OT: A decent suit

[zk]

Our nephew will be graduating college soon. I’m not sure when this happened, but he turned from take, take take, into give, give give seemingly overnight. He got a job, saved his money, and told his mom that he would henceforth pay his own room and board and, on the occasions that he’s able, his tuition. His parents both work hard, they’re not well-off, and they have another son to send to college soon, so that helps them a lot. He’ll need to dress nicely in the field he’ll be in (hotel management). He’s bought himself a couple suits, but no doubt they’re $100-type suits from an off-the-rack place.

We’d like to buy him a nice, fitted suit. He doesn’t need a thousands-of-dollars Armani, or anything like that. Just something quality that fits nice would be good. I’ve never had to have a decent suit, and I don’t know where to start. Does custom fitted mean a lot? Is a brand name important? If you don’t get a brand-name suit, how do you tell if it’s a quality suit? Does anybody know a good place to get a decent suit? And whatever questions I’m not aware I should ask. Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks.

[EconProf]

Try the misnamed chain store Burlington Coats. One is in the Clairmont area of San Diego. Big selection, low prices.

[scaredyclassic]

The best deal/value is

http://Www.suitsupply.com

[scaredyclassic]

Tailoring matters a lot. Fit is paramount.

most brands are meaningless.

young people often like the job crew suits. Not a terrible deal.

personally the best off the rack fit suit I’ve found for my slim yet muscled self is Ben sherman. But I haven’t tried that many.

[scaredyclassic]

http://Www.askandyaboutclothes.com

[scaredyclassic]

Brooks Bros on sale is generally an OK bet.

[FlyerInHi]

I agree with scaredy about the brands, Ben Sherman and Brooks bros are good bets.

Fit is key, brand is meaningless. A suit from Zara that fits well would work, if you know a seamstress that can adjust.

For So Cal. material is not that important. Just choose a light fabric.

For an idea on fit, just look at the TV new anchors. Shirt sleeves should show a little so jacket sleeves should be shorter. Over long jackets and pants make you look like a penguin.

The slim fit is in.

[scaredyclassic]

[quote=FlyerInHi]I agree with scaredy about the brands, Ben Sherman and Brooks bros are good bets.

Fit is key, brand is meaningless. A suit from Zara that fits well would work, if you know a seamstress that can adjust.

For So Cal. material is not that important. Just choose a light fabric.

For an idea on fit, just look at the TV new anchors. Shirt sleeves should show a little so jacket sleeves should be shorter. Over long jackets and pants make you look like a penguin.

The slim fit is in.[/quote]

a bigger baggier suit will make you look old. which is not necessarily bad if you’re old. i got this awesome brooks bros suit, fully canvassed (discussed on askandy) and just th e softest loro piana ialian wool imaginable, probably a 3k suit, for 125 on ebay, but it was older, though in mint condiiotn, and very not slim.

still, i like it. i am envelopped ina sea of wool.

perhaps this will come back in style before i die…

[scaredyclassic]

brand may mater in this sense if youre young and trying to fit into the adult world, a name lik e borooks bros will make you feel like youre more part of the establishment, possibly. so maybe brooks bros. someting super sober, grey or blue, and plain looking. but classy.

or jcrew

suits…sheesh.

[zk]

[quote=scaredyclassic]brand may mater in this sense if youre young and trying to fit into the adult world, a name lik e borooks bros will make you feel like youre more part of the establishment, possibly. so maybe brooks bros. someting super sober, grey or blue, and plain looking. but classy.

or jcrew

suits…sheesh.[/quote]

Great input, guys, thanks.

I wanted to ask about styles, too. Brian says, “the slim fit is in.” That’s good to know. But I’ve always preferred a classic look. (The suit is not for me, but I want to have this discussion with my nephew.) The classic look really never goes out of style. It’s usually not the height of fashion, either. But if your suit is high quality, and your build doesn’t change, you can keep it a while. Like a decade. Right? Or is that just lame? Whereas, while a “slim-fit” suit looks quite hip right now, in 2-4 years it’s going to look out of date and definitely lame. Not long after that, it will be basically unwearable.

Plus, like scaredy said, plain and sober but classy (or plain and sober and classy, depending how you look at it) is more establishment. So, if edgy and hip isn’t what you’re looking for, then you don’t really have to buy a new collection of suits every few years. Or am I wrong about that?

[FlyerInHi]

ZK, I assume your nephew is in his 20s. Young people wear slim these days.

But I agree. Go with classic and sober. The way Obama wears his suits. Not fashionable, but very acceptable, year over year.

I don’t wear suits very often so I don’t see the point to spend a lot of money. But I’m a perfectionist and like everything to fit nicely.
I would buy a suit from Zara and have it adjusted if necessary. Your nephew might like that, plus cash over an expensive Hugo Boss suit.

Incidentally, in Japan, people wear lots of suits. They used to spend a lot of money. But Japan now has many discount stores that have good suits as a result of the 2 decade long economic stagnation. Not really a practical shopping solution, but Japan is a great place to shop for cheap nice suits. My point is to emphasize fit over brand.

I’m thrifty and don’t spend money on brands… but people always think that I do.

[zk]

I generally stay away from brands, because you generally pay more for nothing. Or maybe for prestige in certain people’s eyes, which I’m not concerned about. Of course, my nephew (he’s almost 21) might be. But I don’t think so. I’ll have to bring that up and see what he says. Anyway, with a suit, because I can’t tell good quality from bad quality, my concern is that I’ll buy something non-brand and it’ll be poor quality and I won’t know it. How can I tell if a non-brand-name suit is any good? Are there some lesser-known names that are generally quality suits? Are there some methods of identifying quality in a non-brand-name suit? I want to get him the best suit I can for the money.

[FlyerInHi]

Again I agree. Brand is about belonging and feeling.

But suits are commodities these days. It’s not like the 1980s and before. A good looking suit is all about fit and precision stitching which is done very well with machines.

If you look at old photos, you will notice that even rich people in the past we badly dressed. They suits didn’t fit really well.

Obama’s suits are a little too big for him which does make him look old. Maybe a little sloppiness is good so he can appeal to broader groups.

The national TV anchors dress very well David Muir, Dan Harris….

It used to be that Americans dressed worse than Europeans in general, but now we dress better!

I don’t like colored shirts other than white or light blue. Shirts should also be fitted.

Hugo Boss is a good brand if you want brand. But, again, brand is just for bragging rights. Fit is essential. If a brand doesn’t fit, you’ll still look bad.

[spdrun]

FlyerInHI – maybe a trip to Hong Kong is in order…
http://www.forbes.com/sites/larryolmsted/2013/04/29/the-worlds-most-famous-tailor-at-prices-you-cant-miss/

[FlyerInHi]

Some expensive suits are made of expensive material like wool scaridy mentioned. Or materials made in Italy, France, England. Prestige.

But in california you don’t need wool. Even in NYC when it’s cold you don’t need wool indoors. A nice quality synthetic blend works and saves money.

It’s about precision cut and how well it fits on your body. You know goodlooking when you see it. I’ve learned that from reading about architecture over the years. the same principles of beauty can be applied to many things. Like Apple products look beautiful because a lot of thought goes into design. But the materials are commodities.

[Author]

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