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UPDATE: Bought a suit! How do I shirt and tie?
Giggles_Funsworth
Blight on DiscourseBay Area SprawlRegistered User regular
Blight on DiscourseBay Area SprawlRegistered User regular
So I need to buy a suit. I do not know a good place to get a suit. I would like something modern with a tailored fit. Said suit is going to be worn at swanky parties in Vegas next month as a representative of my company.
Quality is more important than price, but it would be cool if it didn't cost $Texas.
I also need to buy dress shirts, a tie or two, and maybe a pair of dress shoes too.
I live in the Bay Area if that makes any difference. Suggestions?
Quality is more important than price, but it would be cool if it didn't cost $Texas.
I also need to buy dress shirts, a tie or two, and maybe a pair of dress shoes too.
I live in the Bay Area if that makes any difference. Suggestions?
Giggles_Funsworth on
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It was delivered really quickly and in ready to wear conditions. Also, it fit really well!
Information Security industry. Very military, very corporate, those that aren't expected to dress conservatively have crayon colored hair.
While I could see something like this being useful for some parties I don't think I'll be going to any like that while I'm there.
You could go cheap ties and shirts and the large majority of people aren't going to notice. Cheap means poly which may result in irritated nips if you don't use an undershirt. Use an undershirt regardless to prevent sweat rings. Have an alternate method of holding up your pants, be they a belt or suspenders.
Check on Yelp for independent tailors in case the store you buy from is booked for alterations. Many dry cleaner places can do alterations or put you in contact with a tailor. Call beforehand to get an idea of lead times and cost.
Don't walk into a Men's Wearhouse uneducated. I'm tall and skinny and they let me buy a 3 button suit that makes me look like a giraffe.
If you have a Jos A Bank near you I would suggest not going near it.
Duder said he wants a swanky suit for parting in Vegas. Jos A Bank is very conservative old-man-style suits.
Swanky parties is vegas would be modern tailored slim suit style.
If you look at OP's follow up where I raise the same issue conservative is probably a better bet given his audience.
The most important part about buying a suit, regardless of quality, is the fit though. You'll definitely need to get it tailored so, wherever you buy it, finding a good tailor and factoring in that extra cost is important.
A good rule for trying on a jacket is to keep trying on smaller and smaller sizes until you find the one that doesn't fit, and then go one size up. Make sure the shoulders fit perfectly since tailors can't fix that easily. The waist can be brought in, the length and sleeves hemmed, but finding something close to perfect is obviously easier.
If you want to impress people you need to go to a good store and get something good. Nordstrom’s, Lord and Taylor, Barney’s, and Bloomingdales are good stores. And Hermes is great if you’re near Manhattan. If you want the young Republican look the uniform is Brooks Brothers. If you need to look young and cool go get a nice Calvin Klein suit at Nordstrom’s. If you want something in-between go for a reasonably priced Italian suit from Nordstrom’s.
Cuffs are a formal and conservative touch, avoid them. Pleated pants are for fat guys, flat fronts are for thin guys. Get a second pair of pants as pants are more likely to get damaged or stained than the jacket, and if you end up wearing it often, they wear out much faster. Do not get a navy blue suit or anything with brass buttons, those are old man clothes. If you don’t go with black be very careful how the suit contrasts with your skin—pale white guys look can look really stupid in a brown pattern. You don’t want to ruin a good suit with a cheap tie so make sure to get an expensive tie made out of really thick silk that literally stands out against your chest and holds a divot under the know.
If you need to go to a series of parties in the same week get a different suit for each party so that you look successful. This suggests to clients that you already have good clients because your firm does things right. Absolutely do not show up with the same tie twice for any functions, that’s a big red flag. If you have to wear a suit to a conference and a party in the same day at least change the shirt and tie before the party.
JAB doesn't really have anything modern in my limited experience, and their tailoring sucks at my local. However, they can get you 6 suits for $500 most days, which means you can not look like the guy that only owns one suit. Mixing in ultra-conservative with more modern looks will make an impression.
Men's warehouse has modern stuff and my local tailoring was excelent - they turned a giant shirt into the best fitting shirt I own. Not a bad idea.
Tailoring at department stores isn't bad most times. Also, if you buy enough clothing there, they often let you buy on contract. If I drop 2 grand at Von Maur I get 10 months, interest free, to pay it off if I want.
If you're looking for a more modern look, I have 2 brands I like. on the cheap side it Ben Sherman. Not well constructed, but stylish if tailored correctly. On the other end, a Hugo Boss will send the right message. However, both are much better if you're skinny. Something like a Jack Victor brand would be better if you are more average sized for an american, as it is modern without a slim-fit leaning.
Some people have mentioned upscale department stores (Nordstroms, Macy's). You should at least try them out. I was able to pick up some suits from Macy's, Hilfiger slim cut, that fit me so perfectly I didn't need any tailoring aside from a slight taper in the jacket. Obviously it all depends on your body type though.
Now I'm trying to decide what shirts and ties to buy with them. Went by the Van Heusen store while I was out, and there was an aqua dress shirt there that was fantastically loud, but I'm not sure if it would work with the dark charcoal of the suit, or my skin tone, hair etc. fair skinned, darkish brown hair with red accents and brown eyes.
Also I'm kicking myself for gaining weight while I was unemployed, going to need to get the shoulders of the thing modified if I ever manage to hit my goals.
If you have the money or it's a priority, pay to have something tailored for you. They really are much nicer. But if you're only wearing the suit once a month and it's all defense guys also wearing off-the-rack suits, it's not that important.
It's a pretty healthy mix. Both the events I'm going to are hacker conferences, but the business types that are there, and the company I work for, are more conservative. I basically wanted to get the suit, and some flashy shirts and ties to stand out at the after parties. During the day I'll be wearing t-shirts, in fact, at the one I'm volunteering at that's the uniform.
i've had lots of luck finding great suits at non-chain, independent places. for example, this place in San Diego has served me ridiculously well. the suits are less expensive, but still of good quality. and the salespeople surprisingly know more about suits than their Men's Wearhouse counterparts.
also check out the outlet stores. Nordstrom Rack tends to have a few great suits in stock. Saks Fifth Avenue has their "Off Fifth" outlet stores. sometimes Macy's has random suit sales.
remember a few things: the jacket size should be about a "fist" larger than your waist size. put your hand into a fist, and then place the top of your fist (thumb-side) against your chest. your suit jacket should be able to accommodate you putting your fist there while the jacket is on. two button jackets are currently the most widespread style, as three button jackets are seen as too formal, and one-button jackets shouldn't really be worn by anyone. your jacket should have a vent (the slit some jackets have at the back) or can be double vented (having two slits, one on each side, of the back of the jacket).
the material and thread count of the suit matters, too. generally, wool is the most durable (and popular). wool suits with thread counts in the low hundreds are generally fine for day-to-day suit wear. just watch out for cheapy suits with very low thread counts.
steam | Dokkan: 868846562
White shirts are a sure bet and will show off your tie and draw the eye to your face. Shirt should always be lighter than your suit, so white is a safe bet, but also light blue, blue/white stripes, and lavender or pink (seriously, they aren't girly, you'll look good) will all look good and are pretty standard. Guys sometimes get a little risky with the shirt and it almost always turns out bad. Van Heusen shirts are too shiny and clubby. Just some basic 100% cotton shirts will be fine. For the ties, don't go too crazy. The tie is where you want the most patterns, but seriously look at it and think if it'll be ugly before you buy something too wild. Stripes or pindots are good, reliable choices.
You can wear the same suit on multiple days if you change your shirt and tie everyday, especially since you say the suit is charcoal. If it's a loud suit, people will notice and you'd be well advised to have two suits to rotate.
Shoes - better to have two pairs of shoes and switch between them. Dark brown and black. Not ones with squared off toes. One pair can work in a pinch. chrishallet83 linked to a good shoe option. Lots of people don't think about the shoes but they are a very important part of the outfit. For that matter, make sure your socks match your pants as well. Minor detail but it's still worth getting right.
Amy S. Shermangun
You absolutely can. Not with a black suit, but black suits are for funerals anyways and OP isn't wearing one. Do a google image search for charcoal suit brown shoes and there will be plenty of pictures of guys looking good in the combo. It is technically against the "rule" of traditional London city dress but not for any particular reason - grey/charcoal suit and brown shoe look just fine together, so there's no compelling argument as to why one should follow that particular "rule" besides wanting to act superior because one is following an imaginary rule that doesn't matter and very few other people know about. OP is not in London. Google around and you'll see that virtually all sources say it's just fine to wear brown shoes with charcoal suits.
Besides, you really aren't supposed to wear the same shoes two days in a row, so that they have at least a day between wearings to air out and retain their shape around the shoe tree. At this point in OP's clothes career, it sounds like it would be silly for him to buy two pairs of black shoes. Black and a dark brown will serve him just fine. I do think if he only gets one pair, he should go black. Here's a decent choice if the AEs linked above are too pricey.
Thanks for the advice. What color/pattern tie pairings would you recommend with a light pink shirt, was already considering buying one before you suggested it.
As for the Van Heusen shirt...like I said, I was looking for something loud. I'll be wearing this getup mostly to clubs, in Vegas, while imbibing copious amounts of free alcohol, so I don't think too "clubby" is a problem but maybe I'm mistaken?
i'd say the park ave or 5th ave are better options, but since that one is on clearance, yeah, it's pretty good
and brown shoes are really fine with anything except a black suit which you wouldnt wear anyway
depends on the shade of brown of course
As for pairing a tie with a charcoal suit and a pink shirt, is this for the meeting or the club? Personally I'd skip the tie when going to a club. Otherwise a tie that's predominantly deep red (burgundy), or a tie with a tight pattern that has a similar pink in it as your shirt. Best to take the shirt with you when you go tie shopping.
That should help us with colors. I'm freckled half-ginger, so I usually go grey/blue with my colorings, throwing in a splash of orange here and there as I'm one of the few that can work with that.
Maybe I'm way off here but I just went to a Macy's. They had one of their sales going on, and opening a charge account (that I'll never use otherwise) got me a whopping 40% off the entire purchase. I got two suits a shirt and two new ties for about 500 bucks. One is a Calvin Klein charcoal, the other is an Alfani blue pin stripe. Even if they're not as "durable" as a more expensive suit, I'll only really use them for interviews, funerals, or formal parties (and even in that latter case, it's becoming a "thing" to pair just the jacket with other pants, even jeans if it's black, charcoal or khaki).
I'll probably get the jacket altered a tad (I happen to fit pretty well into a 42S) but the pants fit perfect and are the right length (to the bottom of the top of the heel) but the fit works just fine as is for now.
And I appreciate this thread; I had an argument that was way too heated for what it was about with the wife and the charcoal/brown shoes. I always thought it worked, she said I looked like a tool.
Dark brown hair with red that shows up mostly under focused lighting/sun, fair skin with almost no freckles on my face, brown eyes.
Also editing thread title/quoting this because I don't need suit advice anymore, I don't have money for another suit right now!
No problem taking the shirt or not, buying new shirts!
I will be wearing the tie at some events and not others? It's tricky, because while they are mostly at clubs, I have gone to some at my old company and I was instructed to dress up for the occasion...others not so much.
There is a dinner party with my team (we usually work remotely) and I will definitely be dressing up for that.
Ties - Red ties (simple patterns! Brooks brothers have some great ties) work, or ask attendants/women on things. Best thing you can do - go shopping with a female friend and have them pick stuff out for you and explain why it looks good.
Simple
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/john-w-nordstrom-woven-silk-tie/3173630?origin=category&BaseUrl=Ties&BaseUrl=Ties
Striped
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/nautica-tie-end-on-end-stripe?ID=679862&CategoryID=53239&LinkType=&swatchColor=Pink#fn=COLOR=Pink&sp=1&spc=52&ruleId=66&slotId=19
Skinny (in fashion these days -- fucking Mad Men)
http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/nautica-tie-end-on-end-stripe?ID=679862&CategoryID=53239&LinkType=&swatchColor=Pink#fn=COLOR=Pink&sp=1&spc=52&ruleId=66&slotId=19
i like 3-3.25" wide ties i think, that's a good width thats slim but not too skinny