A boy's first suit.

Hello hello,

Well i turned twenty-one on the sixth of this month, and my I decided it was finally time to have a suit. I need a versatile suit, something that can be worn to my impending job interviews, nights out with friends, and the all to often formal events i find myself at. Since I am in india, the land of fabric (and a fantastic exchange rate), I decided i should find a tailor here. After asking around, I found a fantastic man by the name of Mr. Vaish. He runs a shop in a nice shopping district here in Delhi, he's a multi-generational tailor, and trained on Savile Row. So I think he's well qualified.

Anyway, i went in and spoke to him and picked out a nice dark grey kasmir wool and told him to do me up. I go for my first fitting on Tuesday. But sadly I am still lacking some essentials for when this finally is finished; which leads to my conundrum(s).

I'm not very good at actually matching colors. I couldn't really tell you why, but it's just not something i have a talent for. Which isn't to say that i'm completely daft, but I digress. So what colors should i be matching this suit with? Obviously a white shirt and a black tie are a must. But beyond that. And what exactly are the relationships between everything? Shoes with belt, complimentary to suit? Tie with jacket complimentary to shirt? I'm a bit baffled.

Also, do i have to wear anything in particular for the fitting or can i just show up in jeans sneakers and a tshirt?

Thanks in advance fellas.

Personally I would keep the Shoe/Belt combo black on black.

As for the Shirt/Tie combo your pretty much wide open for choices of color. Just remember, solid shirt goes with a pattern or solid tie or a patterned shirt with a solid tie, never a patterned shirt and patterned tie...

A decent set of underwear, preferably some thin 'suit socks' and a pair of shoes you would wear with your suit, this way you can be gauged correctly in size and gait. However a decent tailor should be able to account for any differences.

Also, Saville Row where? (A friend of mine had a joke a while ago, that all tailors seem to have traine in Saville Row, but which one? As if they had all trained there, it would need to be 50 miles long, LOL).

Tom

Dark gray is a good choice for a suit color.

White, light blue, an ivory/cream colored shirt would go nice. Even a light, subdued pink would look smart with it.

Brown shoes and brown belts do indeed go well with gray suits, as does the obvious black. The only thing you should always do is make sure your shoes match your belt.

Ties are a biggie with me, and I think that when you see the right tie with the rest of the ensemble, you just know it. Wild, novelty, over-the-top nonsense on a tie doesn't do well with anything, regardless of the color or cut of the suit. You can go for a conservative color/pattern or branch out into other, more vibrant colors. Just make sure it doesn't look tacky.

If I were going to a suit fitting, I'd wear something like a nice button-down shirt, a polo or rugby shirt and some decent fitting trousers with decent looking non-athletic shoes.

As you can see already by a couple posts. It really is a matter of personal taste.

Thirdeye,

You are most definately right, it is very much a matter of personal taste. That's what i was afraid of. Haha.

Unknown soldier,
I never actually talked to him about where he was trained. I saw his diploma on the wall next to his fathers and left it at that. I'll take a look while i'm in there on tuesday and let you know. But it's true. Half the tailors in india claim to have been trained there. However this is the only one i've seen display a diploma.

Also, instead of starting a new thread. I need some help with shoes also. My gentlemanly wardrobe is (embarassingly) lacking. I don't own a single pair of dress shoes. Anyone care to educate me?

Allen Edmonds cap toe Bal

Alden Cap toe

Here are the Americans version, there are some terrific English makers as well.

Jim said:

Allen Edmonds cap toe Bal

Alden Cap toe

Here are the Americans version, there are some terrific English makers as well.

Click to expand...

In case you all didn't know, Jim is our resident shoe guru....

MatthewAlbasi said:

Also, instead of starting a new thread. I need some help with shoes also. My gentlemanly wardrobe is (embarassingly) lacking. I don't own a single pair of dress shoes. Anyone care to educate me?

Click to expand...

Start with black, captoe, leather sole.

In the US, I'd say something like the Allen Edmonds Park Avenue would be a good place to start.

Note the closed style of lacing (oxford) compared to the open lacing (derby) of these. The oxford would be the style to look at for an interview / formal shoe.

Don't know what all would be available in your neck of the woods. www.plal.com is supposed to be a great vendor and is at least in your hemisphere.

As far as dress shirt colors go, you can never have too many white and light blue shirts. Black can make you stand out and is probably good for nights out on the town. Other than those three, anything goes. Pink will make you stand out too.

I'm soooooo sorry. But i can't tell the difference between oxford and derby lacing. I think i may just be missing something here. Can someone clarify?

And those burgundy shoes are beautiful! But what's the etiquette on wearing burgundy shoes and a red or maroon or burgundy shirt or tie? To much red?

And thanks again guys. You're all incredeble

one last thing. What's the deal with shine on these shoes. Dress shoes seem to range from matte to nearly mirror. Is it just personal preference on that?

I wear suits 5 days a week. Sounds like you've found a nice catch for that tailor!

I recommend a black pair of shoes/matching belt and a pair of oxblood shoes/belt. Both go good with dark grey.

WRT shirts/ties....Thirdeye is right...the sky is limitless and its all on taste. As the tailor for 3-4 recommendations and go with them...he wont steer you wrong.

MatthewAlbasi said:

I'm soooooo sorry. But i can't tell the difference between oxford and derby lacing. I think i may just be missing something here. Can someone clarify?

Click to expand...

See if this page helps - http://www.dancestore.com/z-shoeterms.asp

Jim said:

Alden Cap toe

Here are the Americans version, there are some terrific English makers as well.

Click to expand...

It is simply impossible to go wrong with a cap toe. Not too traditional a shoe, and you can dress it up or down.

I own several pairs of Aldens and will not wear any other shoe, including AE. And as I'm 1/2 hr. away from the Alden store in SF, I can always pop in for a fitting (which has been detrimental to my savings account).

Their Cordovan leather is simply like no other leather.

Cap toe shoes with matching belt
Black or oxblood wing tips(any other color is a little foppish)

Shirts:
blue
white
ivory
very pale pink
pale lavender
white with stripes to match you tie always looks sharp

Ties:
Diagonal stripes
Monotone Paisley(Brocade I think it's called)
Squares
NEVER repeat NEVER boats or bears or anything that your mom would call "cute." Those are okay with Dockers and a sport coat but, with a suit, it makes a grown man look like a five year old playing dress-up.

As far as matching colors goes, find a haberdashery with a competent staff. Take in your shirts and tell them that you need some ties matched for a suit. The suit part is important in that conversation. There are ties that will look okay sans coat that will look a bit out of place with a coat on.

Grey is a good color for a suit because it goes with pretty much everything.

Happy Hunting.

Gray is a good choice for a first suit, it goes with most things. I'm a fan of dark reds and similar colors. Telling us your general build will go a long way toward suggesting patterns if you decide to branch out a bit. I'm a tall skinny guy and like to accentuate that a bit.

My go to shirt is a well-fitting maroon point collar with a subtle vertical pattern weave. With this I wear a sort of black-grey-red tie, gray suspenders with black leather ends, and highly polished black shoes. Pants are cuff hemmed to have just a little break when standing.

The best thing you can do is find a good men's clothing store with a well-dressed sales staff. They are a wonderful resource for color-matching ideas, advice, and the like. Also, read the dressing and grooming articles at artofmanliness.com, it's a blog that's quite in line with the opinions of many of the members here (from what I've seen). They've been a good resource for a lot of good advice, and they're a good read as well.

Well done. You are on your way.

Classic is always best.

For business, I like contrast in a suit-tie-shirt combo.

For casual, mix it up.

Neat post.

Get a white and a light blue point collar shirt that fits you well. With those, you can get any number of ties and mix and match without problems. I'd personally buy a couple of repp ties, a predominantly red tie, a predominately gold tie, and a nice vibrant blue that is enough of a darker shade than your shirt that it contrasts well. That's 5 ties and 2 shirts you can mix and match your way into a lot of combos, all appropriate for job interviews, business formal dress, weddings/funerals, and going out to a fancy restaurant.