A cotton suit, or at least jacket, should be a staple of casual summer wear.
Cotton is often derided by fans of bespoke because it has no drape and wears out quicker than other fabrics. But the issue of drape – how the cloth falls across your body – is really one for more formal clothing. All cottons, whether corduroy, gabardine or moleskin of any weight, have too much body to drape, and so does suede, leather or any other material used for casual jackets.
Cotton certainly wears out quicker than wool or linen, despite costing roughly the same to have made bespoke, but a cotton jacket should have a lived-in feel. This is one of its charms. It softens and moulds in a very different way to canvassed worsted or flannel.
In an age when men frequently where their worsted suit jackets with casual trousers (no!), have negative associations with linen and tweed, and don’t know much about the other choices, cotton is a good option. Particularly gabardine, which has a smoother finish applied to it, or a cashmere/cotton mix made up into corduroy or similar cloth. Zegna makes some lovely examples.
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