Having just come back from buying a new suit I thought i'd ask Languish... what do you look for in one?
Would love some opinions on the fit (do you like it snug or a little loose), fabric, cut & style, three buttons or two, colour, pattern (pinstripe, checked, plain)... let's hear it!
How much do you like to spend on a suit? Can you get away with a $149 sale at Moore's or do you feel a need to spend $300, $500, $1,000 or more?
Does your workplace have a "keeping up with the Jones's" type of requirement for you to always look sharp or be ostracized (I imagine the lawyer's deal with this)?
How many suits do you need? If you wear a suit to work every day do you need five or ten plus? How often do you feel the need to update?
Funky striped / coloured socks that match funky tie or black socks, simple tie?
What about the shoes!?
Lot's of question's but that's just to stimulate some talk on this subject. :bowler:
Quote from: PRC on September 28, 2013, 10:57:09 PM
Having just come back from buying a new suit I thought i'd ask Languish... what do you look for in one?
Pants. I dont own a suit.
Quote from: 11B4V on September 28, 2013, 11:10:51 PM
Pants. I dont own a suit.
There's a surprise! Not even for funerals?
Single-breasted, 3-piece pinstripe is my preference, with 3 buttons. I don't wear a suit to work, so I buy them mostly for church, funerals, etc., and since I don't need them for work, I can get by with a cheap suit, usually $200-$250, though the last suit I bought was over $500. Prefer a tie with a bit of color, but no garish patterns or the like.
Two button, a little room to move, ventless. 100% wool is best, but some blends look OK. Some obviously look like crap.
When I was suiting up daily I had 3 suits and a blazer. Wear it till the ass wears out or you lard up too much.
Only black socks. No need to fuck with that shit in the morning.
I've always been partial to wingtips.
You can't go wrong with an Adidas suit.
For special occasions, I'll wear a shirt with a collar.
I would dress in my native costume.
Quote from: Admiral Yi on September 28, 2013, 11:30:42 PM
Only black socks. No need to fuck with that shit in the morning.
I've noticed that George Bush Sr. is a guy who likes to mix it up with socks: http://www.thedailybeast.com/galleries/2013/07/16/george-h-w-bush-s-most-striking-socks-photos.html#c931a8a7-a76d-4dae-b706-6cde548289cf
If you're 6th generation preppie, you're born knowing how to match socks.
Quote from: PRC on September 28, 2013, 10:57:09 PM
How much do you like to spend on a suit? Can you get away with a $149 sale at Moore's or do you feel a need to spend $300, $500, $1,000 or more?
Does your workplace have a "keeping up with the Jones's" type of requirement for you to always look sharp or be ostracized (I imagine the lawyer's deal with this)?
You know what - as a whole criminal lawyers are pretty shitty dressers. There's a handful on the defence side who are dressed very well, but most of them look like crap.
I think I'm in the lower to middle range. I buy Moore's suits (though not $149 specials). I don't stand out, but I don't think I look like crap.
For American's - Moore's is owned by, and follows the same philosophy, as Men's warehouse.
Suits need to be rad.
I bought a couple of hand made armani style suits from some back alley guy in Itaewon who's sold suits in bulk to Nick Clegg and other famous persons (he's got photos of them with him up on his wall). Two for 450,000 won, but much higher quality than that. Makes worse jokes/puns than anyone on Languish.
I wear them at funerals. Since I don't go to funerals that often I usually have to buy a new suit each time (and white shirt and formal shoes, but not the tie.....that is usually still there from the last time). I buy them at Marks and Spencers and get the 3rd cheapest which is quite sufficient to convey the appropriate impression of conformist respectability.
Something machine washable. Having to go to the dry cleaners regularly is a pain.
I prefer a fitted cut to the jacket. It has to be wider at the shoulder than at the waist. Also I like high armholes. So I can raise my arms without the whole suit lifting up. Two or three buttons doesn't matter much, just never button the bottom one. I like two buttons a little more just because it's less hassle. Don't like double breasted. Don't like vests underneath. I saw a Korean guy in a bar in Seattle with a three piece, turned-up collar, stuffed-up sleeves and a watch chain dangling off his vest. I prefer a little more classic look than that. He looked like Scrooge McNinja.
I prefer a slight break on the pants, and flat fronts. No highwaters and no pleats. I do like funny socks sometimes. I'd say my sock arsenal is about 80% normal 20% brightly-colored.
I don't wear suits that often though. West Coast business culture and all that.
I was hoping this was about the tv show. :(
I just get the suits at Jos A Bank and Men's Whorehouse. I once spent the cash on an Armani suit but it didn't amaze the locals and it is ill fitting on me now.
But damn, it was sharp.
Quote from: Ed Anger on September 29, 2013, 08:58:10 AM
I just get the suits at Jos A Bank and Men's Whorehouse.
I really like JA Bank's stuff..
Suits I like conservative, so blues, slate grays, a couple browns and elements of black, since you don't have to worry about the style clock; not big on patterns or pinstripes (that's for shirts) so those should be subdued; if you want to make an individualized "statement", save it for the shirt/tie/shoes combo. Don't like the "latest fashion" bullshit like 4 button or wide collars, etc., as that can age a suit which--like Yi says--you should wear the wheels off of.
Personally, I like them loose-fitting for comfort and draping, not tapered unless you're really in shape; even if you're not chunky-syle like me I think you should still use suspenders, if not for comfort than for appearance. Nothing worse than suit pants all bunched up from a belt.
Single breasted, Three buttons, never close more than the middle one. And this one only if facing a low-twenties blizzard.
The front pleat must be so sharp you can slice a loaf with it. The flap must be no more than 3 cms high, and it must fall some millimetres above the shoe's heel. No flap is inexcusable.
Loro Piana fabrics are the best out there. For the summer, linen suits are acceptable only if one has le physique of Daniel Craig.
Hermes or Marinella ties, the smaller the drawings, the better.
Light blue shirt, no button-down.
Dark blue socks, shoes the same color as belt, never different from black or brown.
L.
Edit: suspenders are good, too; possibly black.
Depends on weight, body type and age. Generally speaking I'd try to avoid both the super-skinny lapel and low-waisted trouser trends, as they're both gasping their last breaths. I despise Joseph A. Bank, but something similar (Brooks Brothers) is probably the best option if you're not going to make a habit of it. I'd avoid three pieces or three butons-the first is trendy but easy to get wrong, and the second is still a little 90s at this point.
Probably best to avoid doing anything really truly fancy if you're a total newcomer. If you're youngish-thin, I think the retro-60s look is acceptable now in almost any context, and generally looks pretty good, and is hard to truly fuck up.
http://putthison.com/post/10127535876/twenty-five-pieces-of-basic-sartorial-knowledge-so-you
http://putthison.com/post/359906386/jobinterviewattire
Super basic stuff to keep in mind.
I have two suits, one a totally generic dark blue with faint pinstripes and a flat front, the other a light grey three piece (in theory, since I never wear the vest) with thicker stripes and pleats. Purchased 2 for $300 at Syms, R.I.P. -- "The Educated Consumer Is Our Best Customer."
I expected to purchase at least a couple more suits, but as it turns out, day-to-day criminal lawyering in northern Vermont only calls for real suits when a jury's around. I only lasted a week and a half in my suits until I'd had enough of comments about being overdressed. :( Hell, the middle-aged State's Attorneys wear Converse to court sometimes. :blink: So I bought some free-floating non-khaki slacks that I pair with a brown or blue-patterned sport coat and tie for most days.
I wanna see Mihali in a suit like cousin Vinny
Quote from: katmai on September 29, 2013, 11:48:01 PM
I wanna see Mihali in a suit like cousin Vinny
(https://languish.org/forums/proxy.php?request=http%3A%2F%2Fbetablog.amnestyusa.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2012%2F03%2Fjoe-pesci-my-cousin-vinny.jpg&hash=595cd2ea27f45787f43553cdf37d00a0ed5a70fa)
?
:yes:
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on September 29, 2013, 11:45:12 PM
I have two suits, one a totally generic dark blue with faint pinstripes and a flat front, the other a light grey three piece (in theory, since I never wear the vest) with thicker stripes and pleats. Purchased 2 for $300 at Syms, R.I.P. -- "The Educated Consumer Is Our Best Customer."
I expected to purchase at least a couple more suits, but as it turns out, day-to-day criminal lawyering in northern Vermont only calls for real suits when a jury's around. I only lasted a week and a half in my suits until I'd had enough of comments about being overdressed. :( Hell, the middle-aged State's Attorneys wear Converse to court sometimes. :blink: So I bought some free-floating non-khaki slacks that I pair with a brown or blue-patterned sport coat and tie for most days.
That's pretty neat. Not like that at all in SC.
Quote from: Capetan Mihali on September 29, 2013, 11:45:12 PM
I have two suits, one a totally generic dark blue with faint pinstripes and a flat front, the other a light grey three piece (in theory, since I never wear the vest) with thicker stripes and pleats. Purchased 2 for $300 at Syms, R.I.P. -- "The Educated Consumer Is Our Best Customer."
I expected to purchase at least a couple more suits, but as it turns out, day-to-day criminal lawyering in northern Vermont only calls for real suits when a jury's around. I only lasted a week and a half in my suits until I'd had enough of comments about being overdressed. :( Hell, the middle-aged State's Attorneys wear Converse to court sometimes. :blink: So I bought some free-floating non-khaki slacks that I pair with a brown or blue-patterned sport coat and tie for most days.
Bizzare.
Even in shithole Nunavut or Yukon communities of a few hundred people, you're expected to show up for court in a suit.
Sure, there's the time I was half way through a trial when I realized I was still wearing snowboots (hey, it was cold and our courthouse was an old community hall), and the judge didn't really mind, but you couldn't just, on purpose, start wearing slacks and a sports coat.
And of course, for juries (or superior court trials in general) barristers robes are still required. Let me tell you, nothing,but nothing, makes you stand out in a town like Watson Lake, YT like going out on lunch break wearing barrister's robes.
Quote from: 11B4V on September 28, 2013, 11:10:51 PM
Quote from: PRC on September 28, 2013, 10:57:09 PM
Having just come back from buying a new suit I thought i'd ask Languish... what do you look for in one?
Pants. I dont own a suit.
Blauer and Dickies can go with anything!
I don't own a proper suit anymore. Would only need to wear it at a funeral & anyway I just sport a dress shirt & pants.
Quote from: Ideologue on September 29, 2013, 11:52:42 PM
That's pretty neat. Not like that at all in SC.
In Charlotte, certain older judges would lambaste female lawyers for not dressing ladylike if they wore pantsuits.
But then, one such old (white) district court judge had the bailiffs handcuff a young (black) attorney and drag him in when he was in a different courtroom while something was set for that judge's court.
There's a fashion in London for suits to have the jacket collar buttonhole and one of the cuff buttonholes sewn with red stitching. That was unique and quirky for just one guy, once.
Quote from: Brazen on September 30, 2013, 09:23:34 AM
and one of the cuff buttonholes sewn with red stitching. That was unique and quirky for just one guy, once.
Yeah, I've noticed that in English clothier catalogs. Figured it was some sort of "I heart Ken Livingstone" secret code or something.
How much time do you spend perusing English clothier cataloges?
A lot more time than I'd like, fuck you very much.
:lol:
Any thoughts on having a matched handkerchief in jacket breast pocket... ridiculous or always a must?
Quote from: PRC on September 30, 2013, 11:37:38 AM
Any thoughts on having a matched handkerchief in jacket breast pocket... ridiculous or always a must?
I think it makes you look a little bit garbon-esque, but some guys seem to like the look.
Quote from: PRC on September 30, 2013, 11:37:38 AM
Any thoughts on having a matched handkerchief in jacket breast pocket... ridiculous or always a must?
Not for work. Save it for the cocktail parties.
I have a grand total of one suit. Italian, dark grey, no vest.
I have three suits.
A slate grey Armani suit which was my mainstay "one suit" for years - weddings, funerals, etc. Sad to say, it's a bit tight around the waist these days.
I have a cheap black Japanese junior salary man suit - from Muji in fact - which I got great mileage out of. I'd never have worn the grey suit out to night clubs etc, but the black suit let me indulge in ratpack/ 007 posturing while out on town which was great.
I have another not too expensive Japanese suit. This one in a slightly fashionable (and thus easily dated) shade of blue with cream pinstripes. I tend to wear the jacket only most of the time, rather than the complete suit.
Technically I have a fourth suit - a vintage mod style suit from Savile Row from '67. I got it when I was 19, so it's a little too tight in too many places and it has a hole on the knee from a scuffle in the street outside a Selecter show on night; so I don't wear it.
Then I have a couple of sports coats - both quite summery: one with white and light blue stripes, the other tan.
I have four MTM (made to measure) suits I bought from Indochino (grey glen plaid; blue seersucker; tan silk/cotton; and tan linen/wool); I've been very happy with them. All are two-button two-piece suits. Since I am fat mutant shaped, I can't really buy off the rack. I have two off the rack suits that are quite long in the tooth and made of demonstrably shitty fabrics, and one crappy tuxedo. I also have three blazers (one blue, one grey houndstooth, and one camel hair), and various assorted dress slacks.
Have those Indochinos had any durability issues, or are they holding up well?