Types of Suits: A Plain Guide to Cuts, Closures and Pieces

A suit is named three ways at once: by how many pieces it has, by how the front closes, and by the cut it was made to. Those three answers are what people mean by types of suits. Here is each, with a note on which suits which build.

One thing applies to all of them at Mr James. Every type below is cut from a pattern drawn for one client, built full canvas, and made by hand in our atelier in Southern Brittany, France. There is no simpler version of it.

Types of suits by number of pieces

The two-piece

A jacket and trousers in the same cloth. It is the suit most men own and the one most occasions ask for, and it is the shape of a first commission. A fully bespoke two-piece at Mr James starts at $1,795.

The three-piece

The same jacket and trousers with a waistcoat in the matching cloth. It covers the trouser waistband, so the man who takes his jacket off at his desk still looks dressed. From $2,045, which puts the waistcoat at $250. Whether it earns that is in is a three-piece suit worth it.

The dinner suit, or tuxedo

An evening suit, marked by silk at the lapel and usually a silk trouser braid, worn with a bow tie. The lapel is a peak or a shawl, never a notch. Black or midnight blue. From $1,795, the same as a two-piece, because price follows the cloth rather than the garment. See the black tie dress code in Los Angeles and custom tuxedo Los Angeles.

Morning dress

Daytime formal wear: a morning coat cut away at the front into tails behind, grey or black, with striped trousers in a contrasting cloth and usually a waistcoat. Not a suit in the matched sense, since the trousers differ by design.

The separate jacket and odd trousers

Not a suit, but the fifth thing people choose between: an odd jacket (tweed, hopsack, linen) with trousers in another cloth. It is more useful than a second suit for most men here. Bespoke trousers alone are $450, covered in odd trousers, what they are.

Single-breasted or double-breasted

Single-breasted means one column of buttons and a front that meets edge to edge. It is the quieter of the two, it can be worn open, and it suits nearly everyone.

Double-breasted means the front crosses the body by four or five inches with two columns of buttons, usually six with the lower pair fastening. It is more emphatic and must stay fastened. Cut to your own pattern it flatters more builds than its reputation suggests, shorter and fuller frames included, because the stance sits at your own waist. See double-breasted or single-breasted.

One, two or three buttons

The button count sets where the lapel stops, and so how long the torso reads.

• Two button. The default, and rightly. The fastening button sits at the natural waist. Fasten the top one only.
• One button. A lower fastening point and longer lapel line, which lengthens the body. Correct on a dinner jacket, quietly flattering on a shorter man.
• Three button. A higher closure and shorter lapel, which shortens the torso and broadens the chest. It suits a tall, lean frame.

The lapel, in one line each

• Notch. A step cut between collar and lapel. The business standard, and quietest.
• Peak. Points sweeping upward toward the shoulder. More formal, and the partner to a double-breasted front.
• Shawl. One unbroken curve. Evening wear only.

Which belongs on your jacket, and at what width, is in notch, peak or shawl.

Cut and silhouette

Cut is the shape the pattern is drawn to, and it matters more than any choice above.

English drape. A soft, slightly fuller chest, a defined waist, a structured shoulder. It gives a narrow or sloping-shouldered man presence. Our own cutting sits closest to it.

Italian. A lighter shoulder, higher armhole, shorter and closer jacket. It flatters a slim, straight frame and suits warm weather. On a fuller waist it can pull.

American sack. A straight, barely shaped body and a natural shoulder. Forgiving, and it does nothing for a man who wants a waist.

Whichever you lean toward, the shape only works if the garment fits: see how a suit should fit. The construction underneath is a separate question, in full canvas, half canvas and fused construction.

Which type to order first

If you own no suit, order a single-breasted two-piece, two button, notch lapel, mid-grey or navy, in a mid-weight worsted. It goes to work, to court, to a funeral and to most weddings, and in a decade it will not look of any particular year.

The second depends on where you spend your time. A three-piece if your jacket comes off during the day. A dinner suit if black tie reaches you more than once a year. An odd jacket and trousers if your week is less formal than your first suit assumed. For a wedding, start at wedding suits Los Angeles: parties are twenty per cent across the order. Costs are on bespoke suit cost Los Angeles, the process on bespoke suits Los Angeles.

Whichever type you settle on, the making is the same: around thirty measurements and three photographs, a pattern kept for you alone, full canvas, unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations. Four to six weeks in domestic cloth, six to eight in imported. The consultation is an hour and free, with Robb or Ben. Book a fitting or call 310-503-3592.

Questions we are often asked

What are the main types of suits?

By number of pieces: the two-piece, the three-piece, the dinner suit or tuxedo, and morning dress. Alongside them sits the separate jacket with odd trousers, which is not a suit but is often the real alternative.

What is the difference between a two-piece and a three-piece suit?

One garment: the waistcoat, in the same cloth. A jacket planned for a three-piece is cut with allowance for the layer beneath, which is why adding a waistcoat later rarely sits as well.

Is a tuxedo a type of suit?

It is an evening suit, so yes, with its own rules: silk at the lapel, a peak or shawl collar, a silk braid down the trouser, no belt loops and a bow tie. A business suit in black is not a substitute.

What is a morning suit, and when would I wear one?

A morning coat with contrasting striped trousers and a waistcoat, worn before six in the evening at formal daytime occasions. If your invitation does not say morning dress, it is not asking for it.

How many buttons should a suit jacket have?

Two, unless you have a reason. One lengthens the torso and belongs on evening wear or a shorter frame. Three shortens it and suits height. The count is cut into the pattern, so it is decided before cutting.

What is the difference between English, Italian and American suit cuts?

Shoulder, chest and waist. English drape gives a fuller chest, structured shoulder and marked waist. Italian is lighter in the shoulder and closer through the body. American sack is straight and soft-shouldered.

Can a suit jacket be worn as an odd jacket?

Rarely well. Suiting cloth is smooth and fine, so a suit jacket with other trousers looks like half a suit. An odd jacket is commissioned in a cloth with texture that never had matching trousers to begin with.

Do you make all of these types bespoke, or are some made to measure?

All bespoke. Mr James does not offer made-to-measure in any form. Every garment, from a two-piece to morning dress to a single pair of trousers, is cut from a pattern drawn for one client and built full canvas by hand in France. See custom suits Los Angeles.