There's something rather fascinating about the question of what makes a suit expensive. While the immediate inclination might be to focus on the price tag itself, the real value lies in understanding the intricate web of craftsmanship, materials, and attention to detail that turns a simple garment into something that can accompany you through decades of important moments.
And it's not as complex as many make it seem.
At its core, an expensive suit is simply the blend of good quality materials, meticulous construction, and thoughtful design choices that prioritise longevity and wear-ability (within reason) above quick manufacturing.
Horsehair canvas. Image: Canali.
Canvas Construction and Its Hidden Benefits
For a jacket to not flop and hang like a sheet along your body, it needs shape or structure on the inside, particularly along the front and chest.
To achieve this, you need a layer of material inside, whether it’s laboriously sewn or glued. With the former contributing to a jacket that feels and wears better, retains its shape, and lasts a very long time (with good care, of course!). The latter is nice for an inexpensive suit, but doesn’t last as long as glue over time does delaminate.
The canvas in the jacket goes far beyond simple longevity, although that alone would justify its inclusion in any jacket. The horsehair/cotton canvas construction alone might be the most significant dividing line between expensive and inexpensive suits.
The floating canvas sits between the outer fabric and inner lining, hand pad-stitched in place, creating what we might call the skeleton of the suit. It’s what creates that shape and structure in the front of the jacket.
This means the jacket has a really nice “roll” along the lapel, is really comfortable to wear from the beginning, and moulds to your body over time.. Becoming an even better fit the more you wear it.
It might sound like marketing speak, but it’s actually the case. It's the natural behavior of the wool and animal hair blend that responds to pressure, heat, and humidity to create and retain shape. For the wearer, this means better shape, increased breathability, and a comfort that actually improves with age.
Fused jackets, by contrast, use glue to achieve their structure, but they create jackets that are stiff, lifeless, and hang rigidly. These fusible alternatives lose their shape quickly and make your suit look lifeless over a few wears, before they delaminate over time and end up in the container.
The pad-stitching technique itself requires considerable time, effort, and skill to achieve properly. Hand stitching a lapel alone can take about 10 hours, and this laborious process raises the price of quality jackets significantly. However, the result, if chosen well, is a jacket that will last years if well looked after. The cost-per-wear over the lifetime of the jacket often works out to be less than a fused jacket that would need replacement within a year or two.
Long-Staple Fibres
Higher-end suits use better quality cloth and fabric, particularly those made from longer-strand fibres.
For the wearer, this means fabrics that are really smooth, comfortable, and long-lasting. The length of the fiber makes it possible to create the finest yarns without sacrificing strength. Long-staple fibers are about 1/3rd times stronger than conventional varieties, translating into fabric that resists pulling, breaking, and tearing while maintaining its lustre.
However, more expensive doesn't always mean better wearing, as delicate and luxurious fabrics can be very nice to wear but very delicate and fragile. The key lies in striking a balance between good quality and appropriate material choice for your intended use.
Higher Armholes for Better Movement
Higher armholes represent one of the most sophisticated aspects of expensive suit construction, requiring more fabric and greater care in pattern-making stages. Entry-level garments don't take the time, care, and budget to achieve this properly.
A higher armhole eliminates unnecessary fabric around the arms, reducing bagginess and sagging. More importantly, it allows you to lift your arms without the jacket body lifting with them. The armhole must be very close to the armpit to achieve this effect—if it isn't, it will lift the fabric at the shoulder and put pressure on the back seam.
For the wearer, this translates to enhanced mobility and ease of movement. Higher armholes provide a better range of motion compared to lower armholes, allowing the jacket to move with you whether you're reaching for something or adjusting your posture.
Trouser Construction: Something Often Overlooked
Image: Canali.
Quality trousers deserve equal attention to jacket construction, featuring better internal construction methods that enhance wearability and help the trouser wear well over time. As trousers experience more wear than jackets, their construction quality is even more critical for long-term value.
Inner workmanship of quality trousers. Image: Canali.
Internal construction details include additional internal buttoning points for distributing tension to ensure the pants hang neatly and secure, quality seaming methods that distribute the stress effectively and a myriad of other things like proper pocket construction (us men do love our pockets!).
The durability factor becomes even more apparent with trousers, which is why having a second pair of trousers is often recommended. By rotating between two pairs, you can evenly distribute wear and tear, keeping both pairs looking fresh for longer.
Higher-end suits are made by skilled craftspeople who are well looked after, which in turn means they can produce better quality garments that will last a long time. This process involves 80 to 100 hours of manual work by skilled craftsmen, with some high-end tailoring houses spending up to 100 hours on a single suit.
The attention to detail that higher-end suit makers take into account extends to matching canvas weight to fabric weight. A lightweight jacket would need a lightweight horsehair canvas in its chest to allow it to drape and feel better, while heavier fabrics require correspondingly substantial canvas construction. This level of attention to detail really draws out the beautiful look that comes with expensive suits in contrast with cheaper garments where this detail is often overlooked.
Cost-per-wear
When you factor in the cost-per-wear over the lifetime of a quality suit compared to replacing cheaper alternatives every year or two, the expensive suit often proves more economical.
Quality suits are made of better materials, which when combined with thought-out construction, helps the suit last longer. A quality suit can last for years, or even decades if properly cared for, providing long-term value for money.
More Fabric, Better Fit, Room for Flexibility
Expensive suits include more fabric and room for growth, allowing garments to be easily let out, taken in, and altered as needed. More time and thought is put into the suit to ensure it not only wears well and lasts well, but also fits and hangs properly.
Quality garments have more fabric inlay to accommodate for change in shape over time. Image: Canali.
Pattern Matching
If you’re getting an expensive suit that has a pattern to it, you’ll notice a lot of attention goes towards matching its pattern across the seams, pockets, and construction points. This requires additional fabric, skilled pattern drafting and cutting. The end result is worth it, as you have a garment with no mismatched patterns from top to bottom.
Additional Elements
Beyond the fundamental construction elements you've outlined, several other factors contribute to expensive suit quality:
Functional Buttonholes: Quality suits feature hand-stitched functional buttonholes rather than decorative ones, allowing for practical use and demonstrating superior craftsmanship.
Lining Quality: Cupro, Bemberg, and even silk linings in expensive suits provide better breathability and comfort compared to synthetic alternatives, while also contributing to the garment's drape and movement.
Button Selection: Premium suits often feature horn buttons or mother-of-pearl rather than plastic alternatives, providing durability and aesthetic refinement that ages well.
Conclusion
The true value expensive suits come from not any single dramatic feature, but in the accumulation of thoughtful decisions that become apparent through regular wear. These are garments that come to life from the detail in both construction and care, designed for those who understand that quality reveals itself gradually through longevity and wear. In an era of disposable fashion, expensive suits represent something increasingly rare: garments built to accompany you through careers, important moments, and the countless occasions that define a well-lived life.