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3 Essential summer suit styles to add to your wardrobe

While almost everyone has one or two staple wool suits to lean on in just about any formal situation, there’s a whole lot to be said for expanding one’s repertoire to suit the Australian climate a little better. If you’re routinely heading out to smart events in the heat of the Australian summer, a heavier wool suit, however dressed down, is liable to feel encumbering before too long. As such, we think it’s time we all took a few cues from our style idols on the Mediterranean, and brought the Italian knack for summer-ready tailoring Down Under.

Doing so is remarkably easy, with a whole host of lighter, more breathable and more summery materials now on the market. And the dual benefit of these materials is that they often lend themselves to more deconstructed, casual suits, meaning you can pair both the blazer and the pants with other separates to create a myriad of different outfits. Below, the three key materials to look out for when building a summer suit with timeless style.

Linen

The archetypal dressed-down suiting material, linen lends itself perfectly to flowy suits, looser cuts and casual separates like blazers and cropped chinos. Opt for a lighter colour to create a suit that’ll keep you cool and breezy, no matter how much the sun turns up the heat.

Cotton

Cotton is generally a little heavier than simple linen, and as such makes for a perfect stopgap between super-light linen suits and heavy wool. It also typically offers a little more stretch and a softer feel than many traditional suiting materials, making it a great option if you want to create a pair of wear-anywhere pants or a travel jacket.

Seersucker

More textured and eye-catching than simple linen, seersucker is renowned for its unique feel and look, typically dressed up with a tight stripe pattern. Being a hardier, sturdier fabric than linen, it’s also typically less prone to creasing and lends itself well not only to suits combining both breathability and formal structure, but shirts.