The best tweed suits to take you from countryside to C-suite
There’s more to tweed suits than pipe smoking and warm ale drinking. The GQ edit will take you from countryside to corner suite
It’s hard not to link tweed suits to the shooting, pipe smoking and bustling little pubs of Warwickshire. This rough woollen fabric is water-resistant, hard-wearing and warm, so there is a good reason it is universally loved in the countryside.
Yet, there is no such thing as a typical tweed. It comes in a variety of weights, weaves and colours, which means that once you step away from the bucolic stereotype, there is a world of tweed suiting options out there to explore. It is actually one of the smartest ways to stay warm without bulking up on layers, making it the winter suit fabric of choice for city slickers and country folk alike. And, newer lightweight varieties mean you can don a tweed suit well into the warmer months too. Sound like your next best suit? You won’t regret it. Here’s our pick of the tweed suits that are far more boardroom than bumpkin.
1/17Sandro
This Sandro tweed tailoring almost goes undercover as a conventional suit. The dapper silhouette and modern cut of the piece makes it a sensational choice, being both versatile and easy to style. The tweed material brings heft and warmth to what is an otherwise sharp, streamlined and typically Parisian-style suit. Jacket, £519. Trousers, £259. At harrods.com
2/17Issey Miyake
Just when you believed the Homme Plissé range by Issey Miyake couldn’t get anymore a) desirable and b) unique, then, enter the tweed version. The neutral and natural hue of the brown makes styling this suit a tantalising prospect. The lapel-less front and high two-button closure reaffirms this piece as a fun, chic and boundary teasing example of tailoring. Jacket, £910. Trousers, £580. At ssense.com
3/17Asos Design
This navy blue suit combines the unfaltering panache of a navy suit with the slightly more rustic texture of tweed. It makes for a novel and not-so-stereotypically tweed aesthetic, great for those rainy winter weddings when you need a material that’s insulating, breathable and British-weather-friendly. Jacket, £140. Trousers, £60. At asos.com
4/17Umit Benan B+
This is yet further proof that the tweed material can still be moulded and crafted in novel and intricate ways. The wonderful brown herringbone tweed material utilises tweed, but is also blended with alpaca, wool, linen and silk to give it increasing layers of delicacy. Then, there is the detachable lapel through the breastplate, which can add a sense of formality and increased structure to the fold. Jacket, £4,095. Trousers, £925. At mrporter.com
5/17Polo Ralph Lauren
This Polo Ralph Lauren suit harks back to the tweed tailoring that the material built its reputation on. The loose-fitting nature of this suit, matching houndstooth waistcoat and pleated trousers all ensure an effortlessly laidback feel, while still retaining a sense of tradition, formality and respectability. Jacket, £795. Trousers, £245. Waistcoat, £285. ralphlauren.co.uk
6/17Fear of God
There are some thrilling design features on this Fear of God piece that elevate not just the suit, but the potential of the tweed material, too. The great arching notch lapels languorously sweep across the chest and are held together by one small button towards the lower half of the blazer. The delectable grey colour puts tweed into an altogether more summery spirit, while a showering of panache is given through the tortoiseshell hardware and full satin lining. Jacket, £1,780. Trousers, £775. At ssense.com
7/17Kingsman
As a material that holds a certain appreciation for its hardy past, it is important we honour that. In no finer, more sophisticated way could that be achieved than with this Kingsman suit. It comes with shortened trouser legs so that boots and socks can be worn with ease, holding true to the original shooting outfit, while the study waistcoat up top allows for maximum arm movement while out and about. ’Tis a most countryside and most refined tweed suit. Trousers, £295. Waistcoat, £295. At mrporter.com
8/17Lu’u Dan
If you thought tweed to be a stuffy, old-fashioned and purely rural material, this exceptional suit by Lu’u Dan proves you oh so very wrong. But it’s not just the gorgeous, high-heat colours blazing through the suit that make it irresistible, it’s the combination of the high button closure, the short but wide notch lapels, and the full cupro damask lining too. Jacket, £1,015. Trousers, £680. At ssense.com
9/17Huntsman
Although this isn’t technically a suit, the individual pieces match together so well while being so suave separately that we thought we’d best include them. This is tweed at its most immaculate and refined. Huntsman has partnered with a Yorkshire woollen mill to provide the best fabric that has then been whittled into a gorgeous, tailored silhouette. Jacket, £1,995. Trousers, £475. huntsmansavilerow.com
10/17Peter Christian
A mist-coloured two-piece suit from the Isle of Harris sounds extraordinarily hardy and, thanks to the tweed, it is. But the lighter, more ebullient light-blue and the yellow, orange and red pattern makes it a great suit choice for the shifting weather of a summer’s day in old unpredictable Blighty. It is adaptable to whatever the weather will throw at it. Jacket, £250. Trousers, £150. peterchristian.com
11/17Oliver Brown
If it’s a classic tweed suit, tailored in the traditional hues of the beautiful British countryside, then this Oliver Brown piece should rank number one. The spongy yet rugged grassy green tweed material features an elegant multi-coloured check pattern. The reddish-brown could suggest heather and gorse, while the light blues suggest crystalline rivers that trickle through the landscape. The tweed is bolstered with 5 per cent cashmere for a touch of indulgence and the suit also comes in a variety of different arm lengths. Jacket, £345. Trousers, £245. At oliverbrown.org.uk
12/17Moss Bros
A chocolate herringbone, tweed suit. Could a more velvety, delectable string of tailoring attributes be strung together in a single sentence? Probably not. Moss Bros offers you a stylish, slim-fitting suit, accentuating all your best features. When you combine the extra, vintage ticket pocket with a rollneck jumper, you begin to harness subtle time-travelling powers as you hop into the 1970s spirit. Jacket, £129. Trousers, £70. Waistcoat, £70. moss.co.uk
13/17Valentino
Slightly unconventional from Valentino, this suit is perhaps not for a wedding or boardroom meeting, but one certainly still to impress and dazzle onlookers. While the jacket tends towards a shirt and the trousers resemble more a pair of shorts, that doesn’t make this ensemble any less enticing and brilliantly tweed. There is an intricate pattern that stretches across the entirety of this unctuously dark suit, making it a tweed suit for tailoring renegades. Jacket, £2,460. Shorts, £1,450. At mytheresa.com
14/17Cad & The Dandy
If off-the-peg is a little too regular, try the optimum comfort and decadence of a bespoke, tailored tweed suit. This will result in a fine silhouette set against your very measurements and will ensure an impeccable fit. Plus, you will have the luxury of choosing the exact tweed you want, from a large selection of more than a hundred choices. From £1,400. cadandthedandy.co.uk
15/17Abraham Moon & Sons
Abraham Moon & Sons operate out of one England’s last remaining vertical mills in Guisely, Yorkshire, meaning that the whole production happens in-house. This suit comes in a herringbone pattern in a rich grey hue that has an elevated formality about it. This is a weather-hardy, formal suit that is sure to delight. £699. At editsuits.com
16/17Walker Slater
This is a pin-sharp tailored suit that typifies what tweed isn’t usually associated with and proves there’s more to the material than rough-textured greens and browns. Walker Slater has made a formal, three-piece construction in a deep-navy hue that helps to elevate the material to a much more formal level. Dare we say it, very smart. This is a wonderful twist on an everyday office suit or a go-to wedding get-up. Jacket, £285. Trousers, £105. Waistcoat, £95. walkerslater.com
17/17Dobell
If you’re looking for something a little different, try the striking blue of this Dobell suit. It’s constructed from Harris tweed, one of the world’s great textiles (protected by an Act of Parliament) so rest assured the heritage is there, and the herringbone design also gives a rich depth and texture to the suit. £349.99. dobell.co.uk
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