What Makes a “Super” Suit?

You may have started seeing suits (and shirts) advertised with the quality of wool (”Super 220″ or “Super 150″) as a selling point.The WSJ, apparently on a hardcore consumer investigation bender, demystifies what these numbers mean and whether they are good or bad.

They bought and lab-tested ten suits, ranging from $300 to $2,000, from labels like your personal fave “Donald J. Trump” to Zegna, Canali, Brooks Brothers and Hickey Freeman. They were tested for whether they actually lived up to their numerical claims of fiber softness (higher numbers are softer, narrower fibers), as well as fabric durability.

These higher number Supers are actually not meant for everyday wear, or so say sales people at the high end dept stores, since suits made of these fibers are not as durable and also don’t stand up well to frequent drycleaning. Of course because they are finer, they feel better, like your super high thread count sheets.
Anyway, Brooks Brothers’ 110s and Hickey Freeman’s 120s both passed the test for fiber quality as well as durability. Zegna’s 120 ($1,995) made the grade for fiber quality, but not for durability.

Related:
Review of Paris Custom Shirts (more on cotton quality / fiber)

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