I think you can get perfectly presentable suits at Jos. Bank if you stick to the nicer, more conservative ones. I have done that plenty, although I mostly get (low end) bespoke suits these days (at about $800 per, but I wear them for a long time). I spent many years buying almost everything at Brooks, but that was many years ago. I wanted the boxy, classic style, but the quality didn’t keep step with the price.
My friends who really care about dressing to impress buy remaindered very high end stuff at Saks or Nordstrom’s sales (>$1,000, but for suits that would otherwise go for >$2,500) and then take them to a real tailor for extensive reconstruction. Their suits look great!
Men’s Wearhouse . . . no, unless you are really getting something for once-a-year (or less) use where showing up in “a suit” is all that’s expected.
Best example of long-lived quality: My dad bought a tuxedo at Paul Stuart in 1951, when he was a senior in college. Classic shawl collar, beautiful. He decided he wanted something more “fashionable” around 20 years later, bought something hideous, and give me the Paul Stuart tux. I wore it to cotillions, deb parties, college formals, and charity events for another 20 years until I, um, outgrew it. I gave it to my son when he started going to proms in 2005. He’s still wearing it. It looks incredible on him – like Bond in From Russia With Love. We’ve had the pants re-done a couple of times, and the jacket needed some repair a few years ago, but fundamentally it’s still the tux my dad bought.
Some jobs just require that you “look the part.” If I am an investment advisor meeting with a prospective new client hoping to manage their assets, personal appearance counts. If I show up in an obviously cheap and ill fitting suit what does that communicate to this person about my own ability to invest my own money? It may not actually be accurate, but it suggests that while I am looking to manage their finances I am not doing so well with my own.
The one industry I have seen this not to be true is luxury car salesmen. They are attempting to get you to part with a large sum of money and I don’t think I have ever met one that was well dressed. Yet they do fine!
But isn’t there also a balancing act of trying not to be too ostentatious about obviously expensive suits and other status symbols, since it can connote the idea that the salesperson’s commissions are too high (whether selling investments or cars)?
I don’t think there is anything ostentatious about a well cut quality suit. “Bling” is a different story - I don’t know too many men that wear jewelry at all, but yes that would be a turn off to more conservative people -perhaps suggesting waste or extravagance. But a high quality suit in my mind does not suggest extravagance or a status symbol.
Please note that in each of my posts I’ve mentioned that I’ve mentioned a good fitting suit as important, no matter what your job. I’m just taking issue with the quality (ie very expensive) suit concept for many people.