In praise of pastel suits

There have been various style know-it-alls who have been ruminating over the possible, perhaps inevitable, return of suits which have Miami Vice proportions. The Eighties cop show was bold in its broad silhouette, generous pleats, puffy shoulders and unstructured loucheness that undid 100 years of tailoring’s mission to flatter and ennoble. In 2021 it feels like the logical next step for people all too used to not having to dress up at all – an exercise in sartorial fence sitting. What people didn’t predict was that people would also feel inspired by the show’s colour palette too. Pastels are everyone’s favourite tone to mock, but opting for brightness, is the smart move.

I’d like to claim credit for the uprising, having written in 2019 about J.P. Hackett on Savile Row making me an oatmeal fresco wool double-breasted suit, but truth be told others beat me to the punch. Most recently, and said with precisely zero mawkishness, Chadwick Boseman’s Vanity Fair cover was pitch perfect.