothes that aren't chinos with polos and boat shoes.
Suits have become symbols of power, if you are not trying to look like that but want to look good there are plenty of other options available...
as someone with a recent interest in this, do you have any pointers?
Jacket and pants don’t need any coordination - they already match. Turn the shirt underneath up or down the style meter as you please. Same with pants and socks.
How far back in time do you have to go for that to be generally true? I'm 70 from South West England and I hardly know anyone who had a tailored suit, almost everyone just bought them off the peg even when I was very young. Even fifty years ago wearing an actual suit to work where I lived was relatively rare too even for people who were more than a generation older; it was something that only people in a few professions did (lawyers, estate agents, some doctors, some academics, etc.).
I’m generally a work shorts, work boots and black T-Shirt kind of person, but I do enjoy wearing suits occasionally since I’ve discovered that they absolutely don’t have to feel as miserable as the shite I was forced to wear as a teenager. When it’s hot, I specifically wear shirts instead of T-Shirts. Over the years, I’ve replaced most of my boots with stuff that is traditionally constructed. “Old school clothing” can be really nice and comfy.
What, exactly, has been lost here?
Suits look extremely hot and uncomfortable. I've never worn one. I wouldn't pay hundreds of dollars to have one tailor made to my proportions. I don't like the way they look. Why on earth would I wear a suit?
> I've never worn one
I live in the southeastern US. It's quite hot here, for quite a lot of the year.
Ever wonder why seersucker is Hollywood shorthand for "small-town Southern lawyer"? It's not just Atticus Finch; that's what people wore before air conditioning was widespread. Seersucker is breathable, cool, and naturally wrinkled in such a way that it doesn't really show. Linen wrinkles more obviously but is far more comfortable in a hot climate than even the best cottons (like seersucker).
I can wear a linen suit and shirt in New Orleans in July and be no less comfortable than I would be in a T-shirt and shorts. I might ditch the coat, but that's it.
If you don't like how they look, well, that's a matter of taste, and de gustibus non est disputandum. But they don't have to be heavy wool.
username checks out?
Nice, nice