As you develop in to manhood, one of the other things that you should purchase is a suit.
As the majority of this board is under the age of 30 and possibly 25, I feel that there is some basic knowledge in this area that can be spread.
I've always found that the fit of the suit is the most important aspect. A Savile Row suit that isn't fitted to you will often not look as good as a off the rack suit that has been fitted and altered by a tailor.
Unfortunately, this also means that your body can't go through a lot of size changes unless if you want to pay tailor fees or buy new suits all the time.
If you have a good tailor, he will fit it right for you but a couple of small things to notice for whether you need tailoring is that the dress shirt sleeve should extend about 1/2 inch past the suit sleeve. The suit should drape well and fit well in both buttoned and unbuttoned mode.
Color :
For things like job interviews, the suit should be navy. navy is the color of formality.
For events like a night out on the town, a special date, etc....I prefer either grey, charcoal, or tan. White is a bit too flashy for me but if you feel that you can pull it off then go for it. Black is way too somber. I am not a huge fan of pin stripe suit as I feel that it gives a mobster type feel but this is certainly not a hard rule and some people can really pull it off.
Usually a lot of guys in the early 20s crowd hate dressing up but honestly you can look very casual yet stylish in a suit. The other fear is that you'll look too old wearing a suit but there are some simple tips to avoid this.
1. don't wear a vest.
2. don't wear a tie and unbutton the top button on your dress shirt.
Something like this can be fairly casual and yet very stylish.
or a more well known example
Buttons:
A fairly universally known rule is that if you are wearing a 2 button suit, just button the top button.
If you are wearing a 3 button suit, either button just the middle button or button the top 2.
I never bought a suit, but I've always wanted to wear those jackets casually. I can never find one for a reasonable price, so the closest thing I wear is a nice buttoned-shirt, a good tie and a classy sweater.
Y'know, a la university student. Makes me feel confident.
I just don't have the arms or the personality to pull off the full suit.
If you got a pin stripe suit, avoid getting a striped shirt or its going to turn in to some magic eye shit.
A pocket square can be a good addition. It should be an accent but not be a huge beacon so I would avoid say a white shirt and a bright red pocket square if you aren't wearing a tie.
I like either a flat square fold, a single peak, or a double peak. Any more and it looks too damn ridiculous IMO.
I have a $200 (read: cheap) charcoal suit that i had custom fitted and it looks great! I definitely agree about getting it custom fitted, it's not all that expensive and makes the suit compliment you so much more when it's designed to fit YOU.
It's a 3 button by the way, 6'6" though so if it's a height issue then i guess that's why it never bothered me.
On January 29 2011 08:43 lixlix wrote: A fairly universally known rule is that if you are wearing a 2 button suit, just button the top button.
If you are wearing a 3 button suit, either button just the middle button or button the top 2.
If you're not supposed to button them, then why are they there? I'm being very defensive about this because I realized I've been wearing them wrong.
Well, would the suit itself look okay without the 2 or 3 buttons? With just one instead? The biggest thing about the suit is the way it looks. It's meant to look good. If there's only 1 button, it really isn't going to look as good IMO.
But also, I think having 2 buttons done up on a 2 button'd suit looks fine. -shrug- Just really depends on what you look like, how you're wearing it, and how you present yourself.
I completely agree with the OP, when i was growing up I HATED getting dressed up. (Ive owned a suit since I was 10 gogogo church parents!) However as I got older and not so.... round... ya that works, and high school started and we had formals. I soon discovered that girls really dig a guy that cleans up well in a suit. The golden age of high school tail started with a suit. Gentlemen my only semi recent photo of me with one of my suits
Photo is of my mom's wedding when she got remarried last Janurary. Did not have a picture of my other suit I wore to my sisters wedding in November.
A subtle brag there eh Maple Fractal? But yeah you both look very nice.
Hehe, but yeah I work in a field in which I don't need suits even for interviews but as I grew older, I began to enjoy dressing up to go out at night.
pubbanana , think of the button thing like a polo with a top button on the collar. you pretty much never button that top button but its there.
The technical reason why you don't button the bottom button on a suit is that it pulls the bottom of the suit together too much and 1. constricts your movement a bit much and 2. stretches the material.
If you are wearing a tie, either go without a tie clip or if you must get a tie clip, go with one that isn't gold.
The tie and pocket square should match in color but doesn't have to be exactly the same color.
So a dark blue tie and a light blue pocket square or a light blue tie and a dark blue pocket square or a dark red tie with a purple pocket square, etc....
Since I love watches, a couple of tips for watch wearing.
get a watch that will fit under your shirt sleeve. Your watch is a tool and an accent, its supposed to compliment the man, not be the focus.
If your watch has a leather strap, try to match the leather color to your belt and shoes which should be matching already.
In general, in a less formal setting, metal bracelet watches and suits work great but maybe a bit too informal for weddings. These days though, most people don't really care.
wallets and phones
be aware of the thickness of your wallet. you might want to switch to a money clip or a suit wallet designed to go in to your inner pocket.
Everyone needs to get a subscription to GQ to learn the basics. Afterwards you will have to do alot of research about where to buy a suit. Once you purchased a suit, get it altered to fit your frame perfectly. If you are a smaller person with shoulders that will not fit a 35-36 size, then going custom made is the only option.
A well fitting suit will give you a confidence boost and an aura of expertise. I own 6 suits and 4 blazer jackets, its getting out of control at this point.
I wear a blazer+jeans all the time, at my university. Some times i do bring other than blazers, but I feel relaxed in a suit - and that's all that matters in the end .
I've got two suits. Exercising like crazy though because I'm pretty overweight, so they likely wont fit me the way they used to if I'm able to keep it up. Might be able to get them re-tailored or somethin'.
"The custom of leaving the bottom button on a waistcoat ('vest," in American English) undone comes from the early 20th century. King Edward VII was too rotund to fasten his bottom button and the custom came from his imitators."
Pulled off the internets. There are some exceptions, though
dont unsew your pockets unless you fully intend to use them, a lot of the time they're sewn up to help maintain the shape of your jacket.
dont put heavy shit in your inside breast pockets, they're not meant for that
that's all the tips I have, as for my personal opinion on suits I think they're awesome but I don't get many situations to wear them so I really can't justify buying a nice one, every time I consider it there's always something i could buy with the money that I would wear much more.
I love blazers though, easily my favourite article of clothing, i don't think many guys realize how versatile they are, the problem is they've developed this mythology as an extremely formal piece of clothing that needs to be handled delicately and dry cleaned after every use.
fuck that, its always been a practical piece of clothing designed for men, which by nature are neither delicate or particularly clean.
pick one up and just wear the shit out of it, that's what I did and I haven't looked back since.
Another couple of tips from a former suit salesman, 1) Unless your tall stick to a two button suit, it'll make you look short even if you're not. 2) Tailoring is super important. You can make a 200 suit look extremely expensive if you get the right tailor. Tailoring, however, is not just sewing your pants so they're the right length. Get the pant legs tailored and get your jacket tailored. Some people's body shape makes the suit Jacket sit funny and spending 25-50 bucks getting it right will help you a ton. 3) Pinstripes can make you look taller, but don't wear a striped shirt underneath it. 4) If you're going with a bold patterned tie, go with a simple shirt underneath and vise versa. If your tie is plain put a striped or patterned shirt underneath. 5) If you can afford it, get a shirt with french cuffs and buy some cuff links. They look amazing and really spruces up the look. 6) Get a solid good pair of shoes in both brown and black. Spend some money on them if you will wear them every day (like 200-300 USD) I promise it will be well worth it. Also, get some waxless leather shoe care if you don't like polishing your shoes.
Any other questions on business fashion let me know, I sold suits for several years at Nordstrom and had some very top end clients (attorneys, CEOs, etc) and learned a lot as well as how to look like you're spending way more than you actually are.
1) How much should one's first suit, pants and blazer cost on a average assuming you're not rich? Where should you go to, to look for a suit? Will any big store like Nordstrom, Macy, JCrew, Banana Republic, etc work? 2) I'm a fan of the skinny black tie look ... any particular type of suit that I need to buy for this particular look?
To question 1. I would say a full suit, you can get some decent quality for around $200 to $250. and then some more money for tailoring. so $300 should be more than ok.
To question 2. well, I would try not to get a super wide lapel if you are going with skinny black tie. Also, tan and white suits are probably out.
On January 29 2011 11:47 lac29 wrote: 1) How much should one's first suit, pants and blazer cost on a average assuming you're not rich? Where should you go to, to look for a suit? Will any big store like Nordstrom, Macy, JCrew, Banana Republic, etc work? 2) I'm a fan of the skinny black tie look ... any particular type of suit that I need to buy for this particular look?
You are probably refering to the Dior Homme skinny suit or Dolce Gabanna slim suit. Most mainstream affordable places do not offer the same fit unless you go to H&M.
I would go to JCrew as your best bet, the style has really improved when they hired a new designer to head up the brand. Avoid nordstrom, macy and banana, these places do not offer anything fashion forward, just a bunch of Jones Newyork style suits (boxy, non-slim).
OMG this thread was made for me. Finally a thread to get me out of lurking TL for years (although i do post at LP)
I love Brad Pitt's look in that picture. This is going to sound lame but what type of jacket is Brad wearing? Specifically the collar of his dress shirt is completely exposed so the back of his jacket is quite low relative to his neck? Comparing that to the first pic where the back of the jacket blocks the back of the collar of the dress shirt. Or can you just put your collar out and that brad pitt look can be achieved with any jacket.
Sorry for the layman's term. I'm clearly a suit wearing noob. I play poker for a living and goto culinary school neither requiring me formal wear.
When people say "suit" I assume that simply means blazer and pants? Since the blazer usually goes with the pants ... as opposed to the shirt and tie which are more flexible/interchangeable?
What kind of suit would you recommend for me? (colour/style) - 5'10 165 lbs with a muscular and wide body. Especially broad shoulders. Athletic and built like a linebacker. - late 20's - dark complexion.
I always hated wearing suits because they kinda make me look fat even tho I'm not.
I would just go somewhere and try stuff out. No way I can recommend over the internet. I wouldn't recommend buying over the internet either unless if you tried out the exact suit in person.
Suits should be slimming and if you have broad shoulders, suits should look really good on you actually.
LOL you're not going to find a decent suit for 200 USD. Any suit that uses decent fabric and is fully canvased will cost well above that. Also a lot of these rules are completely arbitrary (eg: showing of cuff length).
There are really only a few rules to men's dress that count: Don't wear a pinstripe suit with a striped shirt Make sure your belt color matches your shoe color Don't mix black with navy Obviously try to find clothes that conform well to your body Edit, one more rule; Your tie knot should conform to your shirt collar
I love my waistcoat and pocket watch. I'm really skinny and look ridiculous in a suit. Some nice trousers, a crisp shirt and my waistcoat and I look awesome.
(I can't call it a vest... vests are knitted things....)
Regarding pocket squares, skip them if you're going to an interview. For formal wear though, they're essential and yes, go with the flat, puff, or 1/2 peak. You don't want it to look like Bart Simpson is hiding in your pocket.
Also, a solid charcoal suit is appropriate for an interview as well as the aforementioned navy.
As far as cost goes, $200 to $250 is fine for your first suit or if the only time you wear a suit is to interviews and special events. They wear out fast from frequent use though and they don't hang well. If you end up in a job where you need to wear a suit frequently, drop the cash on a $1,500+ suit.
Everything else here I agree with 100%. Nothing annoys me more than interviewing job candidates that show up looking like they threw on whatever was clean. If you can't even take the time to look like you care, why should I waste my time talking to you?
On January 30 2011 01:46 supernovice007 wrote: Great! I post I can add something to!
Regarding pocket squares, skip them if you're going to an interview. For formal wear though, they're essential and yes, go with the flat, puff, or 1/2 peak. You don't want it to look like Bart Simpson is hiding in your pocket.
I don't agree with that. You should always wear pocket squares, it's just as much a part of a suit as a tie is. When on a job interview, keep the pocket square simple and rather discreet.
On January 30 2011 01:46 supernovice007 wrote:
Also, a solid charcoal suit is appropriate for an interview as well as the aforementioned navy.
As far as cost goes, $200 to $250 is fine for your first suit or if the only time you wear a suit is to interviews and special events. They wear out fast from frequent use though and they don't hang well. If you end up in a job where you need to wear a suit frequently, drop the cash on a $1,500+ suit.
Everything else here I agree with 100%. Nothing annoys me more than interviewing job candidates that show up looking like they threw on whatever was clean. If you can't even take the time to look like you care, why should I waste my time talking to you?
I fully agree to that part. I recommend buying a navy suit first though, since it's more versatile than a charcoal suit.
EDIT: Everyone who hasn't got a clue about suits aspires to look like Barney of HIMYM. Barney is not a good example. Apart from the fit of his suits, his clothings are pretty awful.
The list you just posted are really meant for people in their 30s+ with ALOT of money. Essentially every brand you listed has a 200+ per peice price on a custom shirt or $1000+ for a MTM suit.
Here is something more realistic for the forum members.
Ravistailor.com (custom MTM suits) mysutshop.com (custom MTM suits) Yesstyle.com (for casual blazers, pick carefully due to the different styles and fabric) Jantzentailor.com (custom MTM shirts) Zappos (decent dress shoes)
The goal is to not look stuffy or retarded. Most of people get caught up in dressing "up" and end up looking like an idiot.Your clothes need to match your age and the custom fit will make the clothes look like they cost more than they are.
$200 +$100 (alterations) will make a suit with good fabric look like $1000.
*In regards to pocket squares, skip them for an interview. You do not need to send any mixed messages or add "flair" to your look. Look normal and professional then "wow" the interviewer with your knowledge and charm.
On January 30 2011 04:02 d1v wrote: I don't agree with that. You should always wear pocket squares, it's just as much a part of a suit as a tie is. When on a job interview, keep the pocket square simple and rather discreet.
I have very rarely seen anyone with a pocket square, under or over 30. It's a tad eccentric and would certainly look off at a job interview imo.
On January 30 2011 13:06 vnlegend wrote: Isn't it better to just go to a local tailor and get a suit custom made? I don't see how some online website can custom make a suit for you.
the biggest difference is price range. no tailor in the US will give you fabric and labor for around $200. the custom online tailor will give you all of that. the point of online tailors is to get the general measurements right (chest, shoulders). afterwards take that suit and get it altered.
On January 29 2011 14:25 DoX.) wrote: I aspire to look like this man
YES! I was waiting for this to pop up, now I don't have to give generic context to post this:
Edit: Despite what he says at the end of the video, he didn't really give up the suit (which isn't much of a spoiler since you know it's going to happen).
On January 30 2011 06:33 itzme_petey wrote: The list you just posted are really meant for people in their 30s+ with ALOT of money. Essentially every brand you listed has a 200+ per peice price on a custom shirt or $1000+ for a MTM suit.
Here is something more realistic for the forum members.
Ravistailor.com (custom MTM suits) mysutshop.com (custom MTM suits) Yesstyle.com (for casual blazers, pick carefully due to the different styles and fabric) Jantzentailor.com (custom MTM shirts) Zappos (decent dress shoes)
The goal is to not look stuffy or retarded. Most of people get caught up in dressing "up" and end up looking like an idiot.Your clothes need to match your age and the custom fit will make the clothes look like they cost more than they are.
$200 +$100 (alterations) will make a suit with good fabric look like $1000.
*In regards to pocket squares, skip them for an interview. You do not need to send any mixed messages or add "flair" to your look. Look normal and professional then "wow" the interviewer with your knowledge and charm.
Yeah, I'm aware of the hefty prices. This was not so much meant to be a "shopping list" as rather a source of inspiration and what to look out for in classic clothing quality-wise.
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