A while back, I posted a reel about Pat Riley's style. The short version is, he wore impeccably-tailored Armani suits. He was also—we must sadly note—a tall, slender man, his body uniquely well-suited to the Armani style.

But, contrary to what you hear from some individuals, the look was not exclusive to this body type. Armani famously suited all kinds of men over the decades in which it dominated fashion and tailoring. The entire cast of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, including the great James Avery, wore Armani suits, and they all looked great.

So now you might be asking how this effect can be achieved in 2025, especially since that's what the headline promised. Well, I've got good news, and I've got bad news. Let's get the latter out of the way first.

Giorgio Armani's designs, in 2025, do not strongly resemble the classic aesthetic of the late 70s through the 90s. That's not to say they're bad, but they are not quite what you see above; the brand has moved on and tried new things.

What's worse, as far as I know, there is no other brand or tailor cutting suits like this. No designer brand, no MTM brand, no bespoke tailoring house. A friend of mine suggested that Fred Nieddu of Taillour, practiced in both costuming and bespoke tailoring, would likely be able to recreate the style with some practice; however, he does not have that practice, since very few bespoke customers are looking for this effect. You might also find a made to measure brand or bespoke tailor who can copy an old suit, but even this would be a risky experiment.

Simply put, nobody is making these suits anymore.

That leaves us one option: find the old ones.

And that's good news, in a way. The old ones are affordable and good, and you should buy them. And if you're not thrifting already, you should get into the habit. I'm here to help you.

In this article, I will describe the features of heyday Armani tailoring, break down the brands that did it, and—for paid blog subscribers only—offer web searches and specific recommendations to help you get a suit for yourself. I don't really like putting things behind a paywall, but the nature of this article simply demands it. Still, I'll give you as much as I can for free.

What is the Classic Armani Look?

I would forgive you for thinking—wrongly—that Armani tailoring was merely "oversized," but in reality, it was so much more. Although the aesthetic changed over the decades, there are a few key aspects I want to highlight.

One is drapeyness: Armani suits were made in very specific fabrics, which draped in specific ways. Not only wool and silk, in fact, the suits occasionally even used synthetic materials to achieve this unique effect. Explaining that drape in words is hard, and relies on the context of not only the images, but the other aspects below. But notice how the fabric hangs, how it falls in waves. We'll come back to that.

Another aspect is what I'll call lowness. Jackets were unusually long, with low buttoning points. Single breasted jackets might have been a 6x1, or a similar cut with even fewer buttons. A 6x1 is notoriously hard to cut "well" in a traditional sense, partly because it doesn't have a cinch at the waist to create shape. But the Armani look is not about a cinched waist. This is non-traditional tailoring. Lowness matters more.

These two combine and expand into another aspect: slouchiness. Notice how the only structure in the jacket is in the shoulders. Armani notoriously ripped canvas out of high-fashion suits while exploring his new approach. the whole of the jackets hangs from those shoulder pads, in the drapey fabrics we mentioned above. He sometimes even used fusible, not out of cheapness, but in pursuit of the perfect drape. The lack of structure below the waist would allow the relaxed cut to sometimes spill over the low buttoning point. This effect was most common on their models in their ad campaigns, and likely not something you would attempt in reality, but captures the brand ethos beautifully. This is why the jackets looked best on tall, slim men.

These suits were the height of lazy luxury. The types of things you would wear if you were a wealthy no-goodnick loafing about the most expensive parts of the city, looking pretty. The American Gigolo himself wore these suits to draw women in.

The shirts and ties mattered too. There were a few types of shirts. Small collars were unfortunately common, but I don't think they suit the look as well as a long point collar: they framed ties especially well. They also and also a drapey fabric. Sometimes, a band collar shirt would be worn with no tie. Shirts were either buttoned all the way up to the top—tie or no—or left open, by a few extra buttons, to show of the chest of the louche lothario therein. Sometimes, they would even include a collar pin.

Again, the ties are hard to explain, but they were knotted narrowly, light on structure with fine, drapey silk. They were cut to flare out pretty wide from the narrow knot. They came in several abstract or irregular patterns, including art deco patterns and medallions. Red was a popular color, but they generally would not be the basic solids or stripes of a politician's "power tie." Those ties were all business, and while yuppies might play at that combination, the suits were meant for play.

In this way, they managed to make even a full suit-and-tie combo look effortless and comfortable and appealing.

You may be willing to compromise on specifics—get a lapel in a somewhat different shape (they were sometimes very slim but sometimes pretty wide, and often bellied, but only the low gorges were a necessary feature), or a more business-friendly tie, or a basic dress shirt. But to achieve the effect, you should understand the coherence of the look, and the story it told. Got it? now let's move on.

What Brands Should You Look For?

Well, first of all, "Armani" suits were made under a few different labels. I've heard mixed reports about which ones were which, but the best guide I've found comes from Sam Talks Style. He helped a fair bit with this article, so check him out. As a quick summary:

• "Giorgio Armani," "Armani Collezioni," "Giorgio Armani Le Collezioni," and, for ties, "Giorgio Armani Cravatte" are all desirable labels.
• "Emporio Armani" is a diffusion line whose quality was never top-tier, but with a fairly broad range of products over time.
• "Mani" and "Armani Exchange" are bad, their products should generally be avoided. If you really need a dirt cheap suit, a used "Mani" suit might be fine, but it's not what I'm recommending here.
• "Armani Jeans" might include some interesting pieces but is generally not relevant to this article.

Many brands tried to copy the effect, but the most prominent among them was Canali. Vintage Canali suits from the 80s or 90s may hit some of these notes, but usually miss the mark either on structure or fabric. That said, they still made rather good suits, which are now plentiful and inexpensive. Pierre Cardin also hit similar vibes fairly often, as did Yves Saint Laurent, in a certain era.

You might also see similar suits from certain eras of Corneliani, Valentino, Zegna, or a few other brands I'll mention below.

Some other brands (like Cifonelli and Ralph Lauren) explored 6x1 jackets at the time. I write about that exploration here, but suffice it to say, it is not the same. Still, you can get a fantastic vintage suit from Ralph Lauren if you know what you're doing—I have two.

As a final tip for all of you non-subscribers: if you have to take one of these jackets to a tailor, come with a picture of what you want the resulting suit to look like. Otherwise, your tailor may just assume you want some other effect.

The rest of the article will be vintage finds for my subscribers. Most, but not all, Armani suits are in the $200-350 range, but I have a few good options from Armani and other brands under $100. I also included ties and... Other stuff. You'll see.