3 different ways to wear the blue suit

One suit - three different kind of outfits. All three suitable and appropriate for different kind of occasions. 

I have wrote earlier about how to wear the same suit in different ways. This I will give you a quick look and example on how to wear the same suit in three different ways. And how to make it work for a business meeting or for a late night casual dinner. Or actually this post is about one suit and one pair of gray flannel trousers.

As you know, I speak a lot about versatility. And how it is one of the most valuable features of a good suit. It naturally helps if you can wear the same suit in different ways.  Once again, this helps you especially when you are still building up your wardrobe and rotation of suits and jackets. Or if you are traveling a lot. Two first outfits here are from our Christmas trip to Tallinn and from few weeks ago presenting a normal work day attire of mine.

3 different ways to wear the blue suit - The suit jacket with flannel trousers

The first attire is actually a suit jacket with odd trousers. But I still think it fits this write-up. As you know, every man anyway needs a pair of gray flannel trousers. And this is the most common option to wear your suit jacket as a sport coat. I haven't worn this suit jacket with odd trousers very often. Actually I general tend to wear my suits mostly as a full suit. But in this case I decided to dress down the suit by changing the trousers to gray flannel.

 

We spent our Christmas in Tallinn and this outfit I actually wore for a stroll in the city on the Christmas day. So the occasion was quite casual. Therefore I dressed down the outfit also by adding the cashmere cardigan. The cardigan is another piece that I quite like but don't wear that often. There are many guys who can pull off cardigans and make them looking really good. And sometimes the cardigan can really be a good addition. But I personally like to wear cardigans with sport coats and odd trousers more than with suits.

Cardigan with the suit jacket

In general cardigans are great especially for fall and early winter season. Lightweight cardigan gives you an additional layer of warmth for the days when when the weather gets colder. And they are a good way to layer and bring little variation to your attires.

The cardigan here is a 100% cashmere cardigan by Uniqlo. In my opinion the quality of Uniqlo cashmere is pretty decent especially when you take the price into consideration. It is not the best cashmere on the market but the price-quality ratio is still good. And if you are like me and don't wear a cardigan very often but you are looking for a new cardigan, it is a good option.

For business and casual occasions

First of all the blue suit jacket with gray flannel trousers and oxford shoes is an appropriate combination for most business occasion. Not maybe for the most formal ones but all others. On the other hand it as suitable for more casual occasions as well. Especially if you combine these pieces with a cashmere cardigan and a tie with rougher texture such as I have done here. The dark brown DLA shantung tie actually brings all the pieces here together as you can see in the detail picture below.

Remember that by the little choices you can play with the degree of formality of your outfit. For example here I have chosen to wear the jacket and trousers the cardigan and shantung silk tie. If you would like to make this outfit more business appropriate, you could just take off the cardigan and change the tie for a navy blue grenadine or a a printed silk tie.

3 different ways to wear the blue suit - The suit with a burgundy roll neck sweater

The second attire is a suit with a roll neck sweater. One of my favorite combinations for fall and winter season. These pictures are taken before our Christmas day dinner but I have worn this outfit for many times at work as well. It simple yet refined and I could call it my go-to outfit.

Burgundy to complement the blue suit

As you know, in terms of colors I mostly wear different shades of blue, brown and gray. But especially during fall and winter, I naturally like to use some contrast and seasonal colors to compliment them. And when it comes to accessories and knitwear, burgundy or burnt orange are some of the best choices in my opinion. The color of this sweater is something in between these two and it goes perfectly with the dark blue suit. But you could change the suit for a dark or light gray and the roll neck would still be a great match.

I just recently bought this roll neck sweater which is actually also made by Uniqlo. Their roll neck sweater fit me pretty well in size S and are lightweight enough to wear under a suit or a sport coat but you can also wear them without a jacket. Although if you buy something from Uniqlo, it is good to check out the quality and sizing of the garments quite closely as they tend to change between seasons.

Kullervo goes to war

The pocket square I chose for this outfit is one of the three new DLA designs we launched just before the Christmas. And this one is actually my personal favorite of them. Naturally you won't be able to see the beautiful painting when the pocket square is fold in your pocket but you will know it is there. And this particual pocket square featuring the Finnish winter and the blue and white colors is also our tribute for Finland and the 100th year of our independence.

3 different ways to wear the blue suit- the conservative business dress attire

In terms of different suit, shirt and tie combinations, this one is probably the one I have the most during this fall and winter. The dark blue herringbone wool suit, white DLA oxford suit and the dark blue floral print silk tie. And naturally the DLA symposium pocket square.

The suit is a made-to-measure piece from Sauma made of Dugdale Bros & co wool. As mentioned it is one the suits I use most for work and business occasions. So it definitely meets the definition of a business suit. And by business suit here I mean a suit that I in principle wear mostly for work. However due to the lightweight construction and 3-roll-2 buttoning the suit is not as formal as it could be. And this makes it appropriate for the more casual occasions as seen above.

This outfit is actually almost an archetype of a classic conservative business dress attire (CBD). You can also describe it as "corporate attire" or "business professional" dress code. It is the type of attire that you should wear for a formal business meeting or a job interview for example. Basically it is a classic American dress code you should apply when you are expected to present yourself in a (supposedly) serious, often client-facing job. But to make it fully appropriate CBD attire, I should have gone for white pocket square or totally drop off the pocket square. And change the shoes for black oxfords.

Sum up - Many ways to wear the one suit

As a sum-up as you can see you can wear the one and same suit with very different ways. And this is the one of the best aspects of a classic blue suit. For example when we now traveled to Tallinn, I only needed to take this one suit and one pair of extra trousers with me for three days. And naturally a couple of shirts and some knitwear. Still I had a different outfit for two dinners and two days strolling around the city.

And naturally you can combine the blue suit in various other ways. If you want to see how to wear it with some denim shirt, take a look at the post here.