Looking to buy a suit after many a year, or alter my old one

[Teppanyaki]

Trying this again . . . I would think that this is conservative enough



I do like Hollandaise . . . as a teen many years ago, my brother and I were with friends at a Ponderosa steakhouse. In keeping with a popular commercial of the time, my brother just yelled out, "Miss! The A-1, please!" The entire restaurant became quiet (except for the 4 of us who were laughing our fool heads off), and then some poor server actually ran out with a bottle of A-1. I felt rather bad for her. Ah, the halcyon days of my youth . . .

 

[Doc4]

Trying this again . . . I would think that this is conservative enough

View attachment 454248

That looks ... A-1

 

[dabrock]

Looks good and a double Windsor knot to boot.

 

[graysonhenryrussell]

Looks damn fine to me. Good luck.

 

[Teppanyaki]

OK, went suit shopping today. 2 Macy's and a Men's Wearhouse. Plus a bunch of driving, and a Japanese teppanyaki steakhouse thumbup for lunch.

Here are my options - suit #1 is an "ink" (I assume a dark grey) with some lighter pinstriping. 100% wool with a polyester liner, lightweight, and normally $500 on sale for $200 from Macy's. Alfani brand, and I can get another 15-20% if I get or use a Macy's card. The pants clearly need tailoring. The shoulders look about the same on this one as the size next down - I can't get shoulders without a bit of indenting under the seam (my current jacket is similar). The shoes are my own shoes - this is as dressy a shoe as I own, unless you count penny loafers in cordovan.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Option #2 - my current suit, adjusted. The pants need to be taken out. It's heavier, 100% "super twist", from J. Banks



Lastly, 2 new shirts and a new tie.

 

[Teppanyaki]

So . . . I am thinking of getting the suit (option #1), but I wanted to know what y'all thought. I think the pinstripes lighten the suit and make it less somber, but I don't know if it looks dated/unstylish, better than a plain charcoal suit as the pattern may hide subtle dust/wrinkles, or if it's purely an aesthetic opinion.

I forgot to add - with either option, I'm off to the tailor. I'm hoping that the shoulders for both look good, since what I've read suggests that they are really hard to alter.

Neither option has surgeon's cuffs, and I don't think that either option is canvassed.

Some "shoe candy" if I decide to splurge. I will say that my current dress shoes, and any dress shoe with a "hard sole" that I've ever owned, make my feet feel sore after hours of walking. Mine do fit quiet nicely . . . maybe I just need to replace the insoles with something shock absorbing, like a dress shoe Sorbothane or similar.

 

[Teppanyaki]

By the way, the Cinderella/Disney princess box next to the refrigerator is my daughter's, not mine.

 

[dabrock]

Either of the suits is good, the tie is very nice, and for shoes I would go with the second pair as it is a classical Oxford with toe cap style. The other shoes are more for club and causal wear than for an interview IMO.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Thanks for the feedback - I was unsure if the pinstriping made the suit a poor choice, or if the shoulders weren't going to work (or if the sleeves had the spiral wrinkling problem).

Shoes - I'm probably going to stick with my current ones (the tasseled ones), unless that's a terrible idea.

Something I didn't think about - if the tie has stripes and the suit has stripes, then the shirt shouldn't be striped at all, correct? The shirts have very subtle vertical striping (same color, nothing contrasting) . . .

 

[dabrock]

Thanks for the feedback - I was unsure if the pinstriping made the suit a poor choice, or if the shoulders weren't going to work (or if the sleeves had the spiral wrinkling problem).

Shoes - I'm probably going to stick with my current ones (the tasseled ones), unless that's a terrible idea.

Something I didn't think about - if the tie has stripes and the suit has stripes, then the shirt shouldn't be striped at all, correct? The shirts have very subtle vertical striping (same color, nothing contrasting) . . .

It's not horrible to go with the loafers but they are less formal than the Oxfords so just keep that in mind. You don't need to go with a stripe with a pin stripe suit, and some believe that it could be too much striping, but if you do go with striped shirt you should go with a contrasting strip so you would want a larger stripe and not a small one. You can see this basic advice here: http://ca.askmen.com/fashion/fashiontip_250/266b_fashion_advice.html My personal preference with a pin striped suit is to go with a tie with a foulard and a solid shirt since it's a simple combination that won't cause many clashing issues.

 

[Teppanyaki]

Thanks again for the advice!

So, I went ahead and bought Suit #1 - Macy's is having another discounting later this week (which I got), so with the Macy's card the $500 suit will come out to around $125-150. Not bad at all . . . Although Macy's asks for a ton of personal information to get one of their cards.

What's the rule on shirt sleeves? I've read that the shirt sleeve should go just a bit past the suit sleeve, but I'm right between a 32-33 and a 34-35. The 32-33 doesn't show, and the 34-35 feels too long. I suppose a tailored sleeve length on 1-2 shirts is an option, but it's aggravating to not be able to buy a shirt off of the rack that fits.

Also curious what y'all think of


I must admit, I really like the look of

but the lack of cushioning strikes me as a big negative.

Having said all of that, I may well stick with my tasseled loafers. Although they don't have any cushion either.

 

[strop]

The 32-33 and 34-35 designations are a compromise. I would try to find shirts that are either 32, 33, or 34 and try them. The 32-33 is probably 32.5 and the other 34.5.

I like those other black shoes as well, but they are casual shoes. I think brown would be more versatile in that style, but that's just me.

 

[LogisticEarth]

I see you already bought the Macy's suit, I was going to say that your current suit looked just fine for a basic interview suit. Pinstripe also isn't ideal but that's subtle and most people won't notice. The tassel loafers are acceptable also. Personally, I would avoid buying any shoes at Macy's or most mall department stores. They're all kind of mid to low quality stuff. Money put into them would be better invested in a higher quality pair that will last for years and look and feel better.

Go with the lighter shirt with that tie. Purple on Purple is too...purple.

FYI Alfani is Macy's house brand. Nothing special but usually OK quality. That was definitely NOT a $500 suit but for $150 you at least didn't get ripped off.

 

[Doc4]

What's the rule on shirt sleeves? I've read that the shirt sleeve should go just a bit past the suit sleeve, but I'm right between a 32-33 and a 34-35. The 32-33 doesn't show, and the 34-35 feels too long. I suppose a tailored sleeve length on 1-2 shirts is an option, but it's aggravating to not be able to buy a shirt off of the rack that fits.

They should look like this:

That's both in relation to each other, and in relation to your arm/hand. Any "size number" on a shirt is going to give you a pretty good idea of sleeve length, but that can vary from brand to brand a bit ... and even within a brand depending on how good their QC is. Try on a shirt and find out how it fits. Sleeves that are too long can be shortened ($20 at a decent tailor?) but ones that are too short are stuck that way.

 

[dabrock]

The 32-33 and 34-35 designations are a compromise. I would try to find shirts that are either 32, 33, or 34 and try them. The 32-33 is probably 32.5 and the other 34.5.

I like those other black shoes as well, but they are casual shoes. I think brown would be more versatile in that style, but that's just me.

+1 brown is in modern style as superior to black in most cases but ox blood (aka burgundy) is the best IMO since it will go with Navy while brown usually does not. Note, from what I've read ox blood is considered a shade of brown.

 

[strop]

+1 brown is in modern style as superior to black in most cases but ox blood (aka burgundy) is the best IMO since it will go with Navy while brown usually does not. Note, from what I've read ox blood is considered a shade of brown.

I actually never wore brown/tan shoes with navy (I don't count jeans) until I started seeing pictures on B&B. I ALWAYS wore oxblood with navy and gray, though have started branching out a bit.

 

[jpakstis]

I actually never wore brown/tan shoes with navy (I don't count jeans) until I started seeing pictures on B&B. I ALWAYS wore oxblood with navy and gray, though have started branching out a bit.

I think one of the reasons why navy and gray are the foundations of a suit wardrobe is because they go with any shoe, either brown, walnut, burgundy, or black. Both colors are neutral, neither warm (browns, tans, etc.) or cold (black).

 

[Chadao]

Ack! What they said. New suit, charcoal or blue. White shirt, collar stays, conservative tie.

 

[MichaeltheRomanHistorian]

Seattle is a pretty non-suit wearing culture, alas, but I try to keep the flag flying. I work in a fairly conservative field myself (Classics professor) and I go for navy or charcoal grey suit with a white shirt or light blue shirt and burgundy tie generally when I was being interviewed. I don't wear any of my three-piece tweed suits when I interview, though. Sadly, even Classics has had to give a little (though I do swap into them when on the job).

I like the new tie with the dots, I must say, and that should go fairly well with the white shirt. I wouldn't have gone with pinstripe suits myself due to the businessman connotation some may give it and the older suit looked okay but hey now you have two and can rotate if you need to! I prefer my shirt sleeves to show about 1/4 to 3/8 of an inch but I'm also, well, fastidious enough to have those armband things to adjust depending on the suit (sometimes certain shirts work better with some suits due to the way armholes are cut and so on). Good luck with the interview, by the way!