Now I know most of us DREAD having to wear a suit.  I remember just graduating from college and I had to wear a suit every day to the office while working 65 hour weeks.  No bueno.  However, even though suits are not our #1 item of clothing that we want to wear, they ARE a necessity in certain social situations:  Job Interview, Weddings, Funerals, and sometimes Office Wear.  For all its negatives a suit DOES provide an air of success, taste, and sophistication.  So what kind of suit should you buy for your first one?  It’s a pretty stressful decision because this is something that you’re going to drop between $300-$700 on so you don’t want to mess it up.  The first time I was presented with this dilemma, my head nearly fell off with all the various options that I had to figure out:  what color, how many buttons, what fit, where to get tailored, what size do I wear, where to buy, etc, etc.

Well luckily for you this blog entry is here to ATTEMPT to sort out the massive jigsaw puzzle that we call “Picking Out The Right Men’s Suit”.  Disclaimer:  I am in no way a suit expert but this information was gathered from recently shopping for a suit and doing research not only online but by talking to various suit vendors and tailors.  So let us begin:

What material should my men’s suit be?  The suit should be predominately WOOL.  This is the basic tenet of a good suit.  Don’t mess up on it.  No, velvet isn’t a good suit material to wear.  My pledge bro (who shall remain anonymous) wore a purple velvet suit to our Installs and he hasn’t heard the end of it till this day.  I think he was trying to copy the artist formerly known as Prince.

What color should my men’s suit be?  If you have some coin to spend then go for these three colors:  Charcoal Grey, Navy Blue, and Black.  If you have limited funds, then go with Charcoal Grey.  You can wear that color to basically anything and is the classic basic men’s suit color.  I personally prefer a nice Navy Blue suit   You can pair that with a red tie for a “power suit” for interviews and important presentations (think Barack Obama’s DNC speech) or you can soften it up with another color tie for weddings.

The men’s suit jacket:

What kind of fit should my men’s suit be?  When you first step into the suit store/suit section of a store ask the worker to measure you.  He’ll measure your chest and your arm length to get you a suit jacket size.  No matter what kind of suit you get, it MUST be tailored to your body.  I can’t tell you how many times I’ve seen a guy wearing a baggy suit and it just looks terrible.  Ghetto and uneducated are 2 words that come to mind when I see this.  I actually wore my roommate’s suit to my fraternity bid night way back in the day and he was like twice my size and a little shorter.  Needless to say, the suit looked like crap on me.  No wonder I got no digits from the ladies that night!

Single breasted or double breasted suit?  Double breasted suits are not for you unless you live in the 1980’s.  Stick with the classic single breasted suit.

How many buttons?  Go for the TWO button suit.  I’ve yet to see somebody wear a one button suit (unless you’re a Chinese waiter).  Three buttons are not good either.  They make short people look shorter and tall people look too tall.  Stick with the two and you’ll be golden.  Remember, whatever number of buttons you get, NEVER button the bottom button of your jacket.

How many vents?  At least get ONE vent.  I really have no preference but just remember that getting a two vented suit jacket will cost you about double the amount at the tailor when you go get your suit fitted (I learned this the hard way with my most recent suit)

Shoulder pads?  NO.  Unless again, you want to be transported back to the 80’s.  One of my homies was wearing a heavily shoulder padded suit jacket a couple months back at a nightclub and he just looked old and out of style.  Luckily he’s married already.  Haha.

The men’s suit pants:

The good news about the suit pants is that it isn’t as complicated as the suit jacket.  However, there are still a few things to consider:

Cuffs:  For the love of god DO NOT get cuffs unless you want to look like your dad or your grandpa.  Just don’t do it.

Pleats:  Go with the flat front trousers (no pleats).  If you want to look like an uptight nerd then go with the pleats.

Waist:  Obviously don’t sag your trousers.  If you have a good tailor, they will recommend the best fit.

Ok so now you know WHAT kind of men’s suit you want to buy, now WHERE to buy?  This is the million dollar question and I’m not quite sure how to answer it.  I know most of you are on a limited budget so here are your options:

Any major department store (Macy’s, Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom’s):  Make sure wherever you buy your suit that you wait for a good SALE.  Never buy a suit at full price.  All of these above mentioned stores have big suit sales at least twice a year.  I bought my last suit at Macy’s.  It was a navy Hugo Boss suit so I think the pricetag was around $800.  I waited for the 30% off men’s suit sale and opened a Macy’s credit card that day so I think I picked up that suit for $500 with a total savings of around $300. For all you LA peeps, make sure to hit up the Macy’s Men’s Store at the Beverly Center for the best selection when they have sales.

Discount retailers (Nordstrom’s Rack, Loehman’s, Sak’s Off Fifth, Marshall’s):  I’ve heard that that the Rack and Loehman’s have a good selection of designer suits (Boss, CK, DKNY, etc).  The Marshall’s selection that I’ve seen is pretty small and the styles are not that good.

Discount suit chains (3 Day Suit Broker/ Men’s Suit Wearhouse/ Hollywood Suit Outlet):  I’ve never been to these kind of stores so I’m not really sure what kind of quality the suits are.  I’ve heard that the prices are good though!

Asia:  Yup….ASIA.  India, Thailand, Shanghai, and Hong Kong are well known for making inexpensive CUSTOM suits.  However, this won’t work if you don’t visit Asia that often and the quality can be hit and miss.  The last time I visited Shanghai, I had a custom suit made for me and it looks like absolute crap (even though it was only $50).  I’ll probably do another blog entry on WHERE in Asia to get custom made suits.

You’re almost there!  You’ve found a good store, been measured, picked out a spectacular suit, and brought it home.  Now what?  Now you’ve got to do some research and find a great tailor.  It’s very IMPORTANT that you find a kick ass tailor.  He will adjust the waist, adjust the pant length, and adjust your suit jacket to your body.

I found my current tailor through YELP.  A good tailor will have a lot of reviews (positive), will have been in business for a long time (think of an old wizened man), and will not be afraid to tell you like it is.  He will tell you whether the suit is indeed a good fit for your body (and do not be afraid to ask his opinion!).

For all you Westside LA peeps, I recommend going to Lizon Tailors in Palms.   Make sure AL is the one who does your alterations.  Sure the neighborhood is crappy but this guy will make you look like a million bucks.

So now you’ve got your PERFECT suit.  Rock it with confidence and in no time you will be getting that coveted job offer, killing that important presentation, or bedding that hot chick at your friend’s wedding.  Wink wink.  Cheers!