“There was already a trend against suits, but Covid accelerated it no end," - Mark Dinneen of John Taylor menswear shop on Baggot Street Photograph : Laura Hutton
Frewen & Aylward, which has been in business in Dún Laoghaire for 60 years, has also redesigned its store in order to highlight semi-casual wear. Richard Farrell, the manager, points out that neckties and leather shoes, the other mainstays of menswear shops, have also become fashion victims. The pinstripes and checks are gone. You don’t see any world leaders in a big check suit. It’s more the George Clooney look. A two-piece suit is simple and more effective than the more aggressive lookEven the job of a men’s tailor has changed, according to Farrell. These days it’s more about helping customers to match up jackets with chinos and pullovers. “We had to reinvent completely. We had to get used to selling outfits rather than a guy buying a suit,” he says.
Sheary says the typical customer now buys a suit that will double up for many occasions – court appearances as well as christenings, weddings and funerals. Sheary no longer wears a suit to work himself, while Dinneen has ditched his lifetime habit of wearing a tie. “I had to give it up when we returned from lockdown. It just looked too over-the-top,” he explains. “I’m meeting people in shorts and flip-flops. Meeting them in a tie was overdoing it.”
Gosson points out that some international retailers have either reduced stocks of business suits, or stopped selling them, with some of the UK multiples leaving the Irish market entirely. “Ironically, that has driven the Irish public back to private independent stores, because they have nowhere else to get suits for their weddings,” he says.