A client lunch is the one business meal where a full suit can work against you. The table is small, the talk is meant to be easy, and a man in a navy two-piece at noon on a Thursday reads as someone who came from a pitch and is still pitching.
The better answer is business without the suit: a cashmere cardigan, wool flannel trousers and a pair of calf oxfords. That combination is The Client Lunch on the Looks page, and it holds up from the handshake to the bill.
Dress one notch below the client
Aim one step under what the client is likely to wear, never two. A banker may arrive in a jacket. Someone who runs a plant or a software company may arrive in a quarter zip. Flannel and a cardigan sit in the middle of that range.
It is serious enough to sit across from a jacket, and relaxed enough that a man in a fleece vest does not feel underdressed. The tie is the adjustable part. Carry one in the briefcase and decide in the parking lot.
Trousers: flannel, cut clean
Start with the trousers, because they set the formality of everything above them. Wool flannel is the right cloth from October through March. Its brushed surface looks rich in daylight, it drapes instead of creasing hard through ninety minutes in a chair, and it survives a car seat better than a smooth worsted.
Charcoal flannel is the trouser here. A mid-weight worsted flannel in mid or dark gray pairs with navy, brown and camel knitwear, carries a crease, and keeps the outfit from looking like a suit with the jacket left in the car. Skip anything in stone or khaki; at this table it reads like a weekend errand.
Fit: the waistband should sit at the natural waist or just below, with a flat front and no pulling at the pockets when you sit. Ask the tailor for a slight break or none. A narrow leg is fine. A skinny leg is not. Flannel has body, and it should fall straight from the seat to the shoe.
The knit: a cardigan, not a sweater
A cardigan does the work a sport coat would do. It frames the shirt, gives the shoulders a line, and can be worn open at the table and buttoned when you stand. A crewneck pulled over a collared shirt does none of that. The collar points fight the neckline and the whole thing reads as Saturday.
The Naadam Signature Cashmere Classic Cardigan is $186, 25% off. Choose a dark color, navy or charcoal, to sit against oatmeal trousers, and wear it over a crisp oxford cloth or fine poplin shirt.
How it should fit: the shoulder seam lands on the shoulder bone, not past it. The body closes without the buttons pulling into an X. The hem covers the waistband by an inch or two, so no shirt shows between the last button and the belt. Leave that bottom button undone, as with a waistcoat.
The tie question
Most client lunches do not require a tie. Some reward one. If the client is older, the restaurant has tablecloths, or the business is finance or law, a tie makes the cardigan look intentional rather than casual.
With knitwear, the tie should be matte and soft. A glossy printed silk is wrong here. The Viola Milano solid cashmere tie in navy is woven in Como, untipped, with hand-rolled edges, at $114 (49% off). Cashmere has a slightly fuzzy face that belongs next to flannel. Tie a four-in-hand, keep the knot small, and let the blade end at the belt buckle.
Navy tie, white or pale blue shirt, charcoal cardigan, oatmeal trousers. That is the whole palette, and it is hard to get wrong.
Shoes: calf oxfords, polished
The shoe decides whether the outfit is business or weekend. Loafers push it toward the weekend. Boots push it toward the country. A plain oxford in smooth calf keeps it squarely in business territory, which is where it needs to be when the other person is noticing details.
The Beckett Simonon Dean Oxford is full-grain calfskin from a tannery in Arzignano, Italy, made in Colombia, at $249. Choose dark brown with oatmeal flannel. Black works if the trousers are charcoal. Polish them the night before. Lunch happens at close range, and a scuffed toe is visible across a two-top.
Sizing any oxford: you want firm contact at the instep, a little room at the toes, and a slight heel slip at first. Calf softens and the slip settles. If the shoe pinches across the widest part of the foot on the first day, go up a half size.
What you carry
A backpack undoes everything above it. A slim leather briefcase holds a laptop, a notebook and the folded tie, and it says you came to work.
The Beckett Simonon Sullivan Briefcase is the same full-grain calfskin as the oxford, at $309. Match its color to the shoes roughly, not exactly. Brown with brown is enough. Nobody holds them side by side. At the restaurant, set it on the floor beside the chair, never on the table.
Put together, from the ground up: brown calf oxfords, dark socks that match the trousers or the cardigan, oatmeal flannel with a brown leather belt, a white or pale blue shirt, a charcoal or navy cashmere cardigan, and a navy cashmere tie in the bag in case. A watch on a leather strap. No pocket square, since there is no jacket to hold one.
If dinner follows, keep the trousers and swap the shirt and cardigan for a cashmere roll neck and penny loafers, as in the night out look. Current markdowns on these pieces are in the deals, and the Italian-made shoes and accessories are on the Italia page. For a lunch that runs more relaxed, a driving loafer is the next step down, and the Tod's Gommino review covers when it works.
The pieces
The best markdowns, before they sell out.