Earn Your Stripes In A Pinstripe Suit

Pinstripes, in their true chalk stripe form, are back in a big way. Banished are those images of bankers and gangsters in billowing suits, making way for modern cuts, updated fits and contemporary styles. We’ll show you the evolution of this suiting classic and how to dress less like a wolf of wall street and more like the modern men making these suits look sharp.

Pinstripes From The Past

These eye-popping suits made waves in the early twentieth century, a styling choice that made everyone know you were in the room, and a reason why the pattern became a natural choice for mobsters during the Prohibition Era. These men wanted to broadcast that the law couldn’t stop them, and the pinstripe suit became the perfect compliment to live as loud as possible. Decades later the pinstripe suit lost its illicit allure and reached its lowest point, becoming the fabric for young professionals who wore them far too large and paired them with clunky square toed shoes.

The New Era Of Stripes

What separates this new breed from past incarnations is a renewed focus on updated fits. Designers are saying no to the oversized shoulders and pleated pants that ruined the powerful Wall Street banker looks of the past and embracing the bold lines in new ways. Streamlined and sleek silhouettes make them an everyday appropriate pattern for going from the office to a night out.

How To Wear It

By updating pinstripes as a modern fabric with a contemporary cut, the pinstripe suit has now become an acceptable and stylish suit choice. Channel your inner Al Capone and pick one in a slim silhouette and banish the bulky sacks of the 80s. As smart as a pinstripe suit is, treat it like you would any other business suit. Mix things up with boldly color socks, chambray dress shirts or a solid tee for an upgraded office look.

This linear pattern is coming in full force bringing pinstripes back from their power suit glory days. This new breed packs all the office appeal of their prohibition predecessors with a modern push into new suit territories.

Master the mobster style without the mobster cut in a sharp pinstripe suit.