Part of the aesthetics of medieval scholasticism rested on integrity, proportion and radiance. These three conditions of beauty, formulated by Thomas Aquinas, are found in the principles of modern classic tailoring, from working sleeve buttons to the balance of the lapels and the drop of the jacket. For readers with a humanist education and a love of clothes, this article shows how the medieval vision of beauty unconsciously shaped the way the English and Italian tailoring schools think about the made-to-measure men’s suit.
1. Integrity: why working sleeve buttons are not optional
For an object to be called beautiful, Thomas Aquinas wrote in the Summa Theologica, three conditions must be met at once. First, he spoke of integrity or perfection, since things that are incomplete are ugly by that very fact. An object is beautiful if it is complete, unmarred by lack or defect. To fulfil the purpose for which it was made, it must possess all its parts, that is, it must be adequate to what it ought to be according to the demands of its own form. A maimed body, for example, lacks integrity in that it falls short of its own form. A jacket sleeve, we would add, lacks integrity if its buttons are decorative rather than working. In other words, the sleeve falls short of what it ought to be according to the demands of its own form.
2. Proportion: a sense of symmetry as the tailor’s secret weapon
Second, the medievals, with Thomas Aquinas at their head, held that beauty requires proportion or harmony. Drawing on Pythagoras’s theory of numerical proportions and passing through the thought of Augustine, this Thomist idea holds that beauty arises when there is balance between the parts of a structure. Proportion is thus the measured, well-balanced arrangement of the parts that make up the whole, from which symmetry results. A sense of proportion and symmetry is the secret weapon of every master tailor. In classic menswear, the principle translates into cuts with a reasonable drop, balanced lapels, the width of the turn-ups and the number of vents on the jacket, all contributing to a pleasing, harmonious look.
3. Radiance: the suit as a magnifying glass of the wearer’s personality
Third, the medievals added, beauty requires clarity, an inner radiance. Beauty is not only a matter of outward proportion but also of inner light, where the essence of a thing becomes perceptible only through the form in which it is expressed. Theologically, this radiance is closely tied to the idea that beauty reflects divine light. Saints in icons, for instance, are depicted with haloes to suggest the radiance of sanctifying grace. To draw a secular parallel, we have often written on this blog that a suit is worn from the inside out, not from the outside in. The wearer gives the suit its radiance and good taste; the suit does not hand the wearer a good taste he never had. A man’s suit is like a magnifying glass: it enlarges what is already there.
4. Medieval scholasticism and classic tailoring: the connection
Integrity, proportion and radiance, then, are the three qualities that allow a form (a person, an object, a monument) to be called beautiful. From the 13th century onwards, these formal criteria were taken up and handed down by the entire philosophical tradition, and they constitute the “certain something” in which beauty consists. They also found an echo in other fields, such as Gothic architecture or, closer to our own day, the architecture of clothing. We conclude that medieval scholasticism, when discussing beauty, referred to an attribute of God, that is, to a metaphysical category. Unlike us moderns, medieval man saw in beauty not only an aesthetic value but a moral one as well.
5. Universal beauty: from theology to sartorial aesthetics
In the 19th century, the English and Italian tailoring schools revived these scholastic criteria (unconsciously, of course), stripping away the moral side of beauty and placing the emphasis on its aesthetic and functional side. A successful suit must look good and be comfortable. In short, that means quality materials, precise cuts and refined design. The medieval vision of beauty has ricocheted unexpectedly into the way made-to-measure suits are cut today, where integrity, proportion and radiance aim to be present in every detail.
The conclusion of this article would be that beauty, whether in the service of philosophy, theology or sartorial aesthetics, rests on universal ideals, to which people of different eras aspire in different ways. All of us, however, thanks to a subtle intuition, sense when we draw nearer to beauty or move away from it, a sign that beauty (like love, courage or death) can always be a bridge between generations.
