Adrian revisited his basic design concepts in an infinite variety of ways, the predominant one being a suit with a strong shoulder and narrow hips. The suit has been a staple for men's wear in the same basic format for the entire 20th century because of its functionality. The suit's shape expresses power and strength by widening the shoulders. The flattening of the entire mid section provides a streamlined appearance. The lady's suit had not been made to resemble a man's suit in shape quite as much as during WWII and was a result of expressing feminine strength in times of war as much as fabric limitations. All jackets could be no longer than 23" which would account for all these suits being the same basic shape.

The designer did not like to design with trends in mind and preferred to rely on a design philosophy, which was to create excellently tailored garments that served a woman's needs. Every detail on these jackets is calculated to provide a solution to a perceived figure flaw. Many of these solutions were perfected on the Hollywood actresses he worked with who had ample hips, long waists or short legs. Adrian believed that daytime fashions should not change season to season and that if a solution worked it should be revisited and perfected. As Adrian declared in a Vogue interview: "It is easy for a designer to create unusual and amusing new clothes with a certain shock value…the difficulty is in restraint." (Photoplay Magazine, 1935)