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Underground > Art, Fashion & Design >

How to buy suits...

05:57 / 10.09.08

i have never bought a suit or any real dressy or classy garments before.
i want to recreate myself with an entirely new wardrobe.
where does one go to find nice, not insanely priced suits and swanky duds? websites?

i have a good tailor and so i wouldn't be too afraid of ordering online since i live in utah and the selection here is not grand.

thanks!

Anna de Logardiere

07:57 / 10.09.08

Well what's your budget?

00:19 / 11.09.08

I wouldn't suggest websites... maybe peruse a couple, just to get an idea of what sort of styles you're after...

You definitely want to be trying them on, with an array of shirts as well... coming away with the perfect suit means that you're going to have to put in some good time wherever you get it from...

My biggest recommendation is that you invest in a three piece. If not, a V-neck jumper under the blazer isn't a bad touch.

03:24 / 11.09.08

Take along friends when you try things on. At least one; if you have more than one that will humor you bring them all. Especially with this being your first suit, your taste alone simply can't be trusted.

10:29 / 11.09.08

As you're in the U.S....thrift stores! I do not lie.

Mr. Mono always picks up a few suits when we visit family in the ststes and has the ones he really likes altered. He's get some really sharp duds for insanely cheap prices.

Just remember: trousers are easy to alter and make look good & flattering, jackets are not as simple and will be more expensive.

20:06 / 12.09.08

fear: my budget is about $700 max for a suit.

thanks for the replies. i am headed to some thrift stores this weekend...

what do you folks think of ralph lauren and calvin klein...? a little played out, but certainly affordable.

trouble at bill

15:51 / 19.09.08

i don't really have any strong feelings about particular brands (though Ralph Lauren might damn you to Preppie Hell in the eyes of some people, heh).

But amen to the thrift store theory. You'll get several times the amount of suit for your money even after alterations are paid for. Also it's sooo nice to have the large margin for error which thrift stores allow - worst case scenario is you back at square one having spent a pretty small amount of money which will have went to starving people. It takes so much of the pressure out of the actual shopping process.

I did have to buy a non-thrift suit myself the other day, in a rush too. I was really lucky and eventually found one which fitted nicely and was in a sale. I havered a little and the guy then took even more money off - might be worth bearing in mind that in the midst of a credit crunch those people who do buy (or have to) can easily get bargains, in London at any rate they're practically having to give stock away. Makes you wonder what vast profit margins they must operate at when there's not a crisis, actually.

16:08 / 19.09.08

In Canada we have a store called Moore's, decent and always affordable: Maybe you have something similar?

Now, this isn't James-Bond-Heith-of-Fashion stuff we're talking about, just good/decent quality suits and advice to look good. I work in a formal office and pretty much everyone here (Male) dresses at Moore's, except for the execs who can afford more custom gear, even then...

About twice a year they have 2-for-1 sales and stuff, and you can probably get 2 suits, a couple of good shirts and matching ties and Maybe even a decent pair of shoes (Nunn Bush, Rockports, etc...) for your $700.

Anna de Logardiere

18:58 / 19.09.08

Suit-wise I prefer Ralph Lauren to Calvin Klein. I think the jacket below is cut to create a better silhouette and a less conservative style

than the Calvin Klein suit below, which is okay but a bit buttoned up (literally).

03:50 / 23.09.08

righto!

i have actually been finding some good stuff at thrift stores.

next: any suggestions to find 1920's kinda vintage prep stuff? earth toned tweed, flannel, sweater vests etc.
i am a sucker for the wardrobes in movies from that time(ala atonement, brideshead revistited)
any current stores carry stuff like this?

04:41 / 24.09.08

One of the main appeals of preppy fashion is specifically the fact that it doesn't change. J. Crew, Brooks Brothers, and L.L. Bean are some of the major brands that having been ploughing various parts of the prep spectrum for years, and can be found in second-hand stores throughout new england and the middle atlantic states. I'm sure there's a lot on ebay, also.

06:33 / 06.10.08

i found a good chap in hong kong, but that may be too far away..!

trying on and speaking with the tailor are two aspects mandatory to get your needs met - or thrift stores and tailors later for alterations, i second! shoes, too, can be had there... at least, in australia, i have found several pairs, may favourite i still wear having bought for a tidy fiver about twenty five years ago!

the fabric is the key - wrong fabric and it all falls down.

10:07 / 27.11.08

Did you find a nice suit?

What I would add is that in the bottom/mid range of suits how it fits is far more important than price or label. Off the rack suits are cut on blocks that supposedly fit the average person, but each company has their own block - sometimes several, one for each line. A 40R from one designer might be baggy on you, while the same size from a different designer might be tight. Another thing I could point out is that I've never bought a suit that fit me perfectly from the get go, but they all looked great after being tailored here and there.

One suggestion would be to try suits on, find the designer and size that fits you well and then go online and find it cheaper if you can.

You can look online, too, for tips on how a suit should fit when you're wearing it. Things like where the shoulder seams should be, how long the sleeves, how the collar should sit, where the trousers should break on your shoes, etc.

20:24 / 16.12.08

Do you have a TKMaxx in your area. They can have shops full of tat, or you can get amazing stuff at bargain prices. It's potluck which.

It terms of completely updating your style, I suggest you buy lots of quality magazines (mens and womens) and learn how to put a "look" together. Vogue, Pop, Tank, GQ, Arena Homme Plus, are all good - and if they're not readily available in Utah, try their websites.

hth.

trouble at bill

17:14 / 18.12.08

How far down should the bottom of a man's suit jacket hang at the back? It's just that I have a jacket which seems too long, my manager at work recently got one wch was similar (he returned the whole suit in the end) and some I've tried on lately were also cut like this. Is it currently the fashion for jakets to be significantly longer than they once were? Should I try and get used to it?

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:41 / 18.12.08

Depends on the coat, I think. I imagine it's a lounge suit, in which case the coat should probably go down to about the top of the thigh at the back, although Douglas Millings and Pierre Cardin brought it up to about two-thirds of the way down the buttock, among others.

05:30 / 20.12.08

It's just a personal opinion, but do fashion and the suit really belong in the same sentence? Nine times out of ten, you're not enjoying yourself while wearing one - 'grace under fire' seems the best look you can hope for, so a classic approach is best.

If it's a work suit particularly, think of it as armour - it has to be comfortable, and also not attract too much of the wrong kind of attention.

Whatever you do, don't think something like "Gosh those guys in 'Mad Men' look good! I should get a suit like that!"

Because they will eat you alive at the office.

Unless you've got a job in fashion or something, there's no point being creative about work clothes at all.

05:44 / 20.12.08

That said, you could do worse than ask your manager at work for fashion tips - gain his confidence, let him feel almost fatherly, or like a cool uncle.

That way, he's less likely to see you coming when you destroy him utterly, in your glorious ascent up the career ladder!

trouble at bill

13:59 / 18.01.09

Ah, but sadly we have all been made redundant since - lost the contract, all got the chop and so that particular career ladder's basically firewood!

And yes, some suits are gloriously afashionable in a way, one of the things I like about them.

I know not the difference between a suit and a lounge suit, this calls for a trip to Wikipedia...

ONLY NICE THINGS

16:20 / 18.01.09

A lounge suit is the suit you wear in the lounge - that is, when you are not dressing for dinner. Basically, it means the kind of suit you wear to work.

at the scarwash

20:05 / 08.12.09

Is there really anything more fashionable for a man to wear than a good suit? I, by the way, recommend the services of Duchess Clothiers in Portland. Their Scotch Basic line begins at $500, and their workwomanship is amazing.

18:43 / 04.03.10

Yeah, maybe...

Look I'm trying to moan here

08:26 / 13.05.10

This place looks intersting. Even if not buying, it's fun to "make" a suit - almost like the character gen part of a video game. They also have a shirt collar that is absolutely bananas, if only the colours weren't just boring corporate.

http://www.cadandthedandy.co.uk/