Long story short, unless you frequently chair boardroom meetings or work on Wall Street, it’s not.
Judging by the number of people I know with a striped garment as their only suit, my response will likely be surprising. Stripes are, after all, the most “classic” fabric pattern following solid weaves, and you really can’t beat vertical stripes when it comes to the slimming effect. So, what makes an otherwise classic and lengthening garment so useless outside those niche fields?
The rationale comes down to reputation and, as always, versatility. Stripes, particularly pinstripes, have been associated with business. By association, a striped suit is almost always a business suit, and is thus more or less only appropriate for wear for work and between the hours of 9 and 5. Sure, it’s perfectly appropriate for a sales meeting or for conducting business, but that’s about it. Striped suits are inappropriate for occasions that demand formality or festivity (i.e., look “fancy” instead of just “proper”). Similarly, they’re hard to dress down. The most obvious reason is that a striped suit cannot be worn separately, either as slacks or an odd jacket – either would look cut-off and isolated when worn without the other. I’ve also noticed that most striped suits are made to be fairly boxy and stiff, and any such suit would be difficult to wear without its full suite of accessories (i.e., not tieless).
The second reason why I find striped suits “useless” is their reputation – striped suits, especially navy suits with particularly bold stripes, are “power suits,” deeply associated with the ruthless ambition of Wall Street and seen to project it. Pair it with French cuffs, a bold tie, and some suspenders, and plenty of hair gel, and you will fit in at a Fortune 500 board meeting; but with all due respect, I suspect most readers of this blog won’t be anytime soon. While there are certainly certain workplaces where ruthless ambition is encouraged, for most professions, it’ll be met with suspicion. Don’t risk it.
I’ve owned two striped suits – gray with complementing blue stripes, which came in an eBay “lot” with a Hickey Freeman suit which I love and still frequently wear; and a navy with bold, light-blue chalk stripes, which I bought on impulse after seeing it discounted to sub-$30 after shipping. I’ve given the gray one away. It was too stiffly “business” to dress up for special occasions, nearly impossible to dress down, and since I work in a business casual environment, fairly impractical for use. I still keep the navy one, which has particularly bold patterns, because it’s slightly more interesting. While it’s equally inappropriate for work, I’ve found it useful as a costume – I’ve worn it to a “simulated pitch session” during grad school where I needed to pretend to be a CEO, and also for Halloween, as a Wall Street banker. It draws attention and comments whenever I wear it, and, after all, isn’t that what a costume is about?