Reach Your Peak - Paul Stuart

Jackets with Pointed Lapels

We are in transition. Tiny notched lapels on single-breasted jackets are being jostled aside by muscularly large pointed (peaked in the US) lapels on single-breasted jackets.

Popular in the early twentieth-century, and on dinner suits, the pointed lapel and single-breasted combination has been the subject of bitter debate in recent times (from those who have the time to bitterly debate such things). The anti brigade are troubled by the seeming lack of utility and drift from their original function: pointed lapels can only be folded in and buttoned properly on a double-breasted jacket they maintain. There's some truth in this evolutionary thinking, but the utility debate is little specious. If clothes were entirely driven by utility, we'd all be wearing boiler suits.

That said, one style doesn't have to dominate; it's always good to see more choice. If it suits the wearer, it suits the starer.

Masculine Silhouette

What do pointed lapels bring to the single-breasted jacket? I think Tom Ford, or somebody similar, reasoned that they can give a more grown-up and masculine silhouette; and perhaps they look a bit less 'high street'. What are your thoughts?

Evidence from Paul Stuart

Here we present evidence on this pointed lapel shift from our Anglo-American chums at Paul Stuart. They have some very smart offerings from their new Phineas Cole range right now.

With clothes like this available off-the-peg, we may look back at this time as some sort of golden age in men's clothing, eh what? Even if that doesn't quite equate to the reality of what we see on the street sometimes. Why is that pseudo-Japanese brand Super Dry so ubiquitous?

You really need to see the whole Phineas Cole catalogue. It's very inspiring. The jackets look so good with waistcoats.

If you know where to look (The Tweed Pig) and where to shop (the brands we mention) there is really no reason to dress head-to-toe in sweat-shirting day in, day out.