My husband and son recently went to a local men’s shop. They were very good at ascertaining what would be good suits in light of their needs, and the tailoring they did is great. My 18 year old son got a “starter” suit for about $400 and they threw in a free dress shirt and discounted a tie (though I’d get ties at Tie Bar normally). My son’s suit is slim enough to be stylish but not too cutting edge for interviews or funerals. They recommended a slightly nicer suit for my husband (about $500, with shirt), since he wears suits more often (maybe once a month).
I’ve never looked at suits at Men’s Wearhouse, but S did get some nice wool slacks and jackets there several years ago which were fine for a young man and did not look “tacky” in the least. I can’t quite imagine what kind of wool suit you can get for $150 from an actual store. Probably something like the cheap ( $90) black suit I bought for S in HS at Burlington Coat Factory, because paired with an equally cheap tuxedo shirts/studs/tie package we could avoid having to spend big $$ renting tuxes twice a year.
I seem to recall that H’s suits cost about $400 25 years ago, and they were solid but not high end. He’s still wearing some of them. Many came from the late, lamented Gorsart:
I miss Syms a lot. You could get a nice suit for a lot less there–it would be a little odd in color, or a couple of years old, but still nice enough for me.
A lot of other people have chimed in, but you can buy suit separates at Kohl’s that look pretty nice. And you don’t have to worry about getting anything altered. The cost of a suit should be under $300, and of course Kohl’s has lots of sales.
I’ve bought Ralph Lauren suits at Steinmart in the $350 range, and that included tailoring.
I have a dark gray suit that I bought from a local clothing store in my hometown for $200 about 20 years ago. I still wear it and am happy with the way it looks.
Men’s Wearhouse carries Jones NY brand suits, often under $300, decently made and will last for years. We got S1 a cheap suit at Macys and it was pretty bad.
One tip - if the front jacket pockets are sewn closed, leave them like that and the suit will last longer. Get a money clip or a slim wallet and use the inside pockets only.
Great thread as I am going suit shopping with my son tonight. I know there is one at Nordstrom Rack that I will buy but I’m first going to Pennys and other places per everyone’s suggestions.
If you buy separates, make sure you dry clean them at the same time so one doesn’t get more worn than the other.
S is in a job where he wears business dress, so we bought him nice suits (one gray, one navy) and a dress overcoat from Brooks Brothers. We had a 30% coupon and made good use of it. A nice suit for a man is a real investment, IMO. My H might wear a suit 2 or 3 times a year but he’s got a classic Burberry suit that he will wear forever. Honestly suit styles change so much less for men that I’m trying to convince him to pass on his suit wardrobe to S, as they are of similar size / build.
Spend more for quality. I own suits that are 30 years old and still look good (I’m lucky my body type hasn’t changed during that time). Avoid trendy designs (overly thin or wide lapels), and stick with traditional conservative designs (dark or grey, or dark blue pin stripes), and good material (worsted wool). If possible, get an extra pair of pants to go with the suit when you buy as the pants will wear out much faster than the jacket.
You can get some pretty good deals at department store sales. I’ve seen some good designer suits at Macys or even Kohls on sale that you can have for about $200-250.
Of course, if you have the chance, you should at least, once in your life, get a custom fitted suit. I had one made when I was in Hong Kong for about $300. That was at the low end of the price scale.
H has a suit from when he was in college 20 years ago. It fit S like a glove and still looked remarkably good, but no longer fits H (he’s gained a few pounds and inches over the decades). S still preferred to buy his OWN suit, tailored to fit him and is happy with the suit he has. It’s his money and he’s the one wearing the clothes, so we smile and nod. It’s not extravagant to choose to have a suit made that he likes and wears as needed.
Speaking of suits, what does everyone think of the current style: a very narrow suit that barely meets in the middle, with high, small armholes and shortish skinnyish pants?
To me, they look like their suit shrank in the wash.
Back from suit buying and started at Pennys first. Looked around and couldn’t seem to get anyone to help us even when they called for someone. Just not a store I normally ever shop at so we went directly to Nordstroms Rack and bought a Tommy Hilfinger suit. $309 with tax and that included a charge of $22 for alterations. My NR card gives me $100 in free alterations a year so I will get a credit for the $22. White Shirt was $35 but rang up $21. It was pretty painless with my son who is super impatient. Suit looked sharp on him and fit his slim athletic build great.
Good choice and congratulations on doing it fairly painlessly.
Hate. Looks like a kid trying to fit into his little brother’s clothes as a joke. A well-fit jacket should hang to cover the butt of the pants. 2" of socks at the ankle should not be exposed.
In its most extreme version – Thom Browne circa 2010 – the very short, very tight suits looked ridiculous to my eye. But that was rather the point, I think. The men wearing the most extreme examples certainly didn’t care what I think!
I like the more mainstream version of the look – shorter, slimmer jackets; narrow, shorter pants than the traditional look. I think it looks fresh and stylish on younger men.
Around here, there’s been a sudden reappearance of the double-breasted jacket; the most stylish young men all seem to be wearing short, trim double-breasted jackets dramatically nipped in at the waist. That’s probably a fad, but there are a lot of them.
Many came from the late, lamented Gorsart: