Huntington Woods incorporated as a village in 1926 and as a city in 1932, and a good many of its houses have stood since about then. They have watched menswear go wide, narrow, wide and narrow again without changing themselves at all, and there is a lesson in that for anyone about to spend money on a suit.
What dates a suit
Three things, and none of them is the cloth. The width of the lapel. The number of buttons and where the top one sits. And the length of the jacket. Get all three near the middle of where they have been for a century and the suit will look deliberate in photographs taken twenty years apart.
What doesn’t date it
Navy. Charcoal. A plain weave. A white shirt. These have been correct continuously since before this city had a name, and they will outlast whatever is currently being photographed on a runway.
Where the money should go
Into construction rather than novelty, which is the argument for half-canvassed at $300 to $500: a canvas chest keeps its shape over years of wear, and years of wear is the entire point of buying something plain. Nobody on our floor is on commission, so that recommendation comes without a thumb on the scale.
Also for Huntington Woods: The City of Homes, and the Shop That Isn’t in It. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
