Does linen wrinkle? God yes. But that is part of the elegance of it. It is somewhat akin to the ferry (or short plane) ride over to the Promised Land. But keep in mind, god also gave us the flax plant with the hopes of us humans making a cool wearing slubby fabric out of it. It is perhaps the coolest wearing suiting fabric available. Needless to say, it is an ideal summer fabric; if you embrace the wrinkles.
If you are unfamiliar with the cloth, know that it pretty much wrinkles just by looking at it. Especially in lighter weights, like as those used for shirts. The issue is only minimally mitigated in heavier weights, but don’t worry the heavier weights still wear cool because linen is woven in a relatively open weave. Perhaps its other draw is that it is naturally moth resistant, I guess those little buggers don’t fancy the taste. Or something like that.
Most people balk at the wrinkles (or the ride), but the willingness to deal with such an inconvenience serves to weed out those who are undedicated to the good fight; or just adverse to bettering their style through a diversity of texture and cloth.
Best left for more casual settings; it would be out of place in the boardroom and many offices. And to travel with it, admittedly, is not for the faint of heart. Certainly a linen suit should not be a man’s first, or even fourth suit. Maybe his fifth, maybe.
Oh, the elegance of marginal impracticality…
Walking around in the Charleston heat the other day was a bitch. Sweat stains aplenty. But a well dressed fella in an all linen, fully wrinkled out suit strolled by cool as a cucumber. Oh how I envied his wardrobe that afternoon.
Linen is a great fabric! Casual but elegant – good for those occasions where chinos or jeans or even the cotton unstructured suit doesn’t quite cut it. Wrinkles have to be accepted- I have found that a heavier fabric and a darker colour does help. Paul Smith has done some nice linen suits fitting this description in recent years.