Evaluating seersucker suit options
Hello there friends, I wanted to ask for your thoughts on some seersucker suit options and if they're a good bang for their buck.
I noticed that Lands' End is selling lounge suit jackets and lounge suit trousers as separates.
They have their 50% off deal going on right now, so I'm intrigued.
What really catches my eye is that they have 36S for their lounge suit jacket, and that these separates are machine washable
https://www.landsend.com/products/mens-tailored-fit-seersucker-blazer/id_391985?attributes=11657,43383,44823
https://www.landsend.com/products/mens-tailored-seersucker-pants/id_391986?attributes=11657
Although these are solid Navy and solid "vintage pine green," do you think these would be versatile?
I'm hoping to wear these to church, and other formal occasions.
For context, I live in the Pacific Northwest. A while back we had a heat wave that reached over 100F.
Since we're all dealing with climate change, I figured that I could get some seersucker lounge suits to adapt.
I also saw this post on Reddit that mentioned J.W. Bell:
https://old.reddit.com/comments/1dm1cdl
They seem to have my size, and a more traditional blue stripe on white seersucker lounge suit.
The downside is that their lounge suit isn't machine washable, but dry clean only.
https://jw-bell.com/products/mens-suit-seersucker-blue-123402das
Do you think that this option is still a good value?
For reference I'd rather not spend more than 300$ on a seersucker lounge suit.
The tariffs by this current administration has made Spier and Mackay (S&M) less of a good value.
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JW BELL
Seersucker Suit
Our cotton seersucker suit is perfect for the warmer days! Artfully crafted from cotton and spandex, this suit will have you looking sharp and feeling comfortable. This suit will change the way you think about your suit game. Details Jacket Two-button front, notched lapels with buttonhole Double-vented back, fully line
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Versatility is going to depend on what you like to wear mostly. I just don't think this is something that's easily answerable.
I personally am not a huge fan of the classic light blue and white stripe seersucker, but I'm a white guy and I just think it reads too "don't you know who my dad is?" when I wear it earnestly. I've seen some tonal seersucker fabrics tho and they seem really cool but idk if they're available from LE and the other spots you've linked.
Oh I'm not sure I know what you mean by tonal seersucker, beans.
Would these options from Lands End fall under "tonal seersucker"?
yes! Those are tonal!
I simply cannot speak to this at all. I've explored some ways that I could personally subvert those connotations with the traditional seersucker fabric as well as other ivy/trad motifs but as a white guy I don't think I have any authority to say whether you'd be able to avoid it. Just as a white guy from Virginia it's prevalent in my mind but it's entirely possible that at your functions it's not even a consideration or something you should worry about
I love the idea of a Haspel suit, but I've never been able to rectify the price with how (in)frequently I'd be able to wear it. I'd pull the trigger on the J.W. Bell.
two naive questions
1. if searching for alternatives does it need to be from a retail store?
2. if searching for alternatives does it need to be seersucker specifically?
mainly because if you're willing to search ebay you can probably find linen, tropical wool, lightweight blends and/or vintage wash & wear suits for sub $300 (my saved search for ebay, just switch the size and filter by fabric)
similarly there are cotton blend and linen suits in spier & mackay's sale section right at $300; these are final sale so check the measurements and some of the other recent threads about spier sizing
Sale | Suits | SPIER & MACKAY
Spier & Mackay
j crew's meme suit (the garment dyed cotton blazer and chinos, sold separately but use the same fabric) is another option if they have it. retail price is around $300 but it often goes on sale for far less. because it's a plain fabric vs seersucker there's more "versatility" but like beans said that depends largely on what all you wear with it
in my experience i've never needed a second pair of trousers
i think the logic is that suit pants will wear out faster than a jacket because of the lack of lining but i think most people either a) don't wear suits often enough to have this happen regularly or b) do wear suits often enough, in which case it's better to just get additional suit(s)
if it's not the exact same fabric I wouldn't
Even tiny differences can be incredibly obvious in-person in natural light in such a large space as a full suit
it might be worth getting separates outright - a summerweight blazer or sportcoat (linen, flax, silk, a blend of some sort) and pant (any of the mentioned material) could be considered more "versatile" as there's no expectation to wear them together and the fabric may be more durable