Why did the shirt, jacket and tie become the international standard dress code for business and governments?
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The suit itself evolves as a more casual version of the frock coat, which replaces the justacorps formal coat. The frock coat is a formal version of the frock, a loose casual coat which had been around for a long time. It also became fashionable for trousers to be worn instead of breeches. In Victorian England it was fashionable that lounge suits be of one material, and the colours of both frock and lounge suits became more restrained, at least for for “formal” city wear. Companies and governments require dress standards for employees/ civil servants, and they went with the prevailing fashion, which was the British one. Britain was the largest trading empire in world history, and France, Portugal, Spain and the Dutch were responsible for most of the rest, so it’s natural that across the rest of the world businesses and government sought to maintain respectable appearances by keeping in line with European fashion, or as colonies had fashions dictated to them as acceptable for work with the civil service/trading companies, or not. Some people don’t follow the standards, like the saudis. Some maintain the more formal morning dress which is an evolution of the frock coat.
Colonialism. When Western civilization colonized less developed places, they bring in commerce wearing those attires, and local people who wants to do business imitated them.
It is really interesting how there are so many different answers to this question.
One aspect that I feel is underrepresented in this thread is the cultural shift.
“The suit” is very much a response to the flamboyant aristocratic fashion of the 17th century.
With the fall of the aristocracy and feudalism and the raise of industrialization and capitalism the ideals shifted from the extravagant and fantastical to the more reasonable and logical.
The suit was the smart and reasonable attire for important people who care about important things.
There was also a gendered aspect where Men were logical and practical and women were emotional and extravagant. So womens attire is more fancy while men’s are not. And we see these ideals still today.
>Why did the shirt, jacket and tie become
I swear, this started as a Dad Joke or something and was confused why am I still in r/dadjokes.
Long story short… it makes you look serious, something everyone in business & government wants.
A lot of people have given you a lot of amazing information about suits but one of the reasons is that the poor couldn’t afford suits. A suit elevated you above the common man. There is a load of psychology theory that goes into why people wear suits but that is the simplest reason. If your question is why suits instead of traditional Islamic/Chinese clothing etc then it’s more complicated.
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