I Was Wrong About Ivory Suits

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The story of how I almost passed on this one.

If you had asked me a few years ago whether every man should own an ivory suit, my answer probably would have been no.

Not because I didn’t like the way they looked. Quite the opposite. I’ve always appreciated a well-executed ivory suit. I just wasn’t convinced it was practical enough to justify a place in most wardrobes. It gets dirty more easily than navy or gray, it sits well outside most men’s comfort zones, and it often feels like the kind of garment you’d wear once or twice before hanging it in the back of your closet.

As it turns out, almost none of that was true.

Today, my ivory twill suit has become one of the most versatile pieces I own. It’s a suit I reach for far more often than I ever expected, and it’s completely changed the way I think about light-colored tailoring.

It All Started In Florence

The story actually begins a few years ago during Pitti Uomo in Florence.

For that trip, I had an ivory linen suit made. I styled it tonally, packed it with the rest of my tailoring, and honestly wasn’t entirely sure how people were going to respond. An ivory suit isn’t exactly the safest choice at one of the biggest menswear gatherings in the world.

As it turned out, people loved it.

I was photographed constantly. People stopped me on the street to compliment the suit. While all of that was certainly flattering, it wasn’t what convinced me I’d stumbled onto something special.

What stayed with me was how I felt wearing it.

The suit was comfortable. It was confident. And perhaps most importantly, it kept me cool—both literally and figuratively. During the hottest days of the Italian summer, it felt effortless in a way my darker tailoring simply couldn’t.

That experience completely changed the way I thought about ivory.

Up until then, I’d viewed it as an intimidating color that required a certain type of person to pull it off. But after wearing it for several days in Florence, I realized I’d been looking at it all wrong. Ivory wasn’t a statement color at all. It was simply another neutral. And like every great neutral, it paired naturally with almost everything else in my wardrobe.

From Linen To Twill

There was just one problem: the suit was linen.

Now, don’t get me wrong—I love linen. In fact, I often say that if you’re going to wear it, you have to embrace the suck because wrinkles are simply part of the fabric’s charm. But every time I posted photos of that suit online, I knew exactly what the comments were going to be: “It wrinkles too much.” And to be fair, those comments weren’t wrong.

At the same time, my own taste in tailoring was beginning to evolve. I wasn’t moving toward oversized or baggy clothing, but I was finding myself drawn to garments with a little more ease, drape, and movement. I still wanted elegant tailoring, but I also wanted it to feel relaxed.

That got me thinking. What if I could capture everything I loved about that ivory linen suit without quite so much wrinkling? That question eventually led me to this ivory twill. It has the same versatility and lightness that made the linen suit such a favorite, but in a fabric that feels a little cleaner and a little easier to live with.

The Biggest Surprise

The biggest surprise wasn’t how the suit looked.

It was how often I wore it.

When I first had it made, I assumed it would be reserved for summer weddings, vacations, and perhaps another trip to Pitti Uomo. In my mind, it had a very specific purpose. It certainly wasn’t going to become one of my regular rotation pieces.

Instead, the exact opposite happened.

The more I wore it, the more I realized I’d been thinking about ivory all wrong. Once I stopped treating it like a statement color and started treating it like a neutral, everything else fell into place.

It works beautifully with every shade of brown. It pairs effortlessly with blue, olive, burgundy, and even black. Rather than limiting my options, it actually opened up combinations that felt completely different from anything I could create with a navy or gray suit.

Then there were the trousers.

When I designed the suit, I intentionally included belt loops because I knew I’d wear the trousers separately from time to time. What I didn’t anticipate was just how often I’d reach for them. They’ve quietly become one of the hardest-working pairs of trousers in my wardrobe, and that was the moment I realized this wasn’t simply a great suit. It was two incredibly versatile garments that each earned their place on their own.

5 Ways I Style An Ivory Suit

One of the reasons this suit has become such a staple is that it adapts to so many different situations. Here are five of my favorite ways to wear it.

01

Funky Tie

One of the styling principles I talk about most often is the importance of having a single focal point. If you want one piece of an outfit to stand out, everything else has to support it.

That’s exactly what’s happening here.

The colorful patterned tie immediately becomes the center of attention because the ivory suit provides such a clean, understated foundation. Nothing else competes for your eye. Instead, the suit allows the tie to do exactly what a true statement piece is supposed to do: make the statement.

02

Hollywood Chic

This is probably the simplest outfit in the collection, and I think that’s exactly why it works.

Everything feels tonal and intentional. The only real point of contrast comes from wearing the shirt collar over the lapels—a not-so-subtle nod to 1970s styling that also serves a practical purpose.

When you’re wearing a suit without a tie, that simple detail adds just enough structure and visual interest to make the outfit feel complete.

Sometimes it’s the smallest styling decisions that make the biggest difference.

03

Summer Wedding

Although an ivory suit naturally lends itself to casual styling, it can absolutely be dressed up.

The key is choosing pieces that complement its personality rather than trying to force it into looking like a traditional business suit.

A microstripe shirt and knit tie add polish without feeling overly formal, while black shoes and a black belt reinforce the dressier nature of the outfit.

The result is refined enough for a summer wedding while still feeling appropriate for the relaxed character of the suit.

04

Vacation Mode

If you’re headed somewhere warm, this is where I’d have a little more fun.

A patterned shirt immediately funkifies the outfit and gives it an entirely different personality. Swapping loafers for leather sandals relaxes the look another notch, making it feel perfectly at home walking through a beach town, heading to dinner at a resort, or enjoying a cocktail as the sun goes down.

One of the biggest misconceptions about an ivory suit is that it’s precious.

I don’t see it that way at all.

I think it’s meant to be lived in.

05

Pants Separate

One of the biggest surprises about this suit has nothing to do with the jacket.

It’s the trousers.

Paired with our Merlot Bamboo Sport Coat, they become the foundation of an entirely different outfit. The rich color of the jacket adds visual interest, while the tank top keeps everything cool and comfortable during the hottest days of summer.

Every year I get asked how to stay cool without sacrificing style.

This is one of my favorite answers.

More importantly, it’s proof that the value of this suit extends well beyond wearing it as a matching set. The trousers have become one of the most versatile separates I own.

The Bottom Line

When I almost decided not to make this suit, I thought I was making the practical decision.

Stick with navy. Stick with gray. Play it safe.

What I didn’t realize was that sometimes the pieces you hesitate over become the ones you end up loving the most.

This ivory suit has reminded me that the best additions to your wardrobe aren’t always the ones that make the most sense on paper. They’re the ones that quietly become part of your life—the garments you reach for again and again because they simply work.

After more than fifteen years of building my wardrobe, that’s become the clearest sign that a piece truly belongs.

Thanks, as always, for reading.