This is my first post in Lowyat. I have however lurked in its corridors for years, and of late in Men's Style & Fashion Forum.

Some background (for context): I'm a middle-aged male, who never really had the need to wear a suit or tie - until recently. I bought my first suit (80% Polyester), over ten years ago, for my graduation. Naturally, it was an RTW. But I was quite happy with it, blissfully ignorant. That changed two months bank. By some twist of fate, I joined a large investment house here KL, where everyone is expected to wear a suit. Which landed me here, among other places. It also led me to commission a new suit, with a floating chest-piece and all; buy half a dozen ties; and even order fabrics (2-ply cotton) and A. Thurston braces online. C'est la vie...

Now, the question. Based on your experience, what weight would you recommend for suiting material given our clime? I assume here a situation where one wears the suit daily, and may even commute by train to work.

kotmj, whom I understand is a senior member here, has recommended > 300 g for pure wool. (See: http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/1351948/all ). But it seems wool fabric is considered of summer fabric only if its < 260 g. And, I did find a number of items (typically wool blended with mohair or cashmere) sold by British Fabrics with low numbers. Have any of you tried these stuff -- say, a Super 120's wool weighing 240g?

I also came across something called 'cool wool', where the weight is less than 190 grams/m2 (or 275 g in usual width size of 150 cm). See http://www.woolmark.com/cool-wool .

Thanking you in advance for sharing your experience!

To me weave is more important. Why a cotton shirt is hot to wear under the sun compared to linen? 1 is smooth and he oher is coarse thats why. If wearing a suit in our weather, its best to go for half line or skeleton lined.Skeleton lined is hard for the tailor, but the best to be worn inn our weather.

Welcome to the forum I'd consider 3 things to make a suit wearable in tropical weather.

Weave - Fresco is a more porous weave and is a good choice for summer suits. You may also pick something with mohair in it but this adds to the coarseness of the fabric.

Weight - Anything around 300g is fine I suppose but I'd avoid the super lightweights (250g and below) as the drape will suffer. Take a look at the Uniqlo linen jackets and you'll understand.

Lining - Naturally you'd want to go for half lined or even unlined suit. Also the lining material makes a difference. I'd take Bemberg anytime over silk or polyester (!).

Just my 2 cents, perhaps you'll find better answers in the other menswear forum (look for kotmj's signature).

This post has been edited by deriku: Jan 5 2013, 03:30 PM