Herringbone Suit

The Herringbone suit is a little bit of a throw back in terms of design.  If you’re someone who enjoys tweed patterns, or a little more of an offbeat fashion style, this might be a good look for you.

The name refers to the distinctive zigzag pattern that is embedded into the suit, sort of like a herring bone.  In my opinion, it makes it a little more stylish than plain old tweed.  You can wear them at most functions where you’d wear a normal suit, such as the office, or wedding.  A smaller, tighter pattern is good for a more formal look.  If its tight enough, you’ll have a hard time picking it out from a solid pattern.  In that case, you may even see stripes and windowpanes added it.  Pick a larger pattern if you want to stand out a little bit.  A standard worsted suit might still be considered a little more formal.

It’s a tough durable weave in most cases and its good especially in colder climates, where tweed might be popular.   As far as matching, you can wear most types of ties and shoes with it.  Just avoid a herringbone pattern shirt as the combined pattern can be somewhat contrasting.  Combining like patterns in general is usually a bad move.  You might give the people you are with a headache!  You might be OK if the lined pattern isn’t too big on the suit.

It was a big look in the 1950s and 60s, but faded out over time, as did the tweed look. It was a Sean Connery James Bond favorite, being featured several times in Goldfinger.   It fell out of favor a little bit as the general fashion crowd seemed to prefer solids. Now, you’ll see it more with the older crowd but some younger guys also like it.