TL;DR (too long; didn't read):
- The Devil's Advocate uses suit colour and fabric weight as a visual record of Kevin Lomax's moral decline from Florida lawyer to corporate devil.
- A Prince of Wales suit requires brown shoes, not black — mixing shoe colours with a brown suit is a hard style error.
- Al Pacino's party outfit works because the brown and black contrast is intentional and bold, not accidental.
- Below-the-knee overcoats in black or camel are the finishing layer that completes a corporate suit look.
- 90s power dressing remains relevant today — darker colours, structured shoulders, and tapered waists still read as authority in any city.
The Devil's Advocate suits and what they say about the man wearing them
The Devil's Advocate suits are, without question, some of the finest tailoring ever put on screen in a '90s thriller. If you haven't seen the film, it follows Keanu Reeves as Kevin Lomax, a hotshot Florida lawyer who trades his sun-bleached wardrobe for the dark, serious suits of a New York corporate power player - all while working for a boss who turns out to be considerably more than just a demanding senior partner. Al Pacino plays that boss with the kind of broad-shouldered, room-owning presence that makes every outfit he wears feel like a statement of intent. But does any of this 90s power dressing still hold up today? Absolutely. And here's why it matters to how you dress right now.
The suit, as any serious student of menswear will tell you, is the modern gentleman's armour. In this film, it becomes something else entirely - the devil's favourite weapon. What costume designer Sarah Edwards understood, and what makes this film such a rich source of professional tailoring tips, is that clothing doesn't just reflect who a man is. It signals who he's becoming. Every fabric choice, every colour shift, every lapel width is doing narrative work. That's the kind of suit colour psychology in film that rewards a second and third viewing.
So what can a film from 1997 actually teach you about dressing well in the present day? Quite a lot, as it turns out. Whether you're drawn to the Prince of Wales suit style that Keanu Reeves wears mid-film, the peak lapel swagger of Al Pacino's party outfit, or the quiet authority of a well-cut dark corporate suit, there's a lesson in every scene. The question is: are you paying attention to the right details?
Kevin Lomax's Florida wardrobe and the southern lawyer starting point
Kevin Lomax's opening wardrobe is a masterclass in dressing for your environment. Right from the first scene, he's in a light grey to beige suit cut from a tropical weight wool - a fabric that handles heat far better than a standard city weight cloth while still carrying all the structure and drape you'd expect from a proper tailored suit. It's worth noting that while linen is the classic warm weather choice, tropical weight wool is often the smarter option. It holds its shape through a long court day in a way that linen simply doesn't, and it reads as more polished without sacrificing comfort in the Florida heat.
What this suit communicates is just as important as what it's made from. It says local, successful, approachable. He's clearly the best-dressed man in the room, but he's not trying to intimidate anyone. The light tones - those beige and grey shades that belong firmly in the 90s menswear inspiration playbook - keep him warm, genuine, and rooted in where he comes from. There's no corporate aggression here. This is a man who wins cases on talent, not on the psychological weight of a dark suit. If you're dressing for a professional environment in a warm climate, this is the correct approach. Lighter fabrics, lighter colours, and a silhouette that still means business without feeling out of place in the heat.
The real lesson here for anyone thinking about their own everyday suit wardrobe is this: context matters. A suit that works brilliantly in one environment can look completely wrong in another. Kevin Lomax dressed perfectly for Florida. The problems only begin when he tries to transplant that wardrobe - and that version of himself - into New York City.
The Prince of Wales suit style that steals every scene
The brown Prince of Wales suit that Keanu Reeves wears mid-film is, without question, the single best outfit in The Devil's Advocate. Prince of Wales suit style is one of those patterns that sits in a very specific category - it's a check, but it's not loud. It has structure and presence without shouting across the room. The subtle check pattern, combined with that excellent drape and a clean white shirt underneath, produces a silhouette that is genuinely hard to argue with. Structured shoulders, a tapered waist, and enough visual interest in the cloth to hold attention without ever tipping into flashy territory. This is sophisticated dressing done right, and it holds up just as well today as it did in 1997.
What makes the Prince of Wales check such an enduring choice in menswear style is its versatility. A brown Glen check with a blue overcheck, for instance, opens up a wide range of shirt and tie combinations. Cool colours work particularly well - pale blue shirts, dusty blues, and deep reds all sit comfortably against the warmth of the brown base. The pattern adds texture and depth to the overall look without requiring you to reach for a loud tie or an elaborate pocket square to make the outfit feel complete. The cloth does the heavy lifting, and your accessories can afford to stay calm and considered.
The silhouette on this suit deserves its own mention. Structured shoulders and a tapered waist are the two features that give a suit genuine authority on the body, regardless of your build. It's the kind of cut that makes you stand taller and move with more intention. If you're looking at Prince of Wales Glen Plaid suits and wondering whether the pattern is too much of a commitment, this film gives you your answer plainly. It's one of the most wearable and rewarding patterns in the entire canon of 90s power dressing, and it has lost none of its authority since.
Shoe crimes, tie failures and the details that break a 90s menswear look
For all the excellence of the brown Prince of Wales suit, the outfit comes with a fairly significant caveat. The shoes are black. Not a dark chocolate brown, not a near-black mahogany - black. Paired with a very brown suit and a large brown leather satchel, this is one of those style errors that's hard to unsee once you've spotted it. Your leathers don't need to match perfectly across every item you're carrying, but there is a basic rule of harmony that applies here. A rich, warm brown suit like this one deserves a pair of dark brown Oxford shoes. The black shoes pull the eye downward and break the visual continuity of the whole outfit. It's the kind of mistake that a good tailor or a well-informed friend would catch before you walked out of the door.
The tie situation in the early New York scenes is a similar story. The first tie Kevin Lomax wears with this suit does nothing for it. It's weak, underpowered, and out of step with the gravitas of the cloth. A strong suit demands a strong tie - something with a degree of visual weight that matches the seriousness of the tailoring. The good news is that he corrects this quickly. The second tie choice is sharper, more considered, and far more in keeping with the New York environment he's now operating in. It's a small change with a significant impact on the overall read of the outfit, and it's one of the clearest examples in the film of how the details in professional tailoring either complete a look or quietly undermine it.
These are exactly the kinds of professional tailoring tips that separate a man who wears suits from a man who understands them. Getting the cloth right is the starting point, but the shoes, the tie, and the accessories are what close the argument. If you're investing in quality brown tailoring, treat the accessories with the same level of seriousness. The suit will reward you for it.
Al Pacino movie outfits and the corporate lawyer fashion of pure power
When Al Pacino's John Milton arrives on screen, the tailoring shifts gear entirely. The first outfit we see him in is a brown peak lapel jacket worn over a round-neck black sweater - and it works in a way that is worth examining carefully. Brown and black is a combination that gets a lot of undeserved caution in menswear circles. Done badly, as we saw with Kevin Lomax's shoe situation, it creates an accidental clash. Done deliberately and with the right contrast between the two pieces, it becomes one of the boldest and most effective combinations in a man's wardrobe. This outfit is firmly in the second category. The brown jacket is warm and rich, the black underneath is deep and clean, and the contrast between them reads as intentional rather than careless.
The peak lapels deserve their own mention here. Peak lapels carry a specific kind of energy - they're wider, more angular, and they project outward rather than sitting quietly against the chest. On a notch lapel suit, the eye travels up toward the face in a calm, orderly way. On a peak lapel, it arrives with considerably more swagger. For a character who is quite literally supposed to own every room he walks into, the choice makes complete sense. That said, there is a small tension between the peak lapel and the round neck sweater underneath. A peak lapel belongs in the formal register, and a round neck sweater sits comfortably in the casual one. The contradiction is real, but Al Pacino's particular brand of screen confidence carries it without difficulty. For most men, a notch lapel would sit more naturally with a casual underlayer and produce a cleaner, more coherent result.
What Al Pacino's outfits throughout the film demonstrate, more than anything else, is the power of wearing clothes with complete conviction. The broad shoulders, the bold lapels, the unapologetic use of colour - these are not subtle choices. They are the wardrobe of a man, or whatever he happens to be, who has absolutely no interest in blending in. If you want to bring some of that same commanding energy into your own wardrobe, a well-cut peak lapel sport coat in a rich, warm tone is a very good place to start.
Overcoats, color psychology and how suit colour in film tells the whole story
One of the most quietly brilliant things about the tailoring in The Devil's Advocate is how the colour palette shifts as the story progresses. Kevin Lomax arrives in Florida in light grey and warm beige - colours that speak of approachability, sincerity, and a man still connected to who he genuinely is. By the time New York has fully absorbed him, the wardrobe has moved into darker, heavier territory. The fabrics get weightier, the colours get more serious, and the overall silhouette becomes harder and more corporate. This is suit colour psychology in film operating at its most deliberate, and costume designer Sarah Edwards deserves considerable credit for how consistently it's executed across the entire arc of the story.
The overcoats that appear in the New York scenes reinforce exactly this shift. Two below-the-knee overcoats - one in black, one in camel - appear at different points, and both of them are exactly right for the environment. These are two of the most reliable colours in the entire menswear canon. Black reads as serious, urban, and uncompromising. Camel is warmer and carries a certain old-money authority that works just as well in a large city as it does anywhere else. Both colours sit beautifully over a dark suit, and both have the length and structure to turn a good outfit into something genuinely impressive. A below-the-knee overcoat changes the way a man moves - it encourages a longer stride and a more upright posture, and the overall effect is one of considered, unhurried authority.
The broader lesson from the film's use of colour is one that translates directly into real dressing decisions. If you live and work in a large city, particularly in a colder climate, darker colours are going to serve you better than lighter ones. They photograph well against urban architecture, they hold their visual weight in a crowd, and they carry the kind of quiet seriousness that professional environments tend to reward. A dark new season suit paired with a well-cut overcoat is as close to a guaranteed result as menswear gets. The film makes this argument visually and makes it convincingly.
Professional tailoring tips you can take from a 90s power dressing thriller
The Devil's Advocate is, among other things, an extended argument for why the details in tailoring matter as much as the cloth itself. The film lays out several clear and practical lessons that apply just as directly to how you dress today as they did to Kevin Lomax navigating the corridors of a New York law firm in 1997. The first and most transferable of these is the relationship between environment and wardrobe. Dress for where you are, not where you were. Lomax's Florida suits were correct for Florida. The moment he stepped into a Manhattan corporate environment, the wardrobe needed to evolve - and it did, even if the moral cost was considerable. You, fortunately, can make the same adjustment without any supernatural interference.
The second lesson is about silhouette. Structured shoulders and a tapered waist are not period details belonging to 90s menswear alone. They are the foundations of a suit silhouette that communicates authority, intention, and physical presence in any decade. A suit that fits well through the shoulder and draws in at the waist will always outperform a suit that hangs loosely, regardless of how expensive the fabric is. This is the single most important professional tailoring tip the film offers, and it applies whether you're wearing a Prince of Wales check or a plain dark navy. Get the shape right first. Everything else follows from there.
The third lesson is one the film illustrates through its mistakes as much as its successes. The wrong tie, the wrong shoes, the wrong leather goods - each of these pulls focus away from the suit and introduces a note of uncertainty into an otherwise strong look. Accessories should support the tailoring, not compete with it or contradict it. A brown suit wants brown shoes. A strong suit wants a tie with enough visual weight to match it. These are not complicated rules, but they are rules that reward consistency. If you're ready to apply them to a wardrobe built around properly constructed, well-fitted tailoring, exploring made in England suits is a strong place to begin.
Build your own Devil's Advocate wardrobe with Westwood Hart custom tailoring
Everything we've looked at in this film - the Prince of Wales check, the dark corporate suits, the structured shoulders and tapered waist - is achievable without selling your soul or hiring a New York law firm's costume department. At Westwood Hart, we build fully custom tailored suits and sport coats designed around your measurements, your cloth preferences, and the kind of wardrobe you actually want to wear. Whether that's a rich brown Glen check that nods to the best outfit in The Devil's Advocate, or a dark navy corporate suit that means serious business from the moment you walk into a room, we have the fabrics and the expertise to build it properly.
Our online configurator makes the process straightforward. You choose the cloth, the construction details, the lining, the lapel style - everything that turns a suit from a generic purchase into something that genuinely fits your life and your body. The kind of tailoring that costume designer Sarah Edwards put on Keanu Reeves for this film was built with intention, and that's exactly the approach we bring to every commission. Structured where it needs to be, tapered where it counts, and cut from fabrics that drape and hold their shape the way good cloth should.
If the 90s power dressing in this film has given you the nudge you needed, now is a good time to act on it. Head to our online configurator and start designing your suit today. No supernatural deals required.
Frequently Asked Questions
What suits are worn in The Devil's Advocate?
The film features a range of tailored suits that track Kevin Lomax's transition from a Florida lawyer to a New York corporate power player. Key pieces include a light grey tropical weight wool suit in the opening Florida scenes, a brown Prince of Wales check suit that represents the film's finest tailoring moment, and progressively darker, heavier corporate suits as the story develops. Al Pacino's character wears a brown peak lapel jacket over a black round-neck sweater at a party, which stands as one of the film's most distinctive outfits.
What is a Prince of Wales suit and why does it work so well?
A Prince of Wales suit is cut from a cloth featuring a large-scale check pattern, typically incorporating a subtle overcheck in a contrasting colour. It sits between a plain suit and a bold check in terms of visual impact - it has presence and texture without being loud or difficult to wear. The pattern works well across a range of shirt and tie combinations, particularly with cool colours like pale blue and deep red, making it one of the more versatile and rewarding choices in a tailored wardrobe.
Can brown and black be worn together in a suit outfit?
Yes, but the distinction between intentional contrast and accidental clash matters greatly. When the brown and black pieces carry a strong tonal difference and the combination is clearly deliberate - as in Al Pacino's brown peak lapel jacket over a black sweater - the result is bold and effective. Where it fails is when the pairing happens by accident, such as wearing black shoes with a brown suit and a large brown leather bag, which creates visual confusion rather than contrast.
What colour shoes should you wear with a brown suit?
Dark brown Oxford shoes are the correct pairing for a brown suit. Black shoes create a tonal clash that breaks the visual continuity of the outfit, as demonstrated clearly in the film. Your leathers do not need to match perfectly across every accessory, but the shoes and the suit should sit in the same colour family. A rich chocolate or dark tan Oxford will always serve a brown suit far better than black.
What is tropical weight wool and when should you wear it?
Tropical weight wool is a lighter, more open weave cloth that allows for better airflow than a standard suit weight fabric. It retains the structure and drape of wool while being considerably more comfortable in warm weather. It is the preferred choice for professional dressing in hot climates, offering a more polished result than linen while holding its shape far better through a long working day.
What overcoat colours work best over a dark suit?
Black and camel are the two most reliable overcoat colours for wearing over a dark suit. Black reads as urban, serious, and authoritative. Camel carries a quieter, more classic authority and works across a wide range of suit colours. Both work best at or below the knee, where the length adds presence and encourages a more deliberate, upright way of moving.
Is 90s power dressing still relevant today?
The core principles of 90s power dressing - structured shoulders, tapered waist, darker colours for urban environments, and quality cloth with good drape - remain as relevant today as they were in 1997. What dates a look from that era is excess: oversized shoulders, overly heavy fabrics, and combinations that have lost their context. Strip those back and what remains is a set of tailoring principles that work in any professional environment in any decade.