A Suitable Man: The Eccentric Empire of Fletcher Jones

by Jock Serong

'In 1924, into the tiny town of Warrnambool, which then had a population of a fraction under 4000 people, there came a travelling salesman...' Australians of a certain generation all know Fletcher Jones - the stores, the clothing, the daggy dad slacks - but not many people know the extraordinary story of the man who founded the store. A Suitable Man tells the remarkable life and achievements of Fletcher Jones.


Many Australians know of Fletcher Jones - the stores, the clothing, the daggy dad slacks - but few know the extraordinary man behind it all. David Fletcher Jones was an autodidact, a wanderer and dreamer who became a visionary businessman and social entrepreneur.

His rise was unlikely. The stammering, motherless son of an impoverished Bendigo blacksmith, he left school at thirteen and ended WWI buried alive by a shell explosion in France. Despite the horrors of war, he never lost his humour, optimism or deep regard for people. After an epiphany in the veteran's dole queue, he decided to become master of his destiny. He began as a travelling salesman in the Western District before opening a tailor's shop. Business boomed. Later, he bought five acres outside Warrnambool for his factory and put a sign over the 'Fletcher Jones and Staff'. Because not only was Fletcher Jones revolutionising menswear with his ready-to-wear trousers, but remarkably, his manufacturing and retail empire was founded on profit-sharing and staff ownership.

His life is a fascinating reflection of Australia's twentieth century progress across social policy, immigration, manufacturing, the city and country divide, the rise and fall of wool. But most important, perhaps, is what we can learn from his fundamental human decency and his determination to run an enterprise for profit while seeking to do good at individual and societal levels. There are lessons for us all in a life like Fletcher's.

'Everyone knows the name, but no-one knew the story - until this fresh, sprightly and immensely readable biography.' Gideon Haigh

'In A Suitable Man, Jock Serong deftly unpacks the enigmatic and legendary figure of Fletcher Jones ... and surprises and humanises a boss with 'a desk in the middle of the shop floor'.' Shane Howard

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography

517 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2026

About the author

Jock Serong lives and works on the far southwest coast of Victoria. He was a practising lawyer when he wrote Quota and is currently a features writer, and the editor of Great Ocean Quarterly. He is married with four children, who in turn are raising a black dog, a rabbit and an unknown number of guinea pigs. Quota was his first novel.

Reviews

[Janine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fletcher Jones clothes were an absolute institution back in the day. You could go and get personally measured, choose your cloth and they would be custom made for you. Even if they needed altering, you could take them back and they would do it for free!
This is the story of David Fletcher Jones who started out with a horse and cart and ended with an empire in Australia with multiple stores in every state. He was a WWI veteran and had a speech impediment but it didn't stop him.
You read about the rise and fall of his empire but at the end of the day he was a man with a vision that served Australians for years, outfitting the Police, Olympic teams and schools with quality garments that lasted for years.
A lot of research has gone into writing this biography and I take my hat off to Jock Serong as he has left no stone unturned. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this, and it is sad that this type of store no longer exists and now we have fast fashion which is not the same as he found that Australians purchase way too many clothes per year which end up adding to the carbon footprint globally. This will appeal to readers of Australian history.
Thanks go to Harper Collins for a copy of this book for review purposes.

[Deb Chapman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Long audiobook. Too long really. I almost gave it up but listened to the end but finished feeling unsatisfied and not really as though I had a good sense of the man. Waaay too much irrelevant details about all sorts of things: I felt like it needed a much tighter edit or a different focus. It wasn’t really just about FJ the man. It was ‘factual’ often, but then sometimes drew a long bow. And sometimes too much info about secondary people or plants or things (eg Neil Simon, the lawyer gets lots of airtime, then a bit of a silly pitch wondering if they were friends or not?) I think I need more relational stuff from the people around him? I don’t know, just too much of stuff I wasn’t interested in and not enough of what I was? This is very subjective of course But the title and the cover led me to expect a different kind of book. I wonder where its audience lies? What is its focus audience? (I unfairly kept comparing it to David Marr’s Killing for Country which had a lot of detail in it too, but more nuanced and the detail seemed more relevant?) anyway, disappointed

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This biography, which is a change of genre for Serong, is well deserving of a five star rating. It has been extensively researched capturing the fascinating life and times of the man behind the Fletcher Jones fashion label. As a young person growing up I can still remember the awe in which my mum rated the Fletcher James clothes. We couldn’t afford them unless on sale or purchased second hand. The clothes were made to last, stylish and comfortable. David Fletcher Jones was a man ahead of his time, beloved by his staff and the towns people of Warrnambool and the author did a fabulous job of describing him as a legend in his own time. A very engaging story.

[Christine Davie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm sorry jock .. I got 3/12 hours in and my borrow box library queue had the new pip williams drop in. Fletcher jones was interesting and well written but not really holding my attention. It's not you it's me!

I might go back some day

[Cathy · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a remarkable book about a remarkable and good man. Really well researched.

[Aaron Cordy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fletcher was certainly a visionary. I thoroughly enjoyed Jock's story telling.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well researched.