Much like Liam Neeson, suits tend to have a very specific set of skills. They’re often bought with intent, for high-octane occasions. The best gray suit, though, is less like a raspy-voiced tough guy and more like a kindly neighborhood handyman. It’s a jack-of-all-trades, like that kid on your block who was weirdly good at every sport. Gray suits can mingle in a room full of corporate bros, hang loose with the homies, wear the hell out of a boutonniere, and look equally at home with nothing but an exposed white tank beneath, if you’re feeling louche.
And while you can—and should—buy one if you’re in dire need of a suit, you don’t need an occasion to wear it; it’s just going to look good every time you do. In other words, where other suits are lost in the back alleys of Europe hunting down hired guns, the gray suit is nailing that high-stakes work presentation, or tearing up the dance floor, or giving a killer best-man toast. Don’t get it twisted, though—that context-agnostic versatility doesn’t mean they’re all the same, or that all of them do the same thing equally well. So to help you suss out which version makes the most sense for your [extremely Liam Neeson voice] specific set of needs, GQ Recommends went deep on 13 of our all-time favorites.
The Best Gray Suit, According to GQ
The Best Gray Suit Overall
In the ‘40s and ‘50s, guys like Don Draper would wear a gray suit five times a week. It’s not all that hard to see why: the right one just looks really, effortlessly good, day in and day out. Could we conjure a more scientific—or sartorial—explanation for its unimpeachable looks? Probably. But you’re not here for a lecture: you’re here to buy a really, effortlessly good gray suit, and Sid Mashburn’s Kincaid No. 3 might be the best we’ve tried. It’s understated but sharp, slim-ish but not skinny, and made from a gorgeous English high-twist wool thats hold its shape after years of regular wear. On a micro level, it’s impeccably detailed—flapped welt pockets at the waist, a solo ticket pocket, tab-closures on the trousers—and constructed, using a triple-layer full canvas and a full cupro lining. Is it going to elicit any raised eyebrows? Absolutely not, and that’s exactly the point.
The Best Entry-Level Gray Suit
Wearing a gray suit starts with owning a gray suit, and you’d be hard-pressed to find an easier entry point to the genre than Banana Republic’s. Allow us to run you through the key details. Pleasantly beefy notch lapels? Check. Fully lined exterior, single vent, and two-button silhouette? Check, check, and check. The real X factor here, though, is the fabric, a sumptuous flannel sourced from Italy’s legendary Vitale Barberis Canonico mill. In aggregate, the entire package is every bit as considered as options triple the price—even, yes, some of the others on this list—making it a no-brainer picks for mall enthusiasts who need a killer gray suit and don’t want to spend an obscene amount of green to get it.
The Best Easy-Going Gray Suit
When it comes to suits, easy-going is hard to come by. Enter Buck Mason’s superb Graduate suit, which is cut in a just-right Goldilocks silhouette that, ahem, bucks the rigorous structure of its counterparts in favor of soft-but-not-shapeless shoulders, substantial-but-not-period-specific lapels, and comes fully canvassed and with a Bemberg lining, just for good measure. In other words, it’s a classic suit with classic details that won’t really age, even as you do. Trend-agnostic tailoring is tricky to nail at this price point, especially in 2024, but we’re struggling to imagine the type of menswear calamity that would make this joint look out of place a decade down the line.
The Best Industry-Shifting Gray Suit
Thom Browne spent the better part of the last few decades freaking, refining, and ultimately transforming the humble gray suit into a canvas for unbridled creative expression. You probably know the designer’s genre-defining shrunken riff on the style, but these days, the CFDA majordomo also sells a slightly more generous version, too. This pristine wool number is still trim by any measure, but it’s proportions aren’t quite as severe as Browne’s flagship silhouette. (Rest assured, the telltale grosgrain tag by the back of the jacket collar is present and accounted for.) It’s just an incredible gray suit, made in Italy from a slate-gray wool that’s as synonymous with Browne’s designs as his Oxford shirts and pebble-grain brogues. Who wouldn’t want to join the coolest clique in fashion?
The Best Destination Wedding Gray Suit
Todd Snyder’s Wythe suit is double-trouble the whole way through: double-breasted, double-vented, double-pleated, and primed for double the fun on the dance floor. When Snyder introduced the sloping, elegant silhouette last year it came out of the gate swinging, but this charcoal pinstripe riff is an absolute knockout. For starters, that gorgeous 100% linen fabric boasts the same drape as wool, but feels exponentially cooler. (Linen gets more breathable when its fibers expand in the heat, allowing air to pass through). The double-breasted jacket has a partial butterfly lining and natural shoulders, and the high-waisted trousers are plenty full—though not baggy—and come with forgiving side-tabs for strategic waist expansion. Run it with a shirt and tie, sure, but pair it with right knit polo or a slinky tee and no one will bat an eye.
The Best Fashion-Guy Gray Suit
Everything in menswear looks a lot bigger these days, and suits are no exception. So if you’re the type of clothing fiend who loses sleep over the way your trousers fall over your shoes (with a healthy break, of course), the Scandi style gods at Mfpen know exactly what you need. To start, they cut their intentionally slouchy suit jackets from deadstock gabardine wool, and equip ’em with wide notch lapels, patch pockets, and padded shoulders. Then they grab the same roll of fabric to make their trousers, and equip those with large, deep pleats, crisp center creases, and welt pockets precisely where you want them to be. It’s true that oversized clothes are more forgiving, but that doesn’t mean they’re any less precise—there isn’t a centimeter of fabric out of place here, and the final effect is still downtown cool-guy, not corporate apparatchik.
Plus 7 More Gray Suits We Love
There are plenty of good, pressing reasons to buck convention: convention isn’t very interesting, and sometimes, it’s flat-out antiquated. In the suiting world, though, convention ain’t always bad, especially when it comes to the details. To wit: The Armoury’s delightfully old-school double-breasted suit, cut from 100% virgin wool, and replete with a Tailoring 101 syllabus’ worth of flourishes. The quarter-lined jacket is fully canvassed and boasts stunning welt pockets, basted sleeves, and a double-vented back. Oh, and as you’d expect, the trousers are pleated with a split-back waistband, too.
If it’s news to you that J.Crew knows how to cut a ludicrously high-quality everyman suit, you might want to scroll back through the GQ archives for an hour (or five). With the Crosby, for instance, you’re not just getting a great double-vented jacket with a pair of classic-fitting, gently-tapered trousers—you’re getting one made with sustainably-produced wool from Tollegno 1900, the vaunted Italian mill that’s been in operation for well over 150 years. Put a price on that.
If we told you to close your eyes and picture a gray suit, it would probably look a lot like this. That Ralph Lauren’s ultra-classic three-piece didn’t earn a spot in the winner’s section (…this time) is less a knock against it and more a testament to just how many stellar alternatives there are right now. Made from a Scottish wool fabric that’s light enough to wear most of the year, it’s comprised of a notch-lapel, two-button jacket, pleated trousers, and a vest with four (four!) welt pockets and very little genetic similarities to the one McLovin wore in Superbad. Is the vest necessary? No. But also, totally.
When it comes to suiting, it’s hard to get more chilled-out than this—heck, when it comes to any menswear, Barena’s entirely unlined two-piece is going to be tough to beat. The Venetian brand’s nubby linen suit is so laid-back we’re kind of struggling to figure out how it holds its shape this well, too. If your pals describe you as “rakish” with a straight face, this is the gray suit for you.
Anglo-Italian specializes in some of the best off-the-rack suiting on any either of the Atlantic. In this case, that means a 3-roll-2 jacket cut with a full-and-floating canvas designed for an easy, elegant drape—along with matching trousers equipped with side tabs, an extended waistband for the higher-gravity months, and a crisp set of pleats because yes, please. Oh, and both are made from a Scottish high-twist wool that looks equally exquisite—and feels just as cozy—at the office, the reception dinner, or on the swankiest grocery store run of your life.
A heavyweight contender in mid-weight wool, Drake’s’ pitch-perfect flannel joint is cut from a soft-but-sturdy fabric that will look so damn crisp in the office you might just start wearing it there for the heck of it—and of your own volition. The half-canvased jacket is unlined through the body—the flat-front trousers are half-lined, too—a flourish you’ll appreciate when you need to look pulled-together but not totally uptight.
Glen check gets a lot of love in the separates world, but the Swedish tailoring experts at Berg & Berg would like to remind you that the once-fusty pattern looks killer as a whole-ass suit, too. There’s far more than one shade of gray (perhaps you’ve heard of a book that riffs on that very theme—pretty sure it’s about tailoring), and they employ ’em all to enliven this handsome flannel number, transforming the erstwhile Madison Avenue standby into a Neapolitan swerve. Snag the full set for a staggering half off while supplies last, or regret it the next time a confounding RSVP hits your inbox.
Read the full article here
