<p>You might be one of the few in America (although my sons had Christmas dinner suits from age 8 onwards) but he’d be one of hundreds if he lived overseas and attended a formal boys’ school. A formal boys’ school has formal and sport uniforms. Eton’s tails are the most formal but the rest of them are pretty darn starchy.</p>
<p>The advantage of attending formal schools? Dressing formally and tying your own tie is not a biggie.</p>
<p>For several years my son left his tie tied and slipped it over his head. Somehow it came untied and when he needed it, my husband was out of town. Mom (me) is a sartorial buffoon and had no idea how to deal with the thing, so son went on the internet, found step by step instructions and followed them (with difficulty, as he is left-handed). I still don’t know how, but the only one still at home is a daughter, so I may die ignorant.</p>
<p>He does not own a suit, though, at 18. I think we will be doing something about that on his next visit. What fun.</p>
<p>My son learned to tie his tie from a beloved band teacher in 4th-8th grade. His suits he likes to get at the Salvation Army thrift stores. Really classy. We give them lots of clothes so we feel ok about it.</p>
<p>Both sons wear the suit my H wore when we got married. They just like it.</p>
<p>I can’t even begin to tell you how happy I feel seeing them in it. </p>
<p>H marvels that he was ever that skinny, but he was all that and less.</p>
<p>For quite a few years our marriage license was lost. I finally located it in the pocket of the suit H wore when we were married, as I prepared to donate it to the Salvation Army. I wonder if your son is wearing that suit, bethievt?</p>
<p>Well…the music majors out there own “dress up clothes” at an early age. By the time DS was in 8th grade, he had a bunch of dress black slacks and shoes (and white shirts and black ties). But 9th grade, he added a black suit to the mix, and a tuxedo. He has had a navy sport coat (varying sizes) for as long as I can remember to wear with Khaki slacks. This year he added a white dinner jacket, and a set of tails to his dress clothes…and inherited a very nice navy wool suit from his grandfather. He also has a wool topcoat. AND now he has three pairs of black dress shoes…one sort of “casual” pair, one pair for the suit, and a very dressy pair for the tux and tails.</p>
<p>I just bought my S, a college freshman, a tuxedo! He has not yet owned a suit, but needed the tuxedo for symphonic band.</p>
<p>Now the next step for all those sons is to make sure they take dance lessons. A nice suit and able to dance - they will thank you later.</p>
<p>DS is a perfomance major, lots of suits over the years, he’s on his second tux and we will probably have to get him tails before it is over. I just wish he’d stop growning. I figured when he graduates ( if he gets to work in his chosen field) We’ll need to come up with about 5 grand to get him outfitted. Guess I better get another job!</p>
<p>every female type should know how to tie bowties, regular ties, etc</p>
<p>So dads, teaches your daughters!!!</p>
<p>Both my Ds can tie ties- a skill that works wonders</p>
<p>SRW…check out second hand and consignment store…and even tux rental places which often sell gently used items. DS’s Perry Ellis tails were $25 at Goodwill, as was a Joseph A. Bank tux. Also, Syms (and I don’t own stock in the company) is the place to go for formal wear…great prices, and great selection. I got that tip from the symphony members here and that is where DS’s white dinner jacket ($79 with the 20% off coupon) came from.</p>
<p>My sister send her son off to college without a suit, where he made the symphonic band and needed one. I ended up buying him slacks and jacket that were both deep gray at some warehouse type place that had lovely quality suits for relatively little. Shipped the things to him and, believe it or not, they fit. He’s small and it was hard finding his size, but this giant concrete sales floor had it. Miracle! But they’re gone now…</p>
<p>Washdad your original post really brought back great memories. I too went with my S to get him dress clothes in secondary school. It was a super great bonding experience.</p>
<p>I know for a fact that he was very pleased that what we purchased looked “really good.” French cuffs. His mom got him some really nice cuff links. Very good dress shoes that fit. One time there was a special dance coming up and I took him to get a new tie and shirt. This was his senior year. I suggested a very dark shirt and bold tie. It was amazing to see his expression of “cool.”</p>
<p>I have to admit, when he went off to college this year, he did not take dress clothes but we’ll see.</p>
<p>Both my kids needed suits for the Bar Mitzvahs. DS1 was a size 20 slim, and needed the waist taken and pants.sleeves lengthened. DS2 wore a 44 R. Both have since outgrown the suits…we are holding down the fort with blazers and nice slacks until they stop growing.</p>
<p>We debated getting DS1 a suit for college interviews this year, but it hasn’t been necessary. That may change as the year progresses, if it seems appropriate for other events.</p>
<p>Neither one can tie their ties – DH keeps going over it with them, and the guys take the tied ones and put them in their drawers to pull over their heads another day. I expect this is a skill they will learn in college when they have no other choice!</p>
<p>I bought S1 a dark gray suit in his junior year of high school. He wore it quite a few times ( a wedding, NHS induction, a funeral, an interview, a scholarship dinner). Alas, he is now a junior in college and and spends half his life in the gym. Due to temendous muscle expansion, the suit is too small. He told me recently he really needs a new one so I guess we’ll be doing that over Christmas break.</p>
<p>When DS was 16, his great-grandmother was dying. DH decided DS was mostly finished growing, and bought him a navy blue suit at Gentlemen’s Wearhouse. They will do alterations free/cheap for the life of the suit, and he had them leave the sleeves and pants with long cuffs. DS wore the suit for the funeral and Senior Banquet, and has worn the jacket with khaki pants several times. He brought the suit with him to college. His roommate had to borrow the jacket for a team photo. We thought that was funny - roommate went to prep school, and has 3 times as many clothes at school as DS, but didn’t have a suit jacket with him.</p>
<p>Thumper, thanks, I’ll check it out.</p>
<p>All 3 boys got beautiful suits for Bar Mitzvahs. Oldest had a tux in high school because of Glee Club requirement. Younger ones are in high school now and we also have the opposite problem from WashDad. Diminutive children, who are basically done growing and are too small/slim for the smallest men’s sizes. We just bought them new suits in the upper ranges (sizes 18 & 20?) of boys sizes. Dad ties their ties and they leave them on hangars and slip them over the head. Someday, that will have to stop.</p>
<p>SRW, these days, doesn’t a suit bought off-the-rack need tailoring anyway? If so, then I recommend my H’s solution: </p>
<ol>
<li><p>Buy very expensive suits (I’m talking in the thousands per suit!) second-hand off of Ebay in his size, or possibly a size larger than he wears from the store if unsure.</p></li>
<li><p>Take it to a tailor.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>For the same $50 the tailor puts into a $300 suit, he charges the same to adjust a $3,000 suit. Then your son will look unbelievably good when it’s all done!</p>
<p>It’s easier to find a beautiful sportscoat than a whole suit on Ebay, but he couples that with a pair of pants that works well enough. He’s bought sportscoats worth $2K and $3K for $50 and they are almost new, in superb condition. Beautiful fabrics and detailing. ALso, someone who pays $2K for a sportscoat doesn’t just throw it crumpled in a heap on the living room floor; they get hung up and “babied” in their first home.</p>
<p>That’s a market where people are buying and ridding themselves of top quality suits quickly, like the latest automobile. Weight change also plays a role, I’m sure. Anyway look under Ebay for Mens Clothing, and organize your search by price. H can order from the “left side of the menu,” so to speak. </p>
<p>His tailor is from the Middle East, and learned his trade from his father who was trained by the British. Tailoring doesn’t get any better than that. Only thing is, when he goes to visit the tailor it’s a 3-hour event, complete with tea and hospitality.</p>
<p>I bought my son his first suit for his Bar Mitzvah. Worn a couple of times. He went to a private school from grades 4-8 that required blazers for special events and shirts with collars, tucked into pants which are actually worn with no boxers showing. When he got to high school with no meaningfull dress code, he exhibits his freedom by wearing pants that exhbiit boxers and avoiding collars. But, he decided to compete in Moot Court as junior last year and borrowed one of my old suits. I’m 6’1" and he’s 6’2" and they actually fit, though one or two need to be taken out a bit for him. If he doesn’t grow too much, he can have several suits I bought while working on Wall Street. He did very well and was wearing high quality, very expensive Italian suits from Barney’s. The remarkable thing was that in those outfits, the shirts I’d had made for me in Hong Kong, and the shoes I wore at my wedding (that also fit), he looked like he more like an associate at a law firm than a high school kid dressing up. A little scary as he was 5’4" when he entered HS not that long ago. [Even scarier would be him as a lawyer. Not a good career choice for him even though he was very good in Moot Court].</p>
<p>Incidentally, I like paying3tuitions suggestion. Every suit needs to be tailored a little bit so why not be a high quality suit used and get it tailored.</p>