Is it possible to get a suit that looks as nice or formal as wool without being wool?
Asking as someone who is incredibly sensitive to wool. I know I wouldn't be able to wear a wool suit ever, but I'd like to still be able to look nice and I've been told other fabrics either look cheaper or more casual.
18 Replies
Have you tried on a worsted wool suit before? None of my wool suits are itchy at all. Unless you get an unlined suit you will not be on contact with much wool.
I think so? even if it was lined, I'd need to protect my hands from it and such
otherwise I'll end up with big red welts where my hands rub against my side
You could get formal suits made of camelhair or cashmere but if you're allergic to wool then you might be allergic to those too
I know I've had issues with cashmere before as well
You might need to avoid animal fibers entirely then
Options include synthetics, cotton twill, cotton corduroy, linen, silk, and various blends of the above
yeah, I'm just not sure what else to wear when everything I'm reading is saying that basically the only acceptable option if you want to look formal is wool
By "formal" are we talking business meetings, interviews, funerals, weddings, or what
...y'know, that's a good point. I'm probably getting ahead of myself here.
most likely situation is going to be an interview. no one expects me to wear suits to work.
and honestly I probably don't even need a suit for those, just a jacket
For a job interview, a linen-silk blend or a cotton twill in a navy or dark gray would probably be just fine. I'm sure there are tons of people who do job interviews in polyester suits and do just fine, too
If you go for a linen-silk blend, be very careful with the fabric, because linen and silk often are blended with wool, too
probably easier to get cotton. good chance I'll need to get made to measure or something anyway.
Plenty of cotton suits around
If you have the budget you have a good case for going MTM because of your fabric needs, but I'd recommend getting measured in person
it's the fabric plus being 5'3''
I am...not sure how many off the rack jackets could be tailored for that
Tell them ahead of time that you’re sensitive to wool! The test jackets and pants will almost certainly be made out of a worsted wool
Oh man, that sucks. You might in fact want to avoid all animal fiber.
- Sheep wool of various sorts
- Llamanoid wool
- Camel wool
- Goat wool (eg, mohair, cashmere)
Wool is generally considered "the most formal" but basically what you're going for is a look that drapes adequately well, and is fairly smooth in texture (usually.)
Cotton is one option, but cotton is generally considered less formal and it looks like cotton. Seersucker is an option if you live in the south, as an adequately formal summer suiting, even if cotton.
Linen (and hemp) are seen as fairly relaxed. Pure silk doesn't drape the same at all. Polyester... as much as I hate to say it, can be an option in this case, as some poly fabrics drape surprisingly not-terribly.
But a cotton-linen-silk blend can look sort of right and drape decently, at the cost of wrinkling some. It'll look pretty summery, though.
Heavy irish linen is decent, but the wrinkles casualize it, though it doesn't wrinkle quite as much as light italian linen IIRC
Realistically I think a blend that includes silk for smoothness, and cotton/linen/both for structure, might be the winner. Depending on where you live and what the temperatures are like, you might want this to be fully lined and somewhat heavily structured, and pick a fabric that's less breathable, for warmth. If you live in, say, san diego, fuck it, go full summer, all good.
TIL llamanoid is a word
Uniqlo has some synthetic suits which look passable as fast fashion worsted wool
Try heavier cotton suits, such as moleskine.
Yep. Llama, alpaca, vicuna, guanaco. Technically camels are closely related but they're not llamanoids. Too much effort to type out all four every time. Plus guanaco and vicuna is super, super niche.