When I first started selling suits, it was mostly to men who were leaving the military and starting as aides to politicians, or men working as doctors, lawyers, or accountants. Then, of course, you had the lucrative wedding business. But one thing was common among every man I sold suits to: They were hardworking and spent their days getting things done.
Now, while this sounds honorable and a fantastic way for a man to live life, working hard and providing for his family, there are some setbacks or some side effects to this lifestyle. One of them is the impact it has on your best suits. Suit pants for men are typically lighter, with an elevated fabric that doesn’t always stand up to the more rigorous work of the hardest-working men. Therefore, there’s a hack that you should start implementing in your suit shopping every chance you get. Every suit you own should come with a second pair of pants. It will save you years of heartache.
The problem with suit pants for men
Think back to any time you wore a suit. Think back to any time you saw other men wear suits. What is the first thing that guys did whenever they didn’t absolutely need to be fully dressed? They ditched the suit coat. It makes sense. It’s hot, it doesn’t move well (most of the time), and when you want to get your hands dirty and dive into the work, you’re worried about ruining your expensive suit jacket.
However, the pants have to stay on (I’m assuming). So what happens? The pants wear faster than the jacket. They are subject to the seat of a chair, the subway, and the friction of walking. While the suit coat may get all the attention when you’re wearing a stellar suit, the suit pants are the workhorse and therefore, end up breaking down faster. The number one place a suit rips first? In the crotch. So, the fix is easier than you think, and there are some easy ways to do it.
Pick up a second pair of pants
The thinner fabric of men’s suit pants (or dress pants in general) isn’t made for hard work. They are luxurious. Luxurious things are rarely made for getting things done. Instead, they are made to make you look your best. However, a good suit is meant to help you feel your best when making an impression at the office or in the boardroom.
Therefore, a bridge needs to be found. There are always options for heavier fabrics in the suiting world, more functional fabrics, but these rarely sit well. They don’t drape the same, and the silhouette is affected. Picking up a second pair of pants with your suit allows you to wear the suit when getting things done, without worrying that they will wear out faster than the jacket. There are two main ways you can do this:
- Suit separates are the easiest way to accomplish this feat since everything is sold separately (hence the name). When you grab the jacket and the vest (you’re always grabbing the vest when it’s an option, right?), you can pick up two pairs of pants, and Bob’s your uncle.
- When you get a custom or made-to-measure suit made for yourself, most of them offer the option to get a second pair of pants made. This is more unique, and replacement pants are impossible to find. Depending on how well you know your tailor and how long you’ve been a customer, they may have the order on file if you want to commission them to remake a pair of pants, but don’t count on it.
Nested suits off the rack are the hardest (and in most situations, impossible) times to accomplish this because mass-produced off-the-rack suits typically come with one jacket and one pair of pants. Requesting a second doesn’t usually work, since they will then have to take them from a second nested set, making the jacket unsellable. Not a likely outcome.
Final thoughts
When I was in the U.S. Army, we had ceremonial uniforms called dress blues, often referred to as the tuxedo of the Army. If you’ve never seen them before, they are a dark navy coat paired with light blue pants. When I was wearing them on the ceremony field one day, a sergeant told me the colors derived from the Union Army, when the soldiers would ditch their coats to work in the hot sun. The effect was the soldiers marching back into camp with sun-faded pants and dark coats. I have no idea if that is the actual derivation of the color choices, but the concept also applies to your suits at home.
If you keep your suit jacket hanging on the rack in your office while wearing your pants all day, you can have older-looking pants and a brand-new coat. My suggestion is to alternate your two pairs of pants so you don’t wear out one quickly or cause the opposite effect when you swap in your new pair after the first one rips or fades.
The hardest thing to come to grips with is that your favorite dress pants will often be your suit pants. They look great, they fit great because they are tailored for you specifically. But resist the urge to wear them that way, and keep your dress pants wardrobe separate from your suit wardrobe — the result of wearing out your suit pants before your suit jacket is a costly sport coat.
