Clothing Definitions — definitions of garments and clothing terms from Apparel Search
There are many different types of suits, and they are not all worn as business attire. Alongside the business suit stand whole families of protective and occupational suits built for extreme environments: atmospheric diving suits and diving suits for pressure underwater, pressure suits, space suits and space activity suits for altitude and space, hazmat and environmental suits against contamination, G-suits and flight suits for aviation, clean room suits for sterile work, and water garments such as wetsuits and swim suits. Each type is defined on its own page, linked from the clothing definitions.
| Fashion Industry |
Suits as EquipmentThe word suit covers two very different families of clothing. One family is about matching: a jacket, trousers and waistcoat cut from the same cloth, worn so the wearer looks correct for business or ceremony. The other family, gathered on this page, is about survival and function. A special suit is a wearable system engineered against a named hazard: water pressure at depth, vacuum in orbit, chemical contamination on the ground, crushing acceleration in a fighter aircraft, sterile conditions in a clean room, or cold water during a dive or a surf session. Because the hazard comes first, special suits are specified the way equipment is specified. An atmospheric diving suit is a rigid, articulated shell that keeps sea pressure off the diver entirely. A pressure suit keeps breathing gas at a safe pressure around a pilot or astronaut. A hazmat suit is a chemical barrier with sealed seams and its own air supply. A G-suit squeezes the legs and abdomen with inflatable bladders so acceleration does not drain blood from the pilot's brain. A wetsuit takes the opposite approach to water: it lets a thin layer in, warms it with body heat, and insulates it with neoprene. Reading the Suit FamilyThe suit types also borrow from one another. Space suit design grew out of high-altitude pressure suits, which grew out of diving dress and oxygen equipment. The space activity suit borrows the wetsuit's insight that a close elastic garment can itself do useful work on the body. The ski suit and the flight suit share the jumpsuit's one-piece practicality. Following the links from this index to each definition shows the family connections: the same basic idea, a complete garment fitted closely to a task, worked out again and again for new environments. For the clothing industry, special suits sit at the technical end of apparel: small production runs, demanding materials, and performance judged by test results rather than by fashion. They are a reminder that a suit is not only a style category but also one of the oldest engineering forms in clothing, a fitted shell between a person and the world. Common QuestionsWhat counts as a special suit?A special suit is a suit built for a protective or occupational job rather than for appearance: diving suits, pressure suits, space suits, hazmat suits, G-suits, flight suits, clean room suits, environmental suits and wetsuits are all examples. The shared idea is a complete garment system fitted to a hostile environment. How does a special suit differ from a business suit?A business suit is a matching set of jacket, trousers and optional waistcoat worn for appearance and convention. A special suit is equipment: its materials, seals, pressure and life-support features are engineered for a specific hazard or task, and appearance is incidental. Where are the individual suit types defined?Each type has its own definition page in the clothing definitions, including atmospheric diving suits, catsuits, clean room suits, diving suits, environmental suits, flight suits, G-suits, hazmat suits, jumpsuits, Mao suits, pressure suits, seersucker suits, ski suits, space activity suits, space suits, swim suits, union suits and wet suits. More to ExploreMore from Apparel Search: Clothing Definitions | Clothing Industry Glossary | Fashion Terms | Apparel Search Home
|