What is in style for young men? My 17 year old needs professional wear. I think he has hit his adult size, both height and shoes. Might grow slightly but I think he is done at 6’ 1" . Also tie fashion???
The funny thing is is that this son somehow got onto a bespoke suit (from London) mailing list at age 12. We’re constantly getting mailings. And now we have a need.
Also suggestions of wear to shop. We are in New England. Thanks.
If it’s for a job interview, the goal isn’t to be “in style”. It’s to be conservative and timeless. A black cap-toe oxford fits the bill for shoes. If he’s only going to have one suit, I would go with solid navy.
Charles Tyrwhitt runs good sales on dress shirts. Style is slim fit suit if that fits his body style. google skinny fit suit and you’ll see what I mean. There are extremes that I would avoid but the style is still more to a tailored slim fit than bulkier suits of past days.
Who knows when style will change? Avoiding extreme is best way to endure a few more years.
At 17, I believe your S may still grow a bit more in height and likely elsewhere as well, as many people do gain weight in college and beyond.
Does he especially need a suit or perhaps night he do well with a nice blazer and a good pair of khaki slacks that could be more versatile? Folks have reported good prices and success at Men’s Wearhouse as well as Macy’s and other stores. S finally got a custom made suit in LA garment district after he had stopped growing in height and girth around age 22. He wears the suit for formal events since he’s been working on the East Coast (DC) but honestly was fine with a blazer and nice slacks prior to that, including for job interviews.
We did suggest that if he got another suit made or purchased he try to get 2 pairs of slacks with it to extend the life of the suit but he honestly doesn’t wear it enough that the slacks or blazer have any signs of wear and he’s been working and living in DC for the past 6.5 years.
Perhaps they know that younger men may be shaped differently from the older men that most suits and dress shirts in the US tend to be cut for?
Typical sizing is for men with a chest 6" larger than waist (the difference is called the “drop”). Younger men with 8" or more drop may find it harder to get good-fitting suits and dress shirts off the rack. Options include “athletic cut” models (uncommon), suit separates (models where one can purchase the coat and trousers separately), made-to-measure suits, and bespoke tailored suits.
Is there any particular purpose? For general use, charcoal gray is the usual color for suits that works in most dressy situations. But some purposes may differ (e.g. music performance may require black).
It is starting for the debate team. But he is at age age in which dress wear is needed anyway. I think that he does end up in a business oriented profession. Someone PMed me to think of dress wear for the next 5 years - so through college. Not like us cheap/less fashionable older people, who will wear until it has frayed. Willing to spend more on the shoes which could last longer.
His general style is subdued though. Will check out the shoes. @roethlisburger Just trying to have him not dad-like.
@Sportsman88 Thanks. Will check out. He is slim though has filled out in a muscular way a bit due to weight training.
My kid got a bespoke suit at a great price his freshman year while he was in India - unfortunately while he didn’t get taller he did gain weight.
I agree if you only have one suit it should be relatively conservative/classic. I don’t know what that actually means though. When my kid was ordering his suit there were a million questions - how many buttons? Slit(s) in the back? Gray, black, pinstripes? Notch in the lapel? Belt loops? We were clueless.
@HImom That is a great suggestion to get two custom pants made to extend the life. I think our current objective is a suit that works through college. Crosses fingers. Then true profession wear.
He is currently at his dad’s pants size and show size. My husband hasn’t changed size. He is slightly bigger. We joke that we optimized him. But basically mirrors hu s dad quite a bit. But he doesn’t want to dress like dad.
@ucbalumnus I think he was targeted because he has an old fashioned (family) name which thankfully he likes. More common in Europe than the US. Gray maybe then. He likes grey. Black less versitale???
Unfortunately, athletic build seems to be harder to find off-the-rack suits for than slim build.
I agree with the others that navy, dark grey or black are good suit colors. I personally favor navy but S chose black and looks very sharp in it. He couldn’t fit anything hung off the rack and was fine with having his suit tailored and paying for it.
S buys a lot of shoes online. He favors solid-colored oxfords. Vibran or other non-leather soles rather than leather soles are better for lots of walking and standing.
@mathmom I am overwhelmed by those questions. Buttons, slits. What are young men wearing.
And ties… What are they doing?
@ucbalumnus Maybe we could get away with altering the jacket for an athletic build.
I really notice poorly tailored ill-fitting suits, jackets, and dress slacks (and unstarched shirts) on men.
My 2 cents is to make sure it’s properly fitted, whatever you buy. It makes such a difference in overall impression!
Single not double-breasted is what I’ve been seeing. Try looking at the photos of some wedding sites of the younger folks in the photos for some ideas and go to a few stores in your area and look in the suit department to see what’s being sold.
Ties seem back to medium width—not super-wide not narrow. Classics can be good for decades—H’s suit from when he was 20 fit S perfectly and looked great on him when S was 20 also and looked to be in style still, even though it was decades old.
We went to Mens Warehouse and found they do have some good reasonably priced things. At that age I think we got him a solid navy suit and it worked well for quite some time.
As for shoes we had luck for my S at Lord and Taylor (with sales/coupons) – he likes loafers – he goes for comfort first in shoes.
For ties my H is old fashioned and insists on classic ties from Brooks Brothers (they have good sales if you can wait). Just got a couple as S doesn’t often need ties.
Got one or two shirts on sale at Brooks Brothers as well but got other dress shirts at Lord and Taylor (again sales/coupons are your friend) and even a couple at Costco believe it or not.
Yes, Costco has some nice dress shirts, IF they carry your size. My BIL has gotten many. Neither H nor S can find their size at Costco for many things. 
I want to foot stomp that “dad like” is not bad, at least in most professional contexts. If the interviewer cares about such details, a solid navy or charcoal grey suit with black oxfords will go over a lot better than showing up to your intern interview with a sharkskin suit with peak lapels, Hermes tie, and Gucci belt. Traditionally, black suits were for funerals or evening wear.
^We have Costco near Boston. Not a really big deal but would be a special trip. What is Costco like?
@roethlisburger Foot stomping noted. DH wears Lands End pants to work. Still wears a suit jacket bought on our honeymoon. I think we’re looking for a slightly more modern yet subdued (fitting his personality) look for DS2. Now DS1 might be into the sharkskin.