Suit and suit jacket?

We realize a lot of our Malaysian friends commonly use the term "suit" when they are actually just talking about a suit jacket. It is acceptable not to know the proper names for different jackets such as a blazer, sport coat and dinner jacket, but we think it is important to understand the proper definition of a suit and to use the term appropriately.

A suit is defined as "a set of garments made from the same cloth, consisting of at least a jacket and trousers". The keyword here is "set", which means that a suit jacket or a suit pant by its own is not considered a suit. The same thing goes for a car, which is made up of multiple parts, one cannot refer to the engine alone as the car, can he? He is simply referring to the car engine.

How formal is a formal shirt?

There's simply just too many Malaysians who jump into conclusion that a dress shirt (which is the proper term for the widely used formal shirt) or a dress pant is considered formal, when they are actually not. A single piece of clothing by itself does make the entire outfit formal, its all the right pieces together which does. Similarly, a person who's wearing a dress shirt, necktie, suit jacket (yes, the "coat" is called a suit jacket and not just suit) and jeans, does that make the look formal? It's not about a single piece, but all the pieces together.

The knot you should use

You know what, screw the posts you've seen here about which knot to wear for this collar or which knot for that collar and whatever else. Stick to the four-in-hand or the latest knot we showed—the Prince Albert. Ditch the half-windsor and full-windsor which your dad taught you and go for either one of these two knots. It's just slimmer, younger, more modern looking, and you're going to feel that way as well.