Suit of the Week
For busy working women, the suit is often the easiest outfit to throw on in the morning. In general, this feature is not about interview suits, which should be as classic and basic as you get — instead, this feature is about the slightly different suit that is fashionable, yet professional.
Oooooo: great tweed skirt suit from Theory. It's the perfect color of gray — not too muddy, not too white — and it's the tiny details that we love, like the hook and eye closure in the front, the narrow collar, and the fact that the tweed is ultra lightweight. Beautiful! The jacket (Theory ‘Gratti – Lecture' Tweed Jacket) is $385 at Nordstrom, and the skirt (Theory ‘Joanie – Lecture' Tweed Skirt) is $190.
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Love this on the model, but it looks suspiciously like a Theory suit I purchased on sale last winter…and shouldn’t have. The tweed fabric does not hold its shape at all…gets all stretched out and misshapen by mid-afternoon, especially the pants. Given the price, I can’t make myself give it away. Sooooooo angry about $300 down the drain.
Dear Theory,
Please stop making such gorgeous stuff that I absolutely covet and would consider spending quite a bit of money on AND THEN NOT EVEN LINING IT. Please, I beg you: charge $50 more and add some lining to that skirt. Please!
Very Truely Yours,
J
J is SO right! I refuse to buy a skirt or pants that have no lining!
ditto to J and Abby. Without a lining, I’m not buying.
So true re the lining. Why have all the designers stopped doing it? It is maddening. I am back to banana republic pants bc their fit is fine usually, and they are always lined. You can have your tailor line pants for you but it just isn’t the same if they aren’t made for it, and that’s another $65 on top of the purchase price and an annoying waste of an hour for the trip over to the tailor’s.
Dear Theory,
In addition to not lining your pants, why do you only go up to Size 12? I have many items from you that I bought when I just finished college. Alas, as my waistline has grown, my Theory collection has stayed the same…Size 10/12 is not that large for tall girls. I love how long your pants are, but not your jackets. And 12 is no longer big enough. Boo.
If you bought a suit last year from a major department store and it didn’t hold up, can’t you return it? I bet Nordie’s would honor it.
@ MJ –agreed! The average American woman is a size 12/14. Don’t you want our money?
Nordstrom’s reluctantly let me return a pricey sweater that pilled within three wearings. Return date was about six weeks from purchase. They said, “We don’t take returns on worn clothing.”
That couldn’t be further from the truth–I can’t even begin to count the number of things that I have returned after wearing because they didn’t hold up as well as expected. But unfortunately their training has become very lax in the past few years. If someone ever says something like that to you, you should ask to speak to the manager.
Thanks, Lulu. I’ve been annoyed for years with the quality of some of my clothing purchases (from various stores), and that was the first time I decided to do something about it. I won’t let that experience deter me in the future from returning crumby quality clothing.
I like this suit, but since I am not built straight up and down like a model, I don’t think it would look particularly good on me. Can any of you curvy ladies out there recommend some good places to find skirt suits where the skirts aren’t so straight? I’m a size 8 with larger hips and a larger rear end and I have a really hard time finding conservative skirt suits!
Theory runs so small! I wear a size 8 in BR and cannot fit into Theory size 12 pants.
Wait! I need suits that run small, it’s just as frustrating to have to get every single pair of pants taken in at the waist, hips and thighs; I routinely spend an extra 60 dollars for tailoring on every pair of suit pants so that they don’t sag and make me look like a homeless person. With theory pants, I finally could wear a size 0 off the rack (albeit a belt is necessary). However, I HATE that they are unlined, and they read a lot cheaper than my JCrew Suits which are far less expensive. I will no longer be investing in Theory suits.
I agree on the unlined issue, so I wouldn’t buy this suit. But it is beautiful and looks like it would be pretty versatile.
I am curious about the historical reasons for lining or unlining pants. I live in Shanghai, and ALL of the pants here are sold unlined. It gets cold here, so I don’t think that warmth has anything to do with it. Is it the consensus in the US that lining just makes the pants “hang” better? Or is that up for debate depending on the material?
Does anyone know the background?
Lining a suit makes it last longer. It won’t wear out as quickly. And if the lining goes, you can have that replaced, whereas if the pants themselves wear through, you need another pair of pants. Not lining = playing into the current disposable fashion model. Which doesn’t really mesh with Theory’s high prices and generally classic/timeless designs.
cmr: it’s mostly about $$$. Skipping the lining saves the manufacturer money on the lining fabric itself, and on the extra steps in cutting and sewing it.
Also, linings make a scratchy fabric more wearable, wool for example, before the modern chemical treatments they now use to soften it. My grandmother had a gorgeous tailor-made tweed suit, beautiful fabric, but my god the scratchiness! It was lined, and even then she needed to wear a long-sleeved sweater under it.
Agree with the above points in favor of lining; and in addition the most important benefit of lining for me is to have the pants/skirt hang better. Skirts especially stay smooth and hang ever so slightly away from your body with a lining, and even with static, only the lining clings to you and not the entire skirt. With pants the issue is often of being able to wear non-thong underwear and not having the dreaded VPL. I find that creases stay better in pants with a lining, and repeated sitting and standing up does not result in creases in the front area as much.
I HATE lining on pants. It sticks to me and feels gross. I have loads of lovely clothing items I won’t wear for that reason. On a dress (or suit jacket) it is easy to deal with (I wear something under it) but on pants – YUCK.
I wear pantyhose under lined pants to avoid the fabric sticking to me. You can also buy unlined pants and just have the crotch lined — much cheaper than adding full lining but still lengthens the life of the pants.
What’s the big deal about suits being lined? I prefer my Theory un-lined suits to any of my other lined suits.
And I agree with SM — we need smaller sizes in suits too, not just larger!
Glad to read I’m not the only one who finds some clothing brands have, in recent years, gone onto the path of “disposable fashion” without sinking their prices though, mind you. I’m wondering if it’s the Chinese or something… Seriously, all the Chinese clothing seems to be incredibly badly made, ignoring every single tailoring rule there is, and usually you can throw it out after wearing it a few times. The price doesn’t always reflect that quality, either… Now I’m wonder if it is contagious somehow. I mean if you are heading for fashion you can throw out after a few times wearing, why not get it over with and just make it out of paper already.
You’d think brands would be above that sort of cheapskate sewing techniques, but apparently not. Recession or not, going for a quick buck at the expense of a brand’s reputation seems like a bad marketing strategy, unless you’re deliberately trying to help a company down the drain of course.
It’s the managers who make the decisions. The saying is, “The fish rots from the head.” Rather a broad brush to implicate an entire country, no?
Anon– I am a size 8/10/12 (depending on the manufacturer) and curvy, and I have good suits from Banana, J.Crew and a Calvin Klein (department store purchase).
I find that I have more success with skirt suits, and beware of the very-trendy short, boxy jackets. Those are terrible on anyone with curves.
DLS-
I probably have a very similar shape to yours and have had great luck with Banana Republic suits – I bought quite a few because they have a flared skirt that usually matches the standard suits they have. Also, going a size up in Jcrew skirts also works for me (they cut a pretty roomy pencil)
Ditto BR for curvy-fitting skirts. I cannot pull of a pencil skirt and Banana suits often offer A-line options.
Super cute suit! I really like womens clothingthat is buisness attire. You can just look so professional and it makes me feel really important.