You've had a navy and charcoal suit made -- what's next? I'd argue light grey.
Here's my review of my light grey mohair suit by Brillington & Brothers. If you want to read more about Brillington, please check our previous post on them here.
Now onto the suit: the main idea behind this suit was that it will be primarily worn to morning formal events (like weddings) or meetings. That's how the suit has been primarily been worn. Not that it is not formal enough for evening events, but I tend to gravitate towards darker suits for evening events. Though I'd never tried it, I imagine the suit would also look good with a black turtleneck for a more chic, monochromatic look.
This color would also work great as a wedding suit as it is not as business-y as your navies and charcoals. For our take on the wedding suit, check here.
The lightness of the color also gives me a good excuse to wear my tan shoes, which are usually reserved to standalone light trousers, like chinos.
The fit of the jacket is superb. To minimize the square and flat look of my shoulders, Ronald of Brillington lifted the back collar somewhat and extended the shoulder line (in typical Brillingotn style). This combination results in a shoulder that is a bit more diagonal than horizontal.
In terms of the visual details, the jacket is fairly straightforward: two buttons and two vents. Visual interests can be found in the overly angled breast pocket, ticket pocket, and somewhat open quarter below the buttoning point.
The trousers were problematic at the beginning. Due to lockdown in 2020, the time gap between the time I was measured and the first fitting was stretched to almost a year. During that time, I had gained some weight. And it seemed that there was not enough fabric inlay to let the trousers out enough to fit. After going back and forth to Brillington a handful of times, I accepted my fate that I could only wear these after I lose some weight.
Thankfully another tailor, Zul, had the idea of removing the turnups and using them as additional fabric in the crotch area. It surprisingly worked. So, now the trousers are without turnups and well-fitting.
Style-wise, the trousers are probably the narrowest I have. This is about the narrowest I dare go, I think. They feature side-adjusters and are lined with shirt fabric.
One of the things I like most about the trousers is the crease. And that is thanks to the fabric, which is a wool and mohair blend by Holland & Sherry, weighing at around 230g. So, very light and dry, great for hot climates.
A side effect of the lightness and dryness, however, is that it breaks and pulls more easily during movement. This is more visible on the jacket where the arms and torso would be more prone to show pulling during movement.
In the spirit of making the suit wear as cool as possible, I elected to have the suit made without a back lining; fewer layers = less heat.
Overall, the suit proved to be very useful over the past year. Light grey should probably not be your first suit. Perhaps your third or fourth after navy, charcoal, and mid-grey (or black if you are in Indonesia). Other than the color, the fit obviously played a big part, for which I have to thank Ronald and Zul.
Written by: Nikki Krisadtyo
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