Two, actually. I wear them once a year at a conference. I got the first when I was doing booth duty, and the second when I was going up on stage in front of a lot of people, and realized that even to my fashion blind eye the one I had was way out of style. I still have the suit I got married in, which I could probably still wear with a few weeks of heavy dieting.
Nine or ten at last count, five of which I had tailored. I don’t have to wear them for work any more, but I really dig suits. Last one I bought was this really nifty Italian single-breasted charcoal grey pinstripe with narrow lapels; a really slim cut and draped slightly longer than usual over the hips, so it has an almost frock coat look to it: coupled with a pair of Chelsea boots, it has this really killer mod-Edwardian look. I’m a dandy at heart, and the chicks really do like a sharp-dressed man.
I have at least 3 or 4. They’re old, but they still fit (I had to try them all on when we were cleaning out closets recently). My previous jobs all required them.
At the job I’ve been with for the past 6 years (and which pays double what the formal ones did) I’m one of the most formally dressed just by wearing a buttoned shirt. If I put on a tie people actually start asking what the occasion is. If I wore a suit everyone would immediately assume I had an interview with another company.
I have two suits.
However, unless some miracle happens, I will not wear them ever again.
I will not wear one to a wedding, nor to a funeral, and I do not go to any formal occasions that would warrant wearing one.
I don’t even have to worry about wearing one at my funeral, as i’m being cremated.
About the only reason I’ll wear one is if it’s job required for me to do so.
I own several suits. It’s a work thing
I should mention that I got one made for me by Sam’s Tailor last time I was in HK, and it’s the best damn piece of clothing I’ve ever worn. It cost me HK$2,400 (~ US$310) and is easily worth three or four times that amount.
It’s the first time in my life I’ve actually enjoyed wearing a suit. I feel good in it.
I hate wearing suits yet own three.Despite social easing of dress conventions there are times and places where nothing else is appropriate.
I own three suits and a tuxedo. I imagine most of the men I know have at least one suit, most have two-three.
I work in a professional setting and on occasion need to dress up for a client. But I think I would own at least one suit even if I worked at a different profession.
I have eight suits plus a tuxedo.
The Boy has two.
The newest one was bought last summer when he got his Gemini nomination, because I insisted that such a momentous occasion should be acknowledged by a nice suit. Besides, there was a formal awards gala involved and you never do know who you might meet at these things. I think he looks very dapper in it, especially with the fedora we found at an antique market a few months ago.
The other is the suit he bought for his high school graduation. I think it’s absolutely hideous - eggplant purple with giant wide lapels, pleated wide-leg pants and shoulder pads fit for a quarterback, circa 1995 - but he loves it, so when he decides that he wants wear it (with his Batman tie, no less) I just smile and dig through my wardrobe for an appropriate outfit that looks good next to eggplant purple. That’s love for ya.
I own four.
While none are ultra-high-end, all are definitely 80th percentile in quality.
I find it stunning that so few own suits, and even more stunning that some resist (even vehemently) wearing a suit when it would be appropriate or when circumstance demands it.
Nothing feels better than a well-made suit.
Nothing feels better than KNOWING you look good in one.
To take a suit and make it your own, to find a cut and style and color that complements YOU makes a man look and feel better than any t-shirt and jeans ever could.
Suits are like sex. If you’re not on board, chances are you’re under thirteen or just aren’t doing it right.
Jeans and T-Shirts are, of course, not part of the dress code in the corporate world, which I spend most of my “dressed and out of the house” time in, and so I own about 10 suits. I like wearing them with or without a tie on the shirt. It looks sharp and professional. I really only wear about 4 of them, the others are in sizes that don’t fit me as well any more.
At the same time I don’t wear them a whole lot, maybe a few times a month. Most of the time I wear a dress shirt and slacks to work, more often without a tie than with, and a vest or zip-up sweater under my coat if it’s really cold.
While I do participate in the “button-down or polo shirt and khakis” look from time to time, to me it’s a far more bland and uniform dress style than being able to wear differently colored shirts with different collars and cuffs, with brightly colored ties.
I’m in one of mine now, so that would be a yes.
I don’t find it particularly stunning that many people don’t own a suit. I don’t think I’ve ever been to an occasion that required a suit. I didn’t wear a suit at my own wedding and I didn’t wear one to the two other weddings I’ve been to, and it wasn’t required. I was dressed quite nicely but not in a suit (and not out of place.)
I own several pairs of “slacks” or whatever you’d like to call them, and a wool jacket. These have done for all occasions so far. My need to wear a suit is so remote that I am far better off hiring one that fits properly at the time rather than trying to squeeze into one that fit nicely when I bought it.
I do think it’s stupid to resist wearing a suit to a formal do though. If everyone’s going to be wearing a suit, then either wear one yourself or stay home.
My husband, it turns out, may or may not own a suit. He thinks maybe there’s one in his closet somewhere, but he hasn’t seen it in two moves, so maybe not. So, as in so much else in his life, put him in the “undecided” camp!
I’m a little surprised that you can build a suit out of sportcoat and pants bought separately. I thought that, by definition, a suit was a matched set of clothing sold and bought together. Isn’t the cut of a sportcoat a bit different than the cut of a suit coat? Not hugely different, but different like, say, an A-line skirt and a tiered skirt are different and not to be confused?
I own one suit and a couple of sports coats. I almost wish we wore suits at work. It’d make getting dressed pre-coffee much easier. I wouldn’t have to try figuring out whether this shirt matches those slacks when everything’s on one rack.
I have noticed a troubling tendency for suits to shrink when they’ve hung in the closet too long. Has anyone else noticed this?
The Universe is expanding at a constant rate. Why would you think your waistline is exempt from the laws of cosmic physics?
Same thing happens with dresses.
As an owner of both suits and business ‘sports’ jackets, any difference in cut is too subtle to notice. I own other, more casual sports coats that do drape differently, but they are definitely casual wear.
There are lots of pairings of slacks and jackets that are not suits. Grey and blue is probably the most common. The advantage is that pants get more worn than the jacket, so one blue jacket (which every man should own) can go with multiple slacks. Personally, I don’t try to match blue slacks and blue jacket - I own a navy suit that is matched. Others might not care as much.
I have two and I think most men over 30 would have at least one and as most men are over 30, I would believe Rubystreak to be correct.