I think it's time to buy a new suit. Any suggestions?

[Evoman]

I'm expecting to have some job interviews in the next couple of months (I hope). I think that the suit I have now is sort of shabby...I got it on the cheap for a wedding I went to. It's nice enough, I guess, but I really want to make a good impression on potential interviewers.

Any advice? I don't have a lot of money, but I am willing to spend a little if I have too. What sort of prices should I look for? Should I get it tailored (again, I'm looking for a job...so I don't have a lot of cash)? What sort of suits look good on taller people (I'm about 6 ft, weight about 175, so I am lean and thing)?

[Aristus]

1. A good three-button suit always looks good on a tall lean person.

You've come to the right person, my friend. I used to sell men's clothing, so I know what works and what doesn't.

Three-button never goes out of style. Stay away from double-breasted. The fashion for that comes and goes without warning. A four-button suit wold look terrific on you if you're tall and slender, but it's too trendy a style, coming and going very quickly.

A single-breasted two-button just looks too ordinary.

Reply, and we can talk colors and accessories. B-)

[Evoman]

4. Yeah, a lot of net sites advise double breasted, three button.

For job interviews, would I be better of with black blazer, and a white shirt? Or navy blue blazer? How much do I have to spend for a good suit?

[Aristus]

11. Well, if you want to go the blazer route, you can put together a very nice outfit

of khakis (I don't need to add clean and very well-pressed), white shirt, conservative tie, and blue blazer. Always go with blue if you're going to a job interview; black blazers are just too trendy. Few enough people have seen them that they'll possibly wonder: "Where's the rest of the suit?"

So a blue single-breasted blazer is a very good choice. Even a high-quality one will set you back less than a comparable quality suit. That includes tailoring. Plus, a blazer can be extremely versatile; you can dress it way up, with wool dress slacks of almost any color (but never black, and not blue; chances are pretty good that the blue of your slacks won't match the blue of your blazer, and then you just look mismatched.) You can go medium-dressy with a nice pair of khakis. Or you can even dress it down by wearing it with good-condition blue jeans.

But for a job interview, the blazer/khakis/tie combo mentioned above is your best bet on a budget.

[Evoman]

19. So what's the difference between a blazer and an ordinary suit?

I'm ignorant...teach me lol.

Also, how much should I realistically be spending to look good in suit? I heard 1000 down below.

[Aristus]

21. Well, a blazer's most distinguishing feature is usually its brass buttons with heraldic symbols on

it.

Suit coats usually have buttons made of bone or marbled plastic. A blazer's buttons can make it look very formal, but in fact, you would never wear a blazer to a formal occasion. A nice black business suit can sub for a tuxedo, but a blazer never should.

The lowest you want to go for a good suit would be about $300. That's not including tailoring. And that's important; a cheap suit won't take tailoring well and won't look good on you. Think of the price you pay as an investment. Just one good suit can be used for many different occasions. Full-up formal, with collared shirt and tie for business occasions, including job interviews. Business casual, with the same suit matched with an open-collared shirt or a sweater. A sharp social look can be had with the suit matched with a nice mock-tee shirt (never a casual tee-shirt that you would use for street-wear or underwear.) You can use the trousers by themselves or paired with a complementing sport coat. Depending on the style you get, you can use the suit coat as a sport coat, with khakis or even jeans.

Oh, and get a good pair of shoes to go with it. When you get a new suit, shoes are a part of it. Never wear old, worn shoes with a new suit. Once again, think of it as an investment. Would you buy a new car and put worn-down old tires on it?

You can do a lot with just one suit, as I have shown above. Rather than a second suit (especially if you won't need suits for work) get a couple of different shirts and ties. If you mix and match carefully, you could wear the same suit several times in a row, and nobody would notice.

[Evoman]

22. Awesome, thanks.

This is what I love about DU....you can get great advice from knowledgable people. Just more thing...any tie recommendations for the suit? Also, a black blazer is out, but what about a black suit? Or should I just go with a blue suit?

[Aristus]

27. A good navy blue suit is a classic. Get the right cut and it will never go out of style.

Black is a great versatile color, but don't get it if it's your only suit. Navy blue is better. As far as ties go, solid colors are best. They also never go out of style. Stripes are back in a big way; when I was in the business, I was told stripes were gone for good, and solids and geometric shapes were the way to go. Same with pin-stripe or chalk-stripe shirts. Go with solid colors: white, light blue, cream (or ecru, that's the trade term for it) even pink shirts will go well with a navy suit.

Here's a great tip; spend $43; five for suspender buttons and $38 for a pair of suspenders. They look great and are MUCH more comfortable than a belt. Plus, as I mentioned in a recent thread about suspenders, when you're going coatless, pretty girls love to come up behind you and snap the elastic yoke on your suspenders. Don't know why, but who knows what that might lead to... :evilgrin:

[flvegan]

2. Double breasted.

And YES get it tailored. Matter of fact, you should buy it someplace that will do that for you when you buy it and then will check it when you pick it up. Expect to pay at least $500 for a good wool deal. It's worth it, as it will always be elegant and in-style, fitting for any dress event, and will last forever. Also, on a lean 6' frame, it will look very nice.

[Evoman]

6. 100 percent wool, right?

A friend of mine told me never to go for synthetic material...

[flvegan]

8. Yes.

It should breathe well when it's warm out, too, which is nice.

[Genevieve]

28. NEVER go for synthetic material

...

It will look cheap and worn after very few wearings. Ick.

[flvegan]

30. Must be opposite day for some.

[Genevieve]

31. No, I said:

"Never go for the synthetic material!"

It's ICK!


(I should have written it all on one line)

';)

[flvegan]

32. Aha, good show on the edit.

Indeed on the never ever ever.

[HEyHEY]

25. fuckin' A right - not enough people rock the double breast

[flvegan]

26. I'd not wear anything else.

And I don't have the small frame that most say one needs to pull it off.

[CreekDog]

3. JCPenney had a great sale last year, bought a nice suit for $200 w/ alterations

the same suit 10 years before cost over $300.

as an aside, i went to Men's Wearhouse and the guy showed me the ugliest suit and it was over $400 and almost said how ugly it was until i realized it was the same one he was wearing :eyes: . (it had these obnoxiously bright white pinstripes).

buddy of mine bought his suit at Wal Mart :rofl: i know, i know...$84. you know, it looks fine. if you wear a suit to weddings and funerals, this would've been fine, though Wal Mart clothes are about as durable as Kleenex. I noticed the material was somewhat thin, but fine for his purposes.

[Evoman]

5. I need it for a job interview though....I don't know if a walmart suit would make a good impression!

[CreekDog]

7. you couldn't really tell it was a Wal Mart suit

but the Penneys one was much higher quality, that's for sure.

i found that Men's Wearhouse was not worth the money, a bit pricey, though they have some nice stuff, the lowest priced suit was around $400. i don't think i would spend that if i was looking for a job, i'd wait until i had one.

[Evoman]

9. Ouch. It sucks that 400 bucks is "cheap" for a suit, lol.

But I like to think of it as an investment for my marketability..ha!

[philosophie_en_rose]

10. Macy's has great Labor Day sales.

You can probably find a decent suit on sale and have it altered there.

[Arugula Latte]

12. I'll bet you could get a fabulous suit at a consignment shop.

That way, you get a top-of-the-line one on the cheap. Then, you could spend a little $$ to get it tailored to fit you perfectly.

[LisaM]

13. I would recommend getting a navy sports coat and TWO pairs of pants

one khaki, one grey. Don't get a suit at all. Then if you go in for a second interview, you can wear the other pants, and you can change out the shirt and tie.

That's what my SO did for a wedding a number of years back (he rarely needs a suit) and it's done well for him, and it doesn't go out of style.

[AlCzervik]

14. 3 button jacket and pants with no pleats. You're tall and lean so imo that style would look great

on you.

something like this and Macy's is having a sale.

http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=234619&CategoryID=28601&LinkType=Homepage

[DS1]

15. Owned!

[TZ]

16. My piece of advice...

You better post a pic of you in a suit so I can oogle.. er inspect how professional you look in it, me being experienced in interviews and all that..;-)

[Evoman]

20. Pev

I promise to post a picture WHEN I get a suit (if it looks halfway decent). Otherwise, keep dreaming. Besides, if you've ever seen a pic of me, you probably wouldn't want to see another. :rofl:

[Chan790]

17. Thoughts.

1.) Listen to Aristus. I recall him being an expert in menswear with great taste. I think I remember him saying he used to sell suits and dresswear. In any case, I always make a note of his advice in any thread on menswear because he knows his stuff.

2.) I'd suggest picking up a copy of GQ. They have a suit article every month and can give you a good idea of what is currently "in" for men's fashion. They tend to suggest insanely expensive suits, but if you find something you like and you bring a picture from the magazine with you to the store, you can usually with help from a clerk find a reasonable facsimile.

3.) Someone once told me the tipping point on a suit is $1000; that it's possible to find a great suit for around $1000, but almost anything much cheaper than that is a poor quality suit. If you're going to make a several hundred dollar investment in a garment you should get something worth the investment.

4.) Always tailor. Honestly, ready-to-wear anything (suits, slacks, shirts,...) look bad on everybody who isn't average-built in every way in my experience. A bad fitting suit looks cheap. A great tailor can make anything look like it was designed just for you. I think that a tailor is up there with accountants and barbers in the "service people everybody needs" category. I have mine on speed-dial, but admittedly I'm a mens' fashion dork.

edit: I see he already advised...and I was right about him being a menswear salesperson. My memory rocks!

[Evoman]

18. Great advice....aristus does seem to know his shit. Thanks.

[Aristus]

24. Aw, that's very nice, Chan!

:blush:

If you pay $1,000, it's likely to be a very nice suit; but you don't have to pay that much. I've got several suits from Macy's. They're pretty nice, but nothing spectacular. I got them for around $400 apiece. They offer "tailoring included", but they outsourced the tailoring to a woman who really didn't know what she was doing.

The Men's Wearhouse charges extra for tailoring, but their tailors are right on the premises, and if it is a real emergency, can do it while you wait. (Don't tell them I said that. ;-) ) Plus, once they charge to alter a seam, they will re-alter it for free for the life of the garment. So if you initially paid to have the waistline altered, and then later on gained or lost weight, you can get the alterations for free. Also, a real plus, The Men's Wearhouse offers free pressing for all the garments they sell. That'll save you a lot of money. Unless you are running windsprints in your suit, you probably won't need to get it cleaned after every wearing; after every three or four is just about right. Some guys see a wrinkle or two and think: "It's time for the cleaners" when all they need is to get it pressed.

[spindrifter]

23. Look around your area

to see what men are wearing. For example, not that many in my area wear double breasted suits. I would check for sales at places like Macy's, but also see what the consignment shops have. One of the best dressers I know scores some great clothes second hand, but he also keeps up on the Macy sales, which tend to be pretty good.

[OmahaBlueDog]

29. If you're going to get a suit -- spend the money and do it right

However, most interviews (if you're not in the financial or sales sectors), you can get away with a good jacket and slacks.