Five Ways to Wear a Linen Suit

For anyone who’s sweltered through a summer meeting, or felt like a sausage wrapped in worsted at a sun-baked wedding, you’ll appreciate the importance of warm weather tailoring that is both beautifully made and, most crucially, breathable. 

Our latest batch of linen suits achieve that delicate balance. Made in Italy from a top tier Irish linen that has strength and structure while being light and easy to wear, our tailored jackets are full of considered details, including signature Drake's soft shoulder, unlined body and half-canvas construction, with twin front darts and back vents for air flow on the move. They're finished with genuine horn buttons and a cleverly concealed array of pockets. Available in six colours, these are slightly more formal than our Games range of tailoring, while still being crafted for high mercury comfort and versatility, with matching single pleat trousers fitted with side adjusters to finish things off. 

Captured in the field in Athens (a place that gets quite hot from time to time), here are five distinct ways to style a Drake’s summer linen suit. From mix and match with a bit of Ivy thrown in, to bright patterns offsetting dark linen backgrounds.

Shop Drake's Suits. 

Linen meets linen

Olive Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, Olive Irish Linen Single Pleat Trouser. Butter Yellow Irish Linen Tailored Jacket.

If in doubt, wear more linen! While the stripes against a solid base offer contrast, the double linen of the shirt and suit allows for you to play with different weights and textures of the ulitmate summer fabric.

Dark suit; fun shirt

Black Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, Green Giraffe Print Cotton Camp Collar Short Sleeve Shirt, Black Irish Linen Single Pleat Trouser. Navy Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, Multi Coloured Leaves Print Linen Camp Collar Short Sleeve Shirt, Navy Irish Linen Single Pleat Trouser.

Great for an Italian wedding with a looser dress code or a louche holiday dinner in some lovely cobbled square with white table cloths and three bottles of cold sparkling water, the inclusion of a dark, solid shade of suit acts as a stylish and muted canvas to let the patterned shirt (tastefully, of course) stand out. 

The polo with altitude 

Ecru Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, Khaki Knitted Jersey Cotton Long-Sleeve Polo Shirt, Ecru Irish Linen Single Pleat Trouser. Tobacco Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, Navy Knitted Jersey Cotton Long-Sleeve Polo Shirt, Tobacco Irish Linen Single Pleat Trouser.

Collar popped in a way that feels relaxed, cool, thrown together, easy and/or breezy; a long-sleeve polo shirt (tucked in, please), is smart enough to pair with tailoring, but laid-back enough to pair with full ecru for a run around the city. Just be careful with that coffee!

Break it up 

Ecru Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, Stone Wash 14.2oz Japanese Selvedge Denim Five-Pocket Jeans.

If full full ecru feels like a statement that you’re still building yourself up to make, or if you just want to mix things up, a tailored linen blazer with a classic striped rugby and Japanese selvedge denim combines the best of ivy-adjacent style with a subtle mixture of fabrics and a light-to-dark colour gradient. The blazer is the star, the rest is complementary. 

 Old Reliable

Olive Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, White Linen Spread Collar Summer Shirt. Brown Irish Linen Tailored Jacket, Brown Irish Linen Single Pleat Trouser.

Can you ever go wrong with a beautiful suit, a cutaway collar shirt and a repp silk, or gently patterned tie that is made in London? We don't think so! Even if it’s hot enough to bake a baklava on the pavement, a linen suit and shirt still allows you to dress up without feeling like you're about to spontaneously combust.