The suit in the 19th Century

While Paris remained the center of female fashion in the 19th century, London became the capital of masculine style. London also gave birth to the dandy, a male, famously associated with George Bryan " Beau" Brummell. Lauded by the French writer, Charles Baudelaire, the dandy did much to advance the popularity and importance of dark suits. Elegnat and ineffably"cool", the dandy was a creture of immaculate grooming and reductive elegance.

An ever widening circle of men from all levels of society bagan to wear the suit as a symbol of authority respectability, and both conformity and defiance. Technical advancements in production allowed manufacturers produce ready-to-wear versions at reasonable prices. these affordable suits were worn by a broad swatch of the mae population, especially in the United States. Expensive custom-tailored ensembles, however, were reserved for the wealthy.