I’m 53 years old. I’ve always managed to make a sport coat work for dressy occasions. But am often a little underdressed it seems.
These occasions are nieces and nephews getting married, and I’m afraid we are going to be looking at a few funerals in the next years.
The closest city that I could expect to buy a suit is 100 miles away. Denver CO.
What to do? Men’s Warehouse? Jos A Bank? Some sort of department store (do they even still exist). I need a suit (or two) that can travel in luggage. It would not be something that I would ever ware to work.
I will probably need some tailoring. I’m 6’3", 210 lbs with long arms and legs. Roughly a 44 long. Off the rack may not be an option.
Money is always a consideration, but am willing to spend $300 or so per suit IF it’s right and fits properly. Not sure if that’s even in the ball park for a reasonably good suit (jacket and pants).
Earlier this month, I took my younger brother shopping for a suit for our father’s funeral (he goes to school and works retail: he had no reason to own a suit before). We ended up at JCPenney, where we ended up with a suit plus shirt for ~$240. 48L off the rack, but he didn’t need any alterations.
Most department stores - Macy’s, Penney’s, etc are going to have suits. But you might start someplace like a Men’s Wearhouse, because they’ll generally have a larger selection, I think.
Dude, you are me. If I had an old suit, I’d give it to you!!
I’ve not owned a suit since my parents bought me one in High School. I do the sport coat, dress pants thing just fine. I have a few nice ones, and if people think I’m “under-dressed”, I figure that’s their problem. I hate suits. I just hate them. Don’t knuckle under-- fight the power!!
It’s low-end here as well, but you can get an ok suit if you watch the material, details, and the tailoring. Also you can luck into some good sales.
**enipla **-- Macy’s has a salegoing on, if you are near one and planning to buy soon. Buy a classic 3-button banker’s suit (dark grey always looks good), don’t get wild with the tie or shirt, and you’re good to go.
Yeah. I was kind of wondering if $300 would be too low end. But then you see commercials for 2 suits for $200. Probably pure crap. I don’t want that.
Do they come with more than one pair of pants? Don’t want a vest, I don’t think.
The Colorado Mountains are very, very laid back. No real need to ever dress up. And I loath it. Just does not fit my lifestyle. Pointless IMHO. But I want to be respectful of the occasion that others have planned.
It’s tough. I may only wear a suit another five or six times. The sport coat kinda works, but the ones I have are going to be way to heavy/warm for the weddings I will be attending next summer. Tried that, been there. Need more of a summer weight.
I’m also a little tired of trying to put together ‘dress’ clothes for an occasion. Just buy a well made, proper fitting suit (or two), and I should be good to go. At least that’s the plan.
My Wife has it made in this regard. A nice sun dress and she’s good to go. Takes up less room in the luggage than a pair of my shoes.
Also want to shout out a general thanks to everyone. There are a couple of Macy’s in Denver. But I wonder if the Men’s Warehouse or Jos A Bank should be considered.
Part of the issue is the distance from my home to any type of store that would sell a suit.
I have a suit in a box under the bed. No idea if it fits or not and don’t intend to ever wear it again. I’ve come to the decision that weddings and funerals (which I don’t attend) are about celebrating someone and not about what I’m wearing. Same for traveling, going to dinners, attending concerts, etc. Convention be damned.
I do attend the weddings of my nieces and nephews. They are all really great folks. My Wife and I are the younger/hipper Aunt and Uncle. If they only knew.
And, of course I do need to attend funerals. Convention be damned? Won’t do it. Not for something as simple as this.
At my Wife and my wedding, there where plenty of people in jeans. Great. No prob. That’s Colorado though. The east coast and the south is a bit different.
You should definitely consider Jos. A. Bank. They have great (and frequent) sales, and some of their stuff is pretty decent. And they have a line of suits called “Traveler” or something like that, which is specifically designed for travel, so you can pack it up and it won’t suffer too much.
Their alterations are pretty good (at least here in NYC) or you could find an independent tailor.
Great suits, very good quality and made to measure. You an get the only suit you will need and it will fit like a glove. I have to wear suits once a month or so for work and they are head and shoulders above Men’s Wearhouse /Jos A Banks/Macys in terms of quality for the price .
I go to my kids’ weddings. I don’t go to funerals. Ever. I find the whole notion morbid and creepy. The only one I came even close to attending was for the brother of an employee of mine. I sort of hung out by the door until he had seen me and everyone was inside, then left.
Looks interesting. I have no prob spending $500 for the right suite that fits. There are 18 measurements and other body type things that you need to answer (shoulder slope and such). May be much better than going to a ‘suit place’. Hmmm…
You know a custom suit maker who will make a suit for you for less than $500? Know any of them in the Philly area, I would love to get stuff done locally. There is a guy who will make me suits in my area, but he wants $1500 and up for a custom suit.
I’m pretty sure he means that you have a tailor professionally take your measurements, then you plug them into one of the online MTM stores and have the suit made overseas. There’s no way that an American tailor can make a custom suit for $500; there’s just too much labor required.
Also, if you’re considering an online suit, it wouldn’t hurt to take a look at the competitors, black lapel and knot standard.
Go talk to any financial advisor or lawyer at a big firm. He’ll have a stack of cards in his desk from suit salesmen. Custom suits for $500 aren’t that hard to find.
