The new forums will be named Coin Return (based on the most recent vote)! You can check on the status and timeline of the transition to the new forums here.
The Guiding Principles and New Rules document is now in effect.
Buying a Men's Suit
Reckless
Registered User regular
Registered User regular
My girl and I are going to buy my very first suit ever today. As such, I don't really know what I should be looking for as far as color, material, etc.
I'm buying it primarily for prom/school formal sort of events, but also because suits demand respect and, as I recently turned 18, it's fairly important to own one for interviews and the like.
So, what should I be looking for? I've got a budget of roughly $200. I'll be going to a warehouse/outlet-style shop.
Thanks for any help.
I'm buying it primarily for prom/school formal sort of events, but also because suits demand respect and, as I recently turned 18, it's fairly important to own one for interviews and the like.
So, what should I be looking for? I've got a budget of roughly $200. I'll be going to a warehouse/outlet-style shop.
Thanks for any help.
Reckless on
0
This discussion has been closed.
Posts
Eh. You can get £80 suits in the UK. They're a bit cheap, but then they're a bit cheap. Also, blue? Eww. Maybe as a strictly work only suit, but wearing a blue suit to a social event makes you look like you just came straight from work. Now brown is a classy colour, but that involves an entirely different set of shoes and accessories. Best to stick with shades of grey to begin with - dark grey for general use and maybe a light grey for weddings etc.
In my experience $200 would be pretty hard to pull off for just the suit, unless you find a really nice sale, but it's possible. The store that sells it should help you out with all the rest, like the fitting, the proper tailoring adjustments, cuff style etc.
Here's the place I'm buying at. How's it look to you guys?
Being in NY, you should have a ton of places to go to get a good suit at $200-$250 if you're just looking for the jacket/trousers.
Oh, and... um... stay away from the "Steve Harvey Collection."
If you're really keen, you could take it to be fitted at a tailor. That's relatively cheap, and it can make a big difference.
Untrue, having the wrong color of suit can complete blow your interview. Why I know this? Because, at my job, we have turned down guys simply because they weren't properly wearing dress attire.
Pick a dark navy blue or black suit. Ensure that it is tailored. You must tailor it, otherwise, you will look quite ridiculous. For $200, it will be hard press to find a nice suit for that price.
Places I would check:
-Target: They have started to carry suits now in the Men's section, very reasonable.
-Men's Warehouse: My personal favorite, excellent service, they can point you in your price range and help you find the best suit, plus you can get it tailored right there.
Didn't read the stuff about interviews.
Yeah, get dark grey/blue.
Blue suits only work in an office environment and mostly only the financial sector at that. I can't picture anybody looking good in a blue suit at a formal do.
Dark blue/Navy Blue tend to be fit for all matters. The best is to get a suit which is so dark blue, it can look black in instances, thus, you have two suits in one!
I think dark grey would be safer, but it's granny smith and golden delicious.
We're not talking about something really light.
This is a very appropriate color for many/all suit occasions.
Really for prom you are definately better off renting a tux. While for other events, flat-front khakis, a nice dark blue jacket, and shirt w/ tie can work just as well than buying a full on suit.
I dont really see the need for getting a suit, unless you are immediately entering the office enviroment of the working world, and considering you are a senior in high school that doesn't look to be the case. Really for interviews, the jacket, shirt w/ tie, and khakis works out nicely.
New York has an H&M, right? Their suits are probably the best-fitted off-the-rack stuff you'll find in America. It's been a while since I've been there so I don't remember how much they cost, but I'm pretty sure it's under $300.
The most important thing, aside from color, I guess, is that it fits in the shoulders. That is the hardest thing for a tailor to fix -- in most cases it's impossible or would cost more than buying a new shirt/jacket.
Also, get your ties at thrift stores. It'll take some searching, but you should be able to score some nice ones for literally a fifth of what they'd cost new.
...also, I see now that you've already left. Oh well.
Thanks for the help, and feel free to keep adding advice to the subject. Seems to be a popular topic.
That looks like charcoal grey to me, not any shade of blue. Not that I'm complaining - I'm not a fan of suits that can't be represented correctly in greyscale.
http://www.thelostworlds.net/
Who do you work for? I hope not a F500C. If so, please let me know so I can add it to my list of places to avoid.
I agree that a dark grey or black suit is a must for interviews but turning down a candidate for the color of their suit is quite often mental masturbation for a hiring manager with low self-esteem.
Both crappy IMO.
To the OP:
Good luck finding a nice suit for $200. That's about how much I spend on the fabric alone.
Once you are older and have more money, remember this: tailors > stores. I buy quality fabric like Zegna and just get my tailor to do the rest of the work.
Cheers.
Det. James 'Sonny' Crockett pulled it off pretty well.
Haha! No, he didn't.
Unless by 'pulled it off' you mean 'looked like a tool'.
Also, Stubbs is demonstrating the exception that proves the rule regarding my theory on blue suits being strictly for wearing in offices for financial businesses. Some blue suits are, in fact, entirely inappropriate for any circumstances.
It's specifically listed as blue in the store.
Very dark blue and black suits can look pretty close in color.
Have to go to a suit shop or know of someone who does tailoriing off hand. I sitll claim that Men's Warehouse will be your best choice. You could do a JCPenny, Macy's or Sears route, but you would still need to find a tailor.
Suits tailored from scratch are generally ridiculously expensive. Fucking fantastic if you can afford it, but we aren't all investment bankers. A good off-the-peg shop should have a tailoring service either built into the price of the suit or as an added extra. You can get a designer suit with a really nice cut and then have it adjusted to to best fit your requirements. Best of both worlds IMO - you get a well designed suit made from good material fitted to your size at an affordable price.
Linkie.
And as I said, the prices start off at a very reasonable price point.
:^:
If you really want to impress, it's important that the suit fit your frame -- you need to have it altered to fit you, even if you start with a cheap suit.
I'd avoid buying dress shoes from someplace that also sells suits unless you have no other option. If you have an Allen Edmonds near you, try them. Their shoes are usually rather expensive, but go in and ask for "salesman samples." These are shoes that can't be sold as new because people have had their feet in them, but sell for $100 - $150 instead of $400-$500. (I lucked out -- the sales guy had JUST put out a pair in my exact size minutes before I walked in the door.)
If you get dress shoes, get black cap-toe shoes if you're going for traditional formal. Cap-toe is basically what it sounds like -- a cap over where your toes are, with a plain horizontal line going across. Wingtip is a bit less formal, I've been told.
If you can find leather sole shoes, get them. I thought leather soles would slip and slide like nobody's business, but actually the thick leather bottoms get roughed up pretty well and have decent traction. It's subtle -- I've been told people won't consciously notice -- but leather sole shoes also have a different footstep sound that tells peoples' ears "old traditional dress shoe." I don't know -- the footsteps are loud and noticable, but they sound more like "lawyer walking through a courthouse" than some lady's shoe or a tapdancing shoe or something.
(The rest of the shoe care stuff they sell might be crap, but for the love of God if you buy expensive men's shoes also buy a cedar shoe tree. It's a little spring-loaded human-foot-shaped thing that keeps the shoe dry, uninfected, and in the proper shape to receive your foot again in the future.)
If you get a suit that fits, it's also important that you wear it properly. While you're standing or walking, the front button is buttoned. As you sit down you reach over and unbutton the button. When you stand up again you re-button it. A properly fitted suit is supposed to be too tight if you try to sit down with the coat buttoned. So if you're sitting there in your interview with the front button buttoned and your suit's all bunched up because it's being stretched the wrong way, that makes people think "LOL n00b" more or less. :-)
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )