<p>Consolation–
Your son’s classic jackets and slacks sound like what I am thinking of buying for son when he gets home. Don’t suppose there is a link to look at a couple of those jackets? I plan to go to Men’s Wearhouse, but I’m not sure what I’m looking for. Any help appreciated.</p>
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<p>The men’s standard clothing sizes are shown here:
[US</a> standard clothing size - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia](<a href=“U.S. standard clothing size - Wikipedia”>U.S. standard clothing size - Wikipedia)
[Men’s</a> Clothing Standard Sizes | Men’s Suits](<a href=“http://suityourself.com/mens_clothing_sizes.asp]Men’s”>http://suityourself.com/mens_clothing_sizes.asp)</p>
<p>The listed neck size on a dress shirt implies the chest and waist sizes; someone of different proportions may find an off the rack dress shirt to fit poorly.</p>
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<p>Always a good idea to try it on in the store.</p>
<p>Fitted shirts generally increase the odds that you will find something that fits. It’s a royal pain for the stores because they have to put all of the pins, cardboard and plastic back onto the shirt but it’s best to get something that fits well and is comfortable.</p>
<p>I’m retired now, but spent my entire career in the menswear industry. You do not need to purchase an all-wool worsted suit any longer to get nice drape characteristics. I wore very expensive Valentino suits when I was a working professional but nowadays they make really nice synthetics that are Polyester/Viscose blends that have a really luxurious hand. These suits cost a retailer around $40 and usually sell for around $150 coat and pant. The really greedy retailers will naturally charge more, but find someone in your area that is selling them for around this price. They are made in China and have lots of “bells and whistles” such as french-faced, full linings, extra coat pockets, sweat shields in the coat, lined-to-the-knee pants, etc. etc. These suits are very comfortable to wear, for being synthetic, and always maintain their crisp look. I am the proud owner of some of these and they perform as well, if not better, than my Italian suits. Make sure you don’t dry clean the coat every time you have the pants drycleaned-- unless it needs it. That holds true for any quality of suit.</p>
<p>Classic:</p>
<p>No Nehru collars…g.</p>
<p>No pleated pants. They make a skinny guy look like a scooped out melon rind and don’t do a darn thing to flatter a tummy. Flat front…always. </p>
<p>No cuffed pants – that’s an old guy thing. Hems should ‘break’ over the arch of the shod foot but never be long enough to step on or ‘puddle’ around the ankles. Easily altered…many pants don’t even come hemmed so you can have them altered to exactly the right length. High-waters are not recommended.</p>
<p>Narrower lapels (though these can be altered as fashion changes). Think of the '70’s leisure suit. Don’t do that. </p>
<p>No metallic buttons.</p>
<p>No seals on the pocket. </p>
<p>No loud patterns. Save them for golf commentators and basketball coaches.</p>
<p>No visible labels. (Please, please, please remove the one on the sleeve! I see people all the time where they think that the label on the sleeve is somehow supposed to stay there. No…it isn’t. It’s just so that when they are moving racks of the things around they can easily see what’s what. It is not a design element! This goes for women’s winter coats too! /rant.) </p>
<p>Fit: Shoulder seams align with end of shoulder bone. Buttons should button comfortably without straining or looseness. Sleeve reaches to first joint of thumb, with no more than 1/2 in of shirt cuff showing…just enough to show off cuff links. Always double-check dress shirts for the words ‘French Cuff’…this means you will need links. </p>
<p>You should be able to raise and lower your arms normally in a suit without feeling as if they are being cut in half. This is esp. important if you have ‘guns’. You should be able to get two fingers in the waistband, meaning the pants are neither too tight or too baggy. </p>
<p>If you can find a suit with an extra pair of matching pants, go for it. Pants get spilled on, marked up, and just plain dirty more often than jackets. If you buy your suit in navy, you can wear a pair of khakis with the jacket and have a second look without a big investment. A blue jacket, collared knit shirt, and khaki pants is a good look for many events where a suit is too much and jeans aren’t enough.</p>
<p>What are the thoughts on the modern high-button look versus the classic style?</p>
<p>Thanks for all the input. Her has several dress shirts and ties. He does need shoes. His Bar Mitzvah Payless shoes need to go.
Ebeeee- I will tell him about the local Men’s Warehouse. His GF is from Sacramento and he is going up there on Wed afternoon. A friend from the area suggested that the Macy’s in downtown Sacramento would have a good selection since it is near the government offices.
I am most concerned about fit. This is a kid who is not much of a dresser. He still sags his pants and shorts. His GF always is nicely dressed and I know she knows how to find a bargain. I am hoping she can direct him in the right direction. He is slender but not skinny and a few inches short of 6 feet. Probably a waist of around a 33. I figure he will need alterations.
My H wears shorts and polos to work so no help in the suit department from Dad.
His dream job location would be Bay area of Ca or anywhere in Ca. 2nd choice would be Seattle area. I am thinking a narrow cut suit would be more “hip”. What do you think?
I realize I am also going to have to have him get some decent socks. I think all he owns are athletic white socks.</p>
<p>This thread is very timely. S2 will be home in 2 weeks & one of our tasks is getting him a suit. He graduates in Dec. & will be looking for jobs soon. He’s gotten away with having pants and jacket for internship interviews up until now, but he’ll be looking for a job in DC so a suit will be required. Fortunately, we have Mens Wearhouse, Jos. Bank, and Macy’s, but we’ll need to find someplace that can fit him properly & get alterations done in less than a week, since that’s all the time he’ll be home.</p>
<p>I called our local Macy’s last fall and they told me that they don’t have in-house alteration services so I crossed them off of our list. So check with your local Macy’s to ensure that they do alterations locally and quickly.</p>
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<p>I got my first suit in March for my grandmother’s funeral. I didn’t know any better and left it on there until we were leaving the hotel and my dad saw it. He pulled it off…</p>
<p>I got my suit at JCPenny’s and paid just under $200 for shirt, jacket, and pants…</p>
<p>As always, I’ll throw in my $0.02 for eBay. I haven’t bought any suits there, although have bought all of my kids tuxedos (nice wool or wool/linen blend vs. those crappy polyester ones that cost more to rent than I pay to buy). Also a number of pants, shirts, ties, and sportcoats. Lovely things–jackets from Zegna, Ike Behar shirts, Hermes ties. It’s all there, particular if you have a fairly standard size and a bit of time. And much less than you’ll pay for even a crappy suit.</p>
<p>You can buy mix and match Polo Chaps wool suit separates at Kohl’s (and similar places) in all of the staple colors: black, gray, etc.</p>
<p>This allows you to buy any size jacket and any size pant. The pants run one size small, but it’s easy to try them on. The pants are already pre-hemmed in all the standard lengths, so you can quite possibly just wear everything right off the rack. They’ve got all the jacket sizes - shorts, regular, and longs. Ameican cut with room for a belly.</p>
<p>If you catch it on sale, I think you can get the whole thing – pants and coat – for $159. They have synthetic fabric suits a bit cheaper.</p>
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<p>That is often a problem for skinny or athletic built men (common among university age men). It is harder to make a suit look good if it requires a lot of alteration to fit.</p>
<p>BCEagle - Thanks for the reminder to check on alterations. Macys, or any other store, would be out if they can’t get alterations done within our time constraints.</p>
<p>I got a postcard from Jos A Bank today advertising 70% off suits and sportcoats May 26-30.</p>
<p>We just bought our son a great jacket from Amazon. He is also slender and tall, so we needed a long which fits him perfectly. It was a Tommy Hilfiger trim fit which definitely looks more ‘hip’ than the ones he was trying off the rack at Kohls and Penneys. Bought 2 other jackets from ebay as well for $35 each brand new.</p>
<p>His field is also artistic, so he wore the jacket with a crisp white shirt, tie, dark wash Levi’s and nice leather shoes. He really did look great…best part, he got the job. ;)</p>
<p>Thanks so much for the timely info here on how to buy a suit. That’s the one thing S said he needed but didn’t have this year so it’s one of our summer projects. </p>
<p>I need some help with ties, too. I notice the TV announcers and Donald Trump all seem to wear plain ties with no pattern. Personally, I’m not wild about that look, but is that what everyone wears?</p>
<p>1down12go- congrats on the job!
I doubt my S will need a suit for work. I think he will need a suit for some interviews and a suit will be overdressed for others depending on the company.</p>
<p>“No visible labels. (Please, please, please remove the one on the sleeve! I see people all the time where they think that the label on the sleeve is somehow supposed to stay there.”</p>
<p>In Kenya, they’d think you crazy if you removed the label on the sleeve. It is put there for a reason! Do you take the alligators off your shirts?</p>
<p>Bayberry – I wouldn’t take fashion advice from Donald Trump. Or hair advice either. A tie is a man’s best chance to show his personal style. Sometimes his own chance. Let your son pick out what he likes. I’d just avoid anything like…idk…tiny m.j. leaves? </p>
<p>mom60 – To suit or not to suit is where the company research comes into play. If the prospective employee does some research, he/she can probably get a pretty good sense of the company’s style. If the president and high-end-bosses are always photographed (ala Steve Jobs) in a very relaxed style, a low end employee should dress a little bit less so. It also depends on the job…sales is one thing, art dept is another, etc. It is probably better just out of college to overdress rather than underdress. Have him try a couple of different ‘looks’. Maybe take in a few photos of different looks to the employment officer at their school…if S/D is really unsure? </p>
<p>Mini – I was appalled to read a study the other day that indicated people do think more highly of other people wearing ‘luxury’ labels. Here I was thinking that alligators, polo players, linked C’s, etc., were pretentious and all the while other people were thinking ‘oooh, special…he’s wearing Big-Name…let’s give him a higher salary and my private phone number…’. Sometimes I despair, I really do.</p>