Spring & Summer Women’s Suits: Fresh Cuts for Sun-Drenched Days

The key component of women's summer suits may be the most surprising: the vest! Long underrated, vests are making a sexy comeback. A versatile layering piece that looks great over a crisp fitted shirt or puff-sleeved blouse, we love styling our Diane and Annie vests all on their own, especially on hot days. The fitted silhouette with an adjustable tie-back highlights your feminine figure and the v-neckline shows just enough summer skin. 

While a three-piece pantsuit is a truly timeless look, it’s not the only option. If you’re looking to try out this menswear-inspired trend but don’t love pant suits for women, a matching midi skirt is an elegant alternative. Our Christine skirt, named after the designer herself, matches our linen suiting collection to give you a three-piece look with a more feminine feel. 

The wearability of a summer suit lies in its fabrication; and while we love a cozy wool or corduroy suit for colder months, who wants to wear a heavy blazer or suit in hot weather? However, when made in breathable, lightweight fabrics like cotton and linen, a three-piece suit is perfect for even the hottest of days. Choose a roomy pant style, like our pleated Sophia Linen Pant or wide-leg Katherine trousers to keep things breezy: the fine weave will drape beautifully while keeping you cool and comfortable. A matching linen blazer is the perfect layer for moving in and out of air conditioning while looking tailored and professional. 

When choosing a suit, color is an important consideration. For most of us, it’s not often that we wear a single shade head to toe, but we choose to see this as a fun investment into your style. Do you gravitate towards dark or light? Bright seasonal colors or year-round neutrals? Just because the temperatures are rising doesn’t mean darker shades for your spring and summer suit colors are out of the question: try a slightly softer neutral like dark olive or navy if you prefer deeper tones or work in a more conservative environment. And if monochrome isn’t your thing, we suggest choosing a matching pant and blazer and using the vest to break things up. 

The function of your suit also plays a factor: think of the places you want to wear these pieces and the shoes and accessories you already have. Are you looking for casual suit outfits or something a bit more formal? A white linen suit screams effortless summer elegance and can take you from the office to the altar, but if you’re thinking of wearing your summer suit to someone else’s wedding (or if you’re a little too messy to trust yourself in all white) you might want to go for something more saturated like lilac or carnelian. 

Playing with accessories allows you to make your summer suit your own. We love to compliment our summer linen suit or cotton suit with our matching Forager Collection Narrow Belt here at Christine Alcalay and use leftover fabric from our suits to make accessorizing a breeze. A lightweight scarf adds an elegant touch, and our collection of square silk scarves based on paintings from the Rijks Museum are wearable works of art. Let the long ends blow in the breeze for a vintage French vibe, or lean into menswear summer suit looks and tuck a knotted scarf into the neckline of your vest for a nod to the classic ascot. A scarf also looks elegant when tied around the brim of a sun hat for beach days, strolling sunny streets in your linen pieces, or with your linen suit for a beach wedding. 

A lightweight linen blazer is possibly the most useful piece in a woman’s summer wardrobe, as it can be thrown on over just about anything. Keep your blazer on your desk chair to wear with your summer sundresses when they crank the work AC or you have to run into a last-minute meeting. Going to an outdoor wedding? Bring your blazer to wear over your formal attire so you can keep dancing all night long. We love the look of a sharp blazer over a slinky slip dress , giving a soft and sexy look a sharper edge. Needless to say, a suit jacket for hot weather always comes in handy when choosing women's suits for summer.

A linen trouser is a summer staple and looks as lovely with an airy blouse like the Katherine Blouse , Betty Blouse , or Livia Blouse as it does with its suiting counterparts, giving the menswear-inspired pants a more feminine feel when reaching for suits for hot humid weather. The comfort of our linen blend cannot be overstated, and we speak from experience when we say you’ll be reaching for your trousers for weekend errands and school pickups, pairing them with easy t-shirts and tanks (might we suggest our Pima cotton Belle tee ?). 

We’re so passionate about women’s suiting at Christine Alcalay that it’s become our calling card. With a keen eye for detail and a love of vintage tailoring, we are obsessed with creating timeless, elegant pieces for the modern woman. Designed at our atelier in Park Slope, Brooklyn, and handmade in Manhattan’s Garment District, keeping things local allows us to give each piece the care and consideration it deserves, working with the best fabrics and tweaking our classic suiting styles year after year for the perfect fit. 

As a woman-owned and operated brand, we know that creating the perfect woman’s suit is a lot more complicated than simply borrowing from the boys. By designing for (and on) real women’s bodies, we have created menswear-inspired pieces that not only fit but highlight the female form, with defined waists, bust darts, and the perfect v-neckline. We know firsthand that shopping for women’s pants can be frustrating, and the multiple pant styles in our summer suiting collection account for different body types and personal preferences: from high-waisted and tapered to flowing wide legs, each with ease through the hips and seat for comfort and practical deep pockets. 

As the temperatures start to rise and you begin looking ahead to your summer plans, consider the suit and its myriad styling possibilities. Shop our summer suiting collection to see the range of classic and seasonal colors and styling suggestions, or stop by our boutique in Park Slope to work with one of our stylists to find the best suit for you. Even if you start with just one piece, we promise the sophistication and elegance of our summer suiting will elevate your warm-weather wardrobe.