Green?

[Melcombe]

... specifically olive / sage green.

Many years ago while on holiday (in Italy inevitably) – and therefore having more time to watch folk wandering by, I noticed a gentleman wearing an olive green suit of such impressive cut, and worn with such panache, that I resolved to add such a suit to my list of desirables.

Before lockdown in the UK, I ordered such a suit 9 oz plain worsted, and have just taken delivery of it – and I'm absolutely delighted with the result. The 1st comment it elicited was however "lovely suit – but green? I don't think I could wear one"

I have to say I have not given any thought to any such point of view. I have a green herringbone tweed suit that garners no comments at all as to its colour – but I'd readily agree that the mainstream of green suit supply is either in linen (which I think is nice) or fine cotton twill (not so much)

Do I need to develop some set of obscure skills in order to carry off my wardrobe's latest addition with suitable aplomb? Or am I overthinking this? Anyway, I'm fairly sure I have a pale orange striped shirt somewhere – the perfect complement. I think I need to do dig it out.

Anyone else gone green?

[alden]

Any suit of any color "worn with such panache" will look great, You can blame the Italian gentleman wearing it in this case and neither the suit nor the green.

An olive green contains a good deal of brown and can veer easily towards brown so I kind of think of it as a color unto itself.

A green suit had better be of the right shade or its Peter Pan all day long. Carry around a magic wand and some fairy dust. Its like the great homes of England whose interiors were often shades of sage green. Yes, now go to Farrow & Ball and pick that green out. You had better get it right!

I dipped my toes into the green pool when I made the Sage Green Shetland and it is stunning, and one of the coats I get the most compliments on...and no one says "but its green." But I was shaking until I had it made up and in my hands.

David is a supremely elegant man and a real advocate for green. I am sure he will provide you with some insight.

Cheers

[Luca]

As the 'uniform', conventional, conformist, formal use of suits recedes (and it seems to me that the speed of that disappearance is accelerating),
I think that a broader array of textures, colours and cut is becoming more useful.

I don't know the context of the comment (entering a UK courtroom? A press conference? a Nice restaurant? etc.) but,
knowing the people in this rather select group, I bet your suit looks great.

Would love to see a picture...

[davidhuh]

... specifically olive / sage green.

Anyone else gone green?

Dear David,

seems I have to reply to this one - thank you Michael for the roses

Green is in my eyes the most underestimated colour in men's suiting. It is easier to say where it would not fit than where it actually does. Google "Duke of Windsor green smoking", as an example.

Dark green is a colour I often go for when I want to wear something different without standing out too much. There is such a rich palette of green - you mention sage green, olive for more relaxed occasions. My favourite pairing are cream shirts in cotton or linen (white is too much contrast for my taste), or a light blue shirt, pair it with a classic Cappelli or Marinella tie and you are set. My dark green Gorina flannel is a staple for winter.

The sight of a dark green suit may be less common in London than in Spain, Italy, Austria or Bavaria, but the most elegant gentleman I have ever seen wearing green was on Jermyn Street a couple of years ago...

Cheers, David

PS: Michael, I'm still waiting for that bottle green mohair

[Melcombe]

As the 'uniform', conventional, conformist, formal use of suits recedes (and it seems to me that the speed of that disappearance is accelerating),
I think that a broader array of textures, colours and cut is becoming more useful.

I don't know the context of the comment (entering a UK courtroom? A press conference? a Nice restaurant? etc.) but,
knowing the people in this rather select group, I bet your suit looks great.

Would love to see a picture...

Thank you Luca. I would imagine that one of the inhibitors to green in RTW suits is that there possibly wouldn't be sufficient demand overall, at the scale that big manufacturers need - and in turn that means a green cloth (other than tweed) just isn't viable for that market. That also means a greater opportunity for those who prefer the bespoke option! As for court attire, the rules simply say "dark colour" when referring to "business suits" and blue is no longer seen as pushing the boundaries - although I suspect green (even dark) might not be welcome.

Reflecting on the last few years, all the suits I have acquired have been chosen with the idea of wearing them outside of a work context - and since so many of us are working from home, the boundaries between the 2 are seemingly very blurred. I suspect that in a business context, wearing a suit will have the same effect as writing a letter with a fountain pen on decent paper : it will not be done often, but when it is done the recipient / audience will respond very positively.

I hope this picture gives a good rendition of the colour. The cloth is from Bower Roebuck & Co - a length that my tailor had in stock. On that point, I'm very grateful that I could see it spread out over a table top - I don't think a small swatch would have given much indication of the finished article when made up.

...
Green is in my eyes the most underestimated colour in men's suiting. It is easier to say where it would not fit than where it actually does. Google "Duke of Windsor green smoking", as an example.

Dark green is a colour I often go for when I want to wear something different without standing out too much. There is such a rich palette of green - you mention sage green, olive for more relaxed occasions. My favourite pairing are cream shirts in cotton or linen (white is too much contrast for my taste), or a light blue shirt, pair it with a classic Cappelli or Marinella tie and you are set. My dark green Gorina flannel is a staple for winter.

The sight of a dark green suit may be less common in London than in Spain, Italy, Austria or Bavaria, but the most elegant gentleman I have ever seen wearing green was on Jermyn Street a couple of years ago...

Cheers, David

PS: Michael, I'm still waiting for that bottle green mohair

Those observations are indeed as reassuring as Michael had supposed! I think that with growing confidence over time, this is a direction I shall be exploring - especially if I can locate the perfect shade of flannel.

Very many thanks indeed.

David

[alden]

David

It always please me to see our LL members so elegantly attired. My compliments. That suit is what we call a light olive green. A dark olive green would have much more brown in it. I prefer light olive as it is more luminous and flattering overall. You see this made often in linen as it is a Summer staple, but not so much in other qualities. I think a light olive would be an excellent addition to our repertoire. I will work on it.

Cheers

[Concordia]

The light olive is much more interesting to me. Perhaps as a Piuma. Next would be a darker sage/olive.

[couch]

It's been thirty years since I lived in Texas, but I spent the first half of my life there, and suits in similar shades of light olive were summer staples in town. I myself (though by then living abroad in Philadelphia) had a Ralph Lauren suit in a kind of open pick-and-pick weave of brown and light green yarns that read as just a half-shade darker olive than your lovely suit. For warm climates I can't imagine why anyone would see that as a difficult color. They must be conditioned by 'conservative business dress' strictures, or allergic to the military uniform application of similar colors. If I were you, I wouldn't give it a second thought—you should feel as relaxed wearing it as you appear in your photo!

Now if it were emerald green, that might take some careful ensemble-building . . . .

[Luca]

Thank you Luca. I would imagine that one of the inhibitors to green in RTW suits is that there possibly wouldn't be sufficient demand overall, at the scale that big manufacturers need - and in turn that means a green cloth (other than tweed) just isn't viable for that market. That also means a greater opportunity for those who prefer the bespoke option! As for court attire, the rules simply say "dark colour" when referring to "business suits" and blue is no longer seen as pushing the boundaries - although I suspect green (even dark) might not be welcome.

Reflecting on the last few years, all the suits I have acquired have been chosen with the idea of wearing them outside of a work context - and since so many of us are working from home, the boundaries between the 2 are seemingly very blurred. I suspect that in a business context, wearing a suit will have the same effect as writing a letter with a fountain pen on decent paper : it will not be done often, but when it is done the recipient / audience will respond very positively.

I hope this picture gives a good rendition of the colour. The cloth is from Bower Roebuck & Co - a length that my tailor had in stock. On that point, I'm very grateful that I could see it spread out over a table top - I don't think a small swatch would have given much indication of the finished article when made up.




David

Nice!!

[andy57]

Did somebody say "green"?

IMG_4465 by Andrew Poupart, on Flickr

[Concordia]

Mmmm... poultry seasoning?

[andy57]

Mmmm... poultry seasoning?

As so often is the case, that one went right over my head.

[Luca]

I think perhaps he was alluding to "sage"?

(I always thought thyme is better with chicken but sage'll do...).

[andy57]

I think perhaps he was alluding to "sage"?

(I always thought thyme is better with chicken but sage'll do...).

The cloth is "dark olive" by Huddersfield Textiles. So neither parsley, sage, rosemary, nor thyme.

[davidhuh]

Did somebody say "green"?

IMG_4465 by Andrew Poupart, on Flickr

Dear Andy,

this is another beautiful example of a great green summer suit. Beautiful, really.

Cheers, David