Outside of work, what’s the time of year you’re most likely to wear a suit? Obviously, it’s the season you’d least want to be wearing a suit. ‘Tis the way of the world. However, the best summer suits for men understand this paradox. They get it.

All they want for you is to let your pits breathe, for you to never form sweat, and to help you look like a super-sharp-shooter. The summer-suiting paradox is built into the design: it’s all about being formally cool and coolly formal.

For that reason, your search for the best summer suits for men will usually lead you to linen. This is the most heat-appropriate fabric in the Material Kingdom. However, it has its downsides. It has a proneness to creasing and can come across as a little scruffy.

So, you might want to consider lining your suit, finding one with more structure, or working with a blend. This leads to the inevitable trade-off with breathability. Any attempts to work around linen’s foibles decrease its breathability, so you’re going to have to judge that one yourself.

There are parameters to help you judge this situation. If you’re looking for a suit to wear to a wedding, ask yourself: What is the dress code for the wedding? What are the bride and groom like? What is the setting? And, what’s the temperature of the location?

If you’re wearing this suit every day to a place of work, is the workplace strict or relaxed with its dress code? Consider if you’ll need this suit to travel in, or pack well to travel with, too. Counterintuitively, a linen suit can be good for traveling since it’s easy to steam on the other side (please invest in a portable steamer) and a little creasing is to be expected.

Thankfully, you have an array of choices when it comes to summer suits for men. And this article will walk you through all of them. I considered the five pillars of summer suiting to get the choices you need to see: fabric, lining, fit, lapels, and tone. Read on below to discover the best summer suits for men. You shan’t regret it. You simply shan’t.

Key Takeaways 

I used to write for a Savile Row brand, so my knowledge of tailoring was bumped up by this experience. I weaved that knowledge into this brave sartorial journey to find the best summer suits for men.

I also read through ample customer reviews, spent too much time on Reddit, looked at three-many Instagram photos, and reassessed my personal tailoring options. Finally, I whittled it back to 6 of the best summer suits for men across the internet that you should be looking at.

Overall, the finest is Percival’s Tailored Seersucker Suit. It has all the hallmarks for success. It has a unique style, uses a breathable fabric, comes in zippy colors, and isn’t too expensive. Elsewhere, I looked for pieces that were either good value for money or especially luxurious at a reasonable price.

The runner-up is the Billy Reid Garment-Dyed Linen because it offers something different. It is rustic, relaxed, and approachable. It’s one of the best summer suits for men to take on a vast range of activities in a louche, horizontal style.

Why it’s great: Cotton. Seersucker. Textured. Waffled. Rippled. Delightful. That forest green zinging through a sea of blues, grays, blacks, and whites. Percival has captured hearts and souls in London with its popular, stylish, and accessible linen summer suits for men. Now, the slight variant, the seersucker, is set to join the crowd.

Who is this for: Well, it’s for me. I have co-opted my own article in a ploy to find myself a suit for an upcoming wedding in Lisbon. So, this suit is for me. But no man is an island. I represent one singular, generic man looking for lightweight, chic, and versatile summer tailoring.

Not only will I look exceptional at said wedding, but I also intend to use the pants and blazer as separate outfit additions for the rest of the summer. Trip into the city of Lisboa? A white T-shirt, Percival linen trousers, sneaks, a tote bag, and a baseball cap will do for me.

Flaws but not deal-breakers: The only real drawback is the unnatural polyester slipping into its construction. However, this does afford it machine washability, which is a superpower when it comes to daily tailoring and practicality.

Material: 96% cotton, 4% stretch (probably elastane/spandex) | Sizes: 34–44 | Colors Available: 2 | Care: Machine wash 30 degrees Celsius, no tumble dry

Why it’s great: This immaculate two-piece linen suit by Amazon stalwart brand HUUTOE is a simple affair. That is by no means an insult; quite the contrary. It’s ideal for a stylish man on a sensible budget. It has notch lapels, a two-button closure, an inner pocket, and two side pockets.

Some might say it’s the archetypal modern suit design: versatile, sleek, and applicable to a wide range of body types. The joy of this particular linen suit is its wide range of colors, too, giving you freedom of choice. Talking of choice, this suit’s circumspect price means that it might be worth considering one or two tones to offer variety to your summer suit options, too.

Why HUUTOE? It is one of the most legitimate Amazon brands doing linen suits, as proven by its superior marketing and high customer review ratings. That’s why I chose this brand.

Who is this for: For those who want the “linen” experience without investing in a piece of 100% linen. Or, for those who want to pad out their tailoring options with multiple linen colors for multiple summer events and not break the bank doing so.

Flaws but not deal-breakers: The whole linen but not thing. This 70% rayon, 27% linen, and 3% spandex material blend reveals a few things, other than that it’s trading heavily off its small use of linen. There is its ability to stretch and its lesser quality, compared to a pure linen suit.

Also, negative comments point to a sizing problem, which is addressed by the seller. Read the seller’s notes on sizing carefully before purchasing.

Material: 3% Spandex, 27% Linen, 70% Rayon | Sizes: XS–XL | Colors Available: 3 | Care: Dry Clean Only

Why it’s great: For ultimate swagger, always choose Italian tailoring. Thanks to the culture of Sprezzatura (swagging public places of an evening), the Italians know how to look effortlessly cool. Luca Faloni is one such premium brand offering these delightful wonders. The combination of a wide-notch lapel and large open side pockets gives it decadence.

Who is this for: The linen is both breathable and machine washable. This makes it one practical summer suit. It is excellent for weddings, dinners, lunches, breakfasts, brunches, afternoon teas, touristing, nipping out for a pint of milk, and even just reading the paper.

I could go on. However, if you want extra comfort from your linen, Faloni has ingeniously treated the fibers with a natural formula to give the fabric a little stretch. Natural linen with natural stretch? What’s not to love?

Flaws but not deal-breakers: The price and the fact that it is dry clean only might kill off a few customers’ ambitions.

Material: 100% linen | Sizes: EU 46–56 | Colors Available: 5 | Care: Dry Clean Only

Why it’s great: For an affordable suit, it doesn’t half cut a lovely shape. With summer fabrics being naturally loose, which inevitably knocks formality down a peg, COOFANDY has leaned into this idea by adding a drawstring tie-up to the trousers. It’s just the right amount of piña colada, holiday vibe.

The blazer is a classic design: notch lapel, two-button and two two-flap pockets with one double-welt pocket on the right. Plus, the range of tones means that you’re bound to find your perfect wedding suit.

Who is this for: I wore a 50–50 cotton-linen blend suit to a wedding outside Lisbon this weekend (sadly didn’t get time to buy the Percival), and it struck just the right balance of formal, structured, and breathability. Sure, I still had to take off my jacket during the ceremony (it was 90 degrees), but it was manageable for the rest of the time.

Others at the wedding opted for a full linen blend and it just didn’t have the same degree of formality. In essence, I looked better in a 50–50 blend. And you will, too. Shame I lost the jacket after jumping in the swimming pool… oh well, an excuse to buy a COOFANDY?

Flaws but not deal-breakers: Can bad marketing be a product flaw? Sort of. Though not essential, it doesn’t fill you with confidence or build trust in the brand. However, the 4.3-rated reviews from 120 people should dispel fears.

Material: 55% Linen, 45% Cotton | Sizes: S–XXXL | Colors Available: 11 | Care: Hand Wash Only

Why it’s great: There are some inalienable truths about summer. People will complain that it’s too hot. You’ll lose sunglasses. And linen will crease. So, take a deep breath and just accept it.

This Billy Reid piece is the laid-back linen tailoring partner you need this summer to get you by in a breezy, carefree way. The sublime garment dye (dying after production) gives it a friendly face to summer tailoring as the dye technique gives a slightly rustic imperfect finish.

Who is this for: This is why this is the perfect everyday best summer suit for men. It is navy. So it is easy to style and good in the cloudy and sunny days. It is linen. So, it’s lightweight, breathable, soft and comfortable.

It has an insouciant design with the open-front pockets and three-quarter lining giving off a daily workwear chore jacket feel. The suit has a palpable, natural versatility.

Flaws but not deal-breakers: It lacks pin-sharp formality. But that’s not the point.

Material: 100% linen | Sizes: 36R–48L | Colors Available: 2 | Care: Machine Wash Cold, Tumble Dry Low

Why it’s great: Well, I was going to write a whole spiel about the particular tone, fabric, and design, but Indochino has thrown my whole “fashion writing” thing out the window. They say: to hell with specificity. Why not just let our customers choose everything?

Indochino offers a fully customizable design using an easy online tool, all for an affordable price. Ah, that’s a weight off my mind. The choices include single, double, or mandarin breasted jacket with one, two, four, or six buttons. A choice to keep the pant fabric the same or different (nice touch).

Notch or peak lapels with a choice of three widths. Pocket styles including doubled-welted, flap, or patched. And finally choices on side vents, pleats, trouser cuffs, and the option of a waistcoat. If your mind isn’t bubbling with all of the exciting combinations, then this isn’t the route for you.

Who is this for: I wouldn’t recommend this for buying your first ever suit. Buy a few suits first, get to grips with the nomenclature, feel what’s good for you, experiment with styles, fabrics, lapel style, etc. Then, when you’re beginning to find your style, or you know precisely what you want, then come to Indochino with the masterpiece in mind. Or, just mess around on the configurator and come up with a masterpiece anyway.

Flaws but not deal-breakers: The measure-at-home approach should land you with a much better fit than just eyeballing it from an e-commerce site. However, it won’t match the glovelike fit of a tailor-made suit from Savile Row. But if that’s the comparison, then Indochino sure are doing something right.

Material: 100% linen | Sizes: Made to measure | Colors Available: Many | Care: Unspecified

Buying Considerations for the Best Summer Suits for Men

Material

100% linen is breathable, lightweight, and the optimum choice for dealing with heat. However, it creases easily and can look more like a day-to-day suit than a formal choice. A linen-cotton blend is less prone to crease, holds its structure better and therefore looks smarter, but you sacrifice a little breathability.

Style

In the last few years, people have become less anal about having to wear a double-breasted jacket done up. Thank God! For that reason, the double-breasted is now a real choice in the warmer months. Elsewhere, the fabric and tone of the fabric will alter the aesthetic. It’s best to opt for a pastel tone or a soft beige to reflect light and keep you cool.

Fit  

These days, despite seeing one rogue article on GQ questioning whether skinny jeans will make a comeback (please no), it’s all about loose fits. But, that’s not to say that a well-fitted suit is out of fashion. Quite the contrary, a well-fitted suit should have a little bit of fabric, drape, and give for maximum comfort.

The rule here is anything but skinny fit. Check the leg and arm length, too: nothing undoes a lovely suit quicker than an ill-fitted arms and legs.

How We Chose

A summer wedding suit for a man needs to be suave, breathable, durable, well-fitted, have a good style, have a nice color tone, and offer good value for money. With a lot of products on the market claiming to meet these testy parameters, I wanted to ensure that the top 6 products I selected lived up to these standards.

I loathe nothing more than poor summer suiting (not quite true, but it’d be nice to eradicate this, at the risk of sounding a bit Fascist). Throughout my selection process, I leaned on a brand’s reputation, the product’s material composition, customer reviews and a variety of style and price, and used my knowledge of tailoring to make a judgment.

Company Reputation

I know for a fact that Billy Reid will construct a good suit. Years in the business and many, many satisfied customers have built the brand’s reputation. Elsewhere, Luca Faloni, Percival, and Hockerty all come in with a positive glow to the brand.

When we get into the territory of Amazon, I tend to skew towards the reviews, since price is the key point here and not brand reputation.

Online Reputation

To sort of double-check myself and professional opinion, I like to read on forums and articles about brands that I think have a good reputation, to check that they still do. Companies are always morphing, and the best way to get up-to-date information is online, or through other journalists.

Reviews

This is especially important for Amazon products. I try to read as many reviews as possible and decide if there are glaring defects.

Price

It’s important that price and quality correlate perfectly. I don’t mind adding something expensive if the quality is there to match. After all, it is usually cheaper in the long run to buy something of high quality and good value that has the stitch quality, fabric durability, and dye quality to last a lifetime, than to buy something cheap. So that’s an important consideration.

Why Trust Us?

Harvey James has been writing about men’s tailoring for about six years now. He is loathe to admit it since it suggests that the mortal clock is still ticking. But he isn’t loathe to admit that he’s been in and around quality suits throughout those years and it’s been a pleasure.

Harvey has written a meticulous Black Tie Guide, a relevant piece on short suits, and a wedding guest dressing guide, all for British GQ. He also worked as a copywriter for a Savile Row brand and embarked on an embarrassingly steep learning curve.

Outside of work, he revels in the wedding season. Nothing is more pleasurable to Harvey than donning a deliriously dapper summer suit and getting nice ‘n’ wavey. The only thing more pleasurable to him is writing in the third person about himself.

Final Verdict 

Of the best summer suits for men, this sensual seersucker piece by Percival comes out on top. Don’t be fooled by its cotton construction: the age-old wisdom of the rumpled seersucker fabric affords ample breathability, and it sits just the right side of expressive. In short, I’ve named it the best summer suit for men. And I stand by it.