The Best Linen Suits Keep Cool While You Bust a Move

So this summer, J.Crew has again rolled out the bluntly-named Big-Fit suit, a worthy follow-up to its viral Giant chinos that takes the Kenmare’s relaxed proportions to their logical conclusion. The latest version comes rendered in a calming Italian linen, sourced from a century-old Italian mill. If J.Crew’s track record is any indication, expect the Big-Fit suit to be just as ubiquitous as its others by this time next year—which means now’s the moment to supersize your closet before the rest of the group chat catches up.

Best Linen Suit for Tailoring Nerds: J. Mueser Waverly Linen Suit

Fabric: 100% Linen | Color: Dark brown | Sizes: IT 46-54

When New York City’s best-compensated fellas are in the market for a custom suit—for their wedding, their promotion, their Friday night—they increasingly go to J. Mueser. For good reason, too. As we’ve written about previously, founder Jake Mueser started the brand in 2008, and has since established “what might be the closest thing NYC has to a signature style of tailoring.” His suits are a “melting pot,” as he calls it, of influences: There’s the American natural shoulder, the English ticket pocket, the generous Italian lapel. But for now, and for your purposes, all that really matters is that his note-perfect suits are also available to order online—in this case, in an exceptional, chocolatey brown.

More Linen Suits We Love

If you’ve ever wondered what it would feel like to be Humphrey Bogart, making knees weak and hearts still, wonder no more. Buck Mason’s aptly named Casablanca suit harnesses the legendary Hollywood actor’s swagger in the form of a 1940s-style double-breasted, peak lapel suit made from luxe Irish linen. With half-canvas construction and mother-of-pearl buttons, it reads as more luxe than the pricepoint would have you believe, plus it’s one of the few suit options that’s easy to separate which means you’ll be wearing this in more ways than just to weddings.

Sid Mashburn’s Kincaid suit has been a GQ favorite for years, especially for its classic 3-season hopsack fabric. In the summer, its linen version helps us to keep sharp and cool. It’s made with full-canvas construction, a soft shoulder, and a modern high-gorge notch lapel. So it might be a single-season suit, the construction and quality means you’ll have it for a decade at least.

The characteristic rumpled texture of a high-quality linen can be enough to elevate a decent suit to next-level. But sometimes it’s not enough to rest on linen’s laurels alone. Kartik Research takes it to the stratosphere with hand-woven linen that’s then meticulously hand-embroidered by Indian artisans. So yeah, go ahead and brag about it to all of your friends/soon-to-been-enemies.

Evan Kinori’s linen two-piece is the savvy sartorialist’s answer to transitional weather. The jacket is cut loose and generous, guaranteed to keep you from sweating buckets come summer—but might look even better as a makeshift chore coat with a threadbare tee underneath. Wear the pants instead of jeans on your next run to the bodega and even the surly dude behind the cashier will appreciate the flex.

If you always wondered how Italian drip gods manage to look so fly in the summer, we’ve got the answer: a suit exactly like this one. Brunello Cucinelli’s subtly-textured linen option may seem laissez-faire in vibe, but to really capitalize on its pedigree, we’d recommend going the whole nine yards—pale blue shirt, dark knit tie, dress shoes shined to a mirror-like gleam.

The other essential name in fine Italian linen tailoring, Boglioli has been keeping the sweat off of European brows for decades—including George Clooney’s. This suit is garment-dyed, double-breasted, and as ready to cover a button-up shirt as it is a rollneck sweater.

Ok, so you want your pattern to relax as much as your fabric? Enter: Corridor. This checked set is classic enough not to raise any eyebrows, but those close to you will take some joy in the faintly pink stripes running all the way down the check print. And while it’s designed for the warm months, there’s a touch of wool in it too, to keep the goosebumps away once the sun’s gone down.

The folks at Mr. Porter sift through a ton of product every day, and in many cases, their in-house line Mr. P represents the best of a category, something that can only be known after you’ve pored over the whole rest of the competition. And while the brand knows it may never be able to compete on suiting with the likes of a Cucinelli, in this case, it wisely decided to tackle the “casual linen suit” genre—with handsome, garment-dyed-for-softness results.

What to Look for in a Great Linen Suit

Suits are notoriously difficult to get right. But with a few key considerations and rules of thumb, you can get a tack-sharp two-piece to look like a bespoke masterpiece (or at least, pretty close to it). Here are some things to watch out for when shopping for a great linen suit.