Disclaimer: I am not really into suits. I like trainers and t-shirts way more than formal wear. But damn do I see some tragic stuff when I am forced to wear nice clothes to weddings around Portland.
People struggle hard with suits. REALLY HARD. Two weeks ago I saw a man at my friend’s wedding that obviously spent a lot of money on his outfit.
Beautiful fabric, made well, expensive. I would guess his whole outfit cost more than my monthly rent.
And yet there he was looking like death trapped inside that fancy suit.
Arms unable to lift above his head without the jacket strangling him. Tugging at his cuffs and collar the entire time. Trying to dance.
HAHA PLEASE DON’T LET HIM TOUCH THE DANCE FLOOR Jesus. So this guy ends up sitting next to me while I was stuffing my face with passed appetizers during one of those bad wedding reception no-dance breaks. Small talk ensued and he mentioned how he just dropped $1200 on his new suit the week before the wedding. “The tailor said this is how it’s supposed to fit.” *Looking Like An Otter Being Strangled* “But it feels like they need to shrink me a few sizes before I can move comfortably.” That right there is my thesis statement for this article.
There are tons of guys out there who want to look put together in formalwear but have ZERO clue how to make it happen. And no, I’m not just talking about dudes that can’t afford nice things. I’ve watched people drop thousands of dollars on suits that look absolutely horrible.
But I’ve also watched others nail it while spending less than $500. Lets fix this. If you have ever enjoyed putting effort into your outfit then you know the feeling I felt my first time wearing a suit I actually liked.
I used to think expensive = good. Spend more money and somehow my suit would look fantastic because it was costlier than the other kids’ suits. I bought my first pair of “nice trousers” when I got my first paycheck in high school, christening them proudly only to get home and realise my dad could have played football in them and they still would have looked better on him.
These trousers had “premium” stitched into the label, but all I could see was “FREKNED LIKMFO” Same mentality that people carry with suits. The stakes are just higher because you only wear suits for shit that actually matters. Weddings.
Funerals. Job Interviews. Whenever people judge you based on your appearance, chances are you are wearing a suit.
Guys repeat the same mistakes over and over. Suit mistake numero uno? SIZE.
SIZE IS IMPORTANT! I see guys walking around with suit jackets that are 2 sizes too big. Trousers taunting them with the ability to swallow a scoop of ice cream.
Or slim enough that their legs looklike tube socks. Don’t get me wrong, suit sizes function differently than your typical Target sweatpants but MOST PEOPLE BUY SUITS WHEN THEY HAVE AN EVENT COMING UP. Give yourself time to learn how this stuff fits.
You’ll save yourself some headaches. Lesson Number Matt Learned The Hard Way: Attend Your Cousin’s wedding. I learned this the unfortunate way at my cousin’s wedding back in college.
Ran to Men’s Wearhouse three days before the wedding to grab a suit (Mistake #1), let the guy selling suits convince me I needed to go a size up “for comfort” (Mistake #2). Promptly looked like a child being clothesedin pictures. Emma shows them to me any time she wants to make me feel badly dressed.
Pro tip: shoulder fit is KING. If your jacket doesn’t fit perfectly across the shoulders NOTHING ELSE matters. Sure, you can alter everything down from there but if you don’t get the shoulders right then you are probably paying for alterations that do nothing.
Get the shoulders right, and you can alter everything else down. Sleeves should only show about a half inch of your shirt cuff when your arms are relaxed at your sides. Suit trousers shouldn’t hit you at jean wearer’s waist (aka lower stomach).
They should actually fit at your waist. Once again, SIMPLE stuff that you would think people would get right but don’t. Another issue I see is guys who equate price with fit.
Uh, nope. NEVER BEEN TRUE. I have a friend who found a suit at Target that he loved.
Maybe spent $40 on alterations and looks better than most guys wearing thousand dollar designer suits. There is no price point that fixes poorly fitting clothes. The most expensive suit looks awful if it doesn’t fit your body properly.
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Sidenote: This is where my passion for streetwear helps me out with understanding suits. If you fit into the streetwear world you know that fit is EVERYTHING. $500 off-white hoodie doesn’t look cool if the fit isn’t right. Suit’s are the exact same way!
Weirdly enough most dudes forget all of these rules when they put on a suit. The biggest thing I’ll say is that 99% of suits need alterations. Even if you spend your life bouncing between the same 2 sizes at whatever store you like.
Odds are you still need someone to take in the waist or shorten your sleeves. Learn this now and save yourself the tragedy. I always budget for alterations the same way I budget for cleaning my trainers.
It’s just part of the cost of buying these things. Started working with this tailor down near my house who does great work at decent prices. Literally all my suits look expensive now because I had him take in the waist, shorten the sleeves, taper the legs.
It’s amazing what a little alteration can do. Fabric can be such a vibe killer too. Get too caught up in finding a “nice fabric” that you overlook everything else.
Suit fits great? Wear the fuck out of it. I’ve seen so many guys skip over basic, beautiful wool suits because the material wasn’t fancy enough only to spend their money on some delicate fabric that wrinkles the second you look at it funny.
My advice here is keep it basic for your first couple suits. Navy. Charcoal.
Standard wool weight. You can dress those up or down for pretty much any occasion. Most formal.
Buy them out of season when suits are on clearance so you’re not panic buying something that doesn’t fit great. Learn how to properly care for them. Hang them up correctly.
Give them a once over with a brush once a month. Don’t dry clean every single time you wear them. And for christ sake, actually WEAR YOUR SUITS.
Formalwear only hurts you if you let it sit in your closet for months at a time. You will stop caring if you stuff your formal clothes in your closest because.. It’s clothing!
Wear clothes dudes. We were at this coffee shop downtown last weekend and I saw this dude wearing a fitted suit with no tie. Looked awesome.
Comfortable. HIM: these? BRANDON: these are fire.
Leave the store and he walks past me AGAIN, this time removing his jacket to reveal he was wearing it with jeans. PERFECTLY PUT TOGETHER. I asked him where he got his suit and he told me he had a meeting earlier in the day but loved the suit so much he didn’t want to take it off.
See guys. This is what we need more of. Sure you’ll see me rocking trainers and a t shirt 75% of the time.
But if I do need to suit up, I’m going to look good while I’m doing it.
Spend the extra time ensuring your trousers aren’t digging into your stomach. Make sure your shoes match the formality of your suit.
Know what cuts flatter your body type. Understand how clothing should fit your body and what to do if it doesn’t FIT. You’ll notice half the stuff I talk about about with streetwear applies to suits as well.
Know yourself, know your style, take care of your items, wear clothes that fit your body. It’s literally the same thing. Streetwear just doesn’t have the stigma that formalwear does.
People are afraid to put on a suit because Uncle Fred tried to force a baggy prom tux shirt on them in 8th grade and they swore off suit’s for life. Don’t be that guy. You have options now.
Don’t take advantage of them.
