Have you ever asked yourself where does the word ‘suit‘ come from?
Well, the answer is from the French ‘suite’, which means ‘following‘ and the Latin verb ‘sequor‘ – ‘I follow‘.
That’s because suit’s components – jacket, trousers and waistcoat – follow each other, have the same cloth and colour and are worn together.
Let’s take a look at some types of suits, which are worn through the years according to the occasion:
- Frock coat – includes knee-length skirts all around the base. It is a fitted, long-sleeved coat with a centre vent at the back. The collar is reversed and the coat’s diameter round the waist is much less than round the chest. A high horizontal waist seam with side bodies are used to pull in the naturally cylindrical drape.
- Morning coat (or Cutaway) – is the principal item in morning dress. It is an alternative to the frock coat for formal day wear. Since the 19th century it is seen mostly at weddings in England. It’s a single-breasted coat, gray or black, and is usually worn with striped trousers. The front parts usually meeting at one button in the middle, and curving away gradually into a pair of tails behind.
Lounge suit (also known as Business suit when sober in color and style) – it’s the most common style of Western suit like an elements of informal dress code. It’s very suitable for all kinds of social and business events, because of the variations in design, cut, and cloth, such as two- and three-piece, or single- and double-breasted.
Dress coat (Swallow-tail or Claw-hammer coat) – since the 1850s that kind of man’s coat is worn only for formal evening occasions. A dress coat is waist length in the front and sides, and has two long tails reaching to the knees in back. Sometimes there is a pocket on the inside to hold gloves.
Black tie ( Tuxedo Jacket ) – it’s worn only for events after 6 p.m. Black tie is less formal than dress coat, but more formal than informal or business dress. Includes a suit, of black or midnight blue wool, a white dress shirt, a black bow-tie, an evening waistcoat, and black dress shoes. It comes as an alternative to dress coats.
