By KEVIN ZEBROWSKI

The taxonomy of suits is not terribly complicated, but there are certainly a few necessary distinctions that need to be made. For the sake of my word count constraints I will explain the categories of color, patterns, and fabrics in next week’s column. Today we’re talking about shapes. Suits can either be canvassed, half-canvassed, or fused. Suits can be single breasted or double breasted. The lapels of the suit usually take the form of either notches, peaks, or a shawl.

Canvassing is perhaps the most important distinction to make when buying a suit, as it will determine several factors like the price point and construction quality. A fully canvassed suit is essentially draped around a shell fabric similar in consistency and form to the fabric that you can see on the outside. Fully canvassed suits tend to be expensive, mold to your figure over time, and last significantly longer than a fused or half-canvassed suit with proper care. A fused suit is essentially the typical suiting fabrics glued together. Half-canvassed jobs fall somewhere in between, with particular elements glued, such as the lapels on the front and sections of the back, with a single piece for the suit’s torso. You can discern between canvassed and fused suits by inspecting underneath the middle button of a suit, feeling it up with your fingers, and then spreading apart the fabric sections to–in the case of a canvassed suit–reveal a third layer.

Double breasted suits have jackets with six buttons and a fabric closure that drapes across the waist. The best double breasted suits are bold items, and they look sharp on skinnier gentlemen. A patterned double breasted suit, something Tom Ford has done often in the past, is about as bold as suiting gets without stepping in on the pimping territory. Single breasted suits have the more typical type of jacket with one, two, three, four, or even five buttonholes and a central closure. The best single breasted suits either have two buttons, or three buttons with the top buttonhole fashioned into a rolled over lapel.

Speaking of lapels, they are the “collar bits” or the pointy things that sit on your chest when you wear a suit jacket. Double breasted suits typically have a peak lapel, or a pointed lapel, to such a degree of frequency that the peak lapel has adopted the name “double breasted lapel.” Peak lapels on a single breasted suit, much like functioning button cuffs, are a common sign of “bespoke,” or custom tailored suits. Notched lapels are the most common, and they are ideal for business. They are characterized by having a triangle shaped space in between the top and bottom sections of the lapel. Shawl lapels are smooth rounded lapels that were very popular for a three year stretch on the red carpet. The midnight blue dinner jacket worn by Daniel Craig in Skyfall is an example of a well-crafted dinner jacket version of the shawl.