Versatile Suit Advice

[acurrie7x]

Hi there,

I'm graduating from university next month and need a suit for the occasion. I will also be applying for jobs, and using this one suit as a general all-rounder. The last suit I bought was nine years ago for my high school prom, and I'm afraid I can't get near that now! I live in Scotland but will be spending some time abroad in Australia; I don't know if climate is something that I need to take into consideration when buying a suit?

I guess what I'm looking for really is some general advice on buying a suit; I'm a complete philistine when it comes to fashion and I don't know where to begin. I'd be happy to spend about £200 as an upper limit. I could pick up a suit jacket and trousers for £50 in M&S but even I know that a cheap suit looks cheap. I don't know how much better a £200 suit will sit though? Is that enough cash to have it tailor fitted or would I be looking at a much higher price bracket for that?

Do I need to buy a shirt, tie and shoes at the same time to match, or can I just wear any pair of black shoes and pick out a shirt and tie for the occasion? What colour is the most versatile? (Black, I assume?)

Where would I go to buy a suit? I'm assuming that it's best to avoid the big retailers and instead try to find an independent (of which I'm sure there are many in Edinburgh). What kind of questions would I ask and what would be involved in selecting and trying on a suit?

I feel completely out of my depth and wouldn't even know where to start. Any advice would be very welcome, and please ask away if I've missed any obvious information that would help diagnose my suit requirements!

Thanks!

 

[acurrie7x]

I've read this article - http://www.styleforum.net/a/what-kind-of-suit-should-i-buy - and have a somewhat better understanding of the fitting and material aspects of suit-buying, but some general "getting started" advice certainly wouldn't go a miss. What to expect for my money, pitfalls to avoid, etc. etc.

Thanks!

 

[Mariooo]

Welcome to styleforum,

To give you short answers:

1.) don't buy a black suit as a general all-rounder
2.) get a (preferably plain) charcoal or dark grey, OR a navy suit, made of wool
3.) make sure you have a white (or almost white, like ivory etc) dress shirt
4.) for a greyish suit, make sure you have a navy silk tie, for a navy suit go for burgundy
5.) black, nice looking leather shoes should be fine
6.) in case of funerals: add a black tie to your suit

that would be the minimal requirements...

 

[Lucan]

Colour-wise, navy blue or grey are most versatile. What jobs are you applying for? More staid professions might dictate a grey suit, others a navy. Navy is better for weddings, grey better for funerals. Not a pinstripe at first. Two-button single-breasted best bet for most people.

If you're planning to wear the suit most days you should really get at least two. Or two pairs of trousers for one suit.

£200 or a shade more should be OK for a suit from Lewin or Tyrwhitt, who both have branches in Edinburgh, and have decent suits. Don't discount M&S, some of the better M&S suits (e.g. Savile Row Inspired) are good enough so check them out in the sales.

In terms of fit, the assistant may tell you that you wear the trousers more than the jacket so it's best to make sure the trousers fit more than the jacket. I would make sure the jacket fits better as trousers can easily be altered by a local seamstress or tailor. Try your local wedding shop for alterations as they often have a seamstress who will be cheaper than a tailor.


Navy ties are safest, and go easy on patterns until you're happy with what you're doing. Either plain ties, or a small quiet pattern (e.g. pindot) at first. Stripes looks nice and formal with a navy background.

Black shoes are most formal and can be worn with Grey or Dark Navy suits. Probably best to leave the brown shoes for now.

Plain White or Blue shirts are also the best bet. You're not looking to match suit, shirt and tie, you should be picking options which are all interchangeable. Slim Fit shirts will generally fit all but the largest of customers and look better. Places like Lewin and Tyrwhitt will have shirts out of the packet to try on by the changing rooms.

Don't wear a black tie in a work environment in the UK unless you really know what you're doing and/or want to make a statement.

Good luck!

 

[acurrie7x]

Hi Mariooo, thanks for your reply.

I will avoid black then; I have been looking at some nice Navy suits. I had already read that wool is the way to go, I guess you can feel and see the difference between wool and synthetics?

With regard to price, I've been looking around at some of the websites for the local retailers and there seems to be a vast gap in price without any obvious difference in quality - will this become more evident when I go to look at them in the flesh?

For instance, I can get a full suit (jacket, trousers, shirt, tie and shoes) for £75 from Slaters (which seems ridiculously cheap), but at Charles Tyrwhitt (are these good, well known suits?) I'm looking at £229 just for the three-piece suit. There are other places with prices inbetween.

 

[acurrie7x]



Colour-wise, navy blue or grey are most versatile.  What jobs are you applying for?  More staid professions might dictate a grey suit, others a navy.  Navy is better for weddings, grey better for funerals.  Not a pinstripe at first.  Two-button single-breasted best bet for most people.

If you're planning to wear the suit most days you should really get at least two.  Or two pairs of trousers for one suit.

£200 or a shade more should be OK for a suit from Lewin or Tyrwhitt, who both have branches in Edinburgh, and have decent suits.  Don't discount M&S, some of the better M&S suits (e.g. Savile Row Inspired) are good enough so check them out in the sales.

In terms of fit, the assistant may tell you that you wear the trousers more than the jacket so it's best to make sure the trousers fit more than the jacket.  I would make sure the jacket fits better as trousers can easily be altered by a local seamstress or tailor.  Try your local wedding shop for alterations as they often have a seamstress who will be cheaper than a tailor.


Navy ties are safest, and go easy on patterns until you're happy with what you're doing.  Either plain ties, or a small quiet pattern (e.g. pindot) at first.  Stripes looks nice and formal with a navy background.

Black shoes are most formal and can be worn with Grey or Dark Navy suits.  Probably best to leave the brown shoes for now.

Plain White or Blue shirts are also the best bet.  You're not looking to match suit, shirt and tie, you should be picking options which are all interchangeable.  Slim Fit shirts will generally fit all but the largest of customers and look better.  Places like Lewin and Tyrwhitt will have shirts out of the packet to try on by the changing rooms.

Don't wear a black tie in a work environment in the UK unless you really know what you're doing and/or want to make a statement.

Good luck!

Hi Lucan, thanks for the advice.

I have no idea what jobs I might be applying for in the future. At the moment I work in an office which is very laid back and nobody wears a suit.

I have been looking at the Tyrwhitt website and their stuff looks very nice, so they might well be my first port of call tonight. Is that the kind of place which would be able to measure me and make reliable recommendations as to what I should wear? I already have a nice light blue shirt and conservative striped tie, so hopefully they would do the job for now.

Since starting this office job a few months ago I've put on a good couple of stone. I'm currently a bit heavier than I plan to be long term. If my waistline waxes and wanes over the next however many years' use I want out of this suit, is it a simple job to have it adjusted to fit or do I need to pick a size and keep close to it? I don't want to spend £200+ for it to be irreversibly too big or small after the first few months.

Thanks again!

 

[Mariooo]

If you're unsure about the fabric, just look inside the inner pockets of the jacket what the tag says...

Lewin & CT may be good entry points for you....

unless one has a bit of knowledge about differences in fabrics, craftmanship, construction of garnments, people usually don't see any significant difference between a 200€ or 2000€ suit....

light blue shirt and conservative striped tie sounds great

 

[acurrie7x]



If you're unsure about the fabric, just look inside the inner pockets of the jacket what the tag says...

Lewin & CT may be good entry points for you....

unless one has a bit of knowledge about differences in fabrics, craftmanship, construction of garnments, people usually don't see any significant difference between a 200€ or 2000€ suit....

light blue shirt and conservative striped tie sounds great

Thanks Mariooo!

Another question: slim fit or regular fit? Are there particular body types which suit either style? Have both styles pervaded throughout fashion changes or is the slim fit a recent gimmick?

Also, some suits advertised on the Lewin website are listed as "wool" but in the description say 55% wool 45% linen. Should I be looking for 100% wool?

Thanks

 

[Lucan]

100% wool is best for starters. Wool/linen is for summer, which is something you might experience when you leave Edinburgh for Australia

You can only see whether you suit slim fit or regular fit best by trying on. There's not a huge difference between the two at Tyrwhitt, and I think 38L Regular and 40L Slim fit me pretty equally from Tyrwhitt.

Whether or not you get reliable recommendations in any shop purely depends on who you end up with. You could just make sure refunds are OK, then buy it and post a picture of it on here for comments.

If you plan to lose a couple of stone then you might be struggling to still have a suit that fits really well. You'll just have to wait and see. If you plan to lose weight then at least you'll know to choose the smaller of two suits if you're in between sizes. You could also replace fat with muscle and stay roughly the same size. I didn't - I was a 44L when I left Uni and took up running, now I'm a 38L!

What size are you out of interest? I have a new suit on ebay at the moment.

It may seem worrying spending this money now and having it not fit you in a couple of years, but no suit lasts forever, and you'll have more money when you have been working for a few years so it won't seem as much money.