# Three piece suits, too much? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [May 10, 2012, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513 "2012-05-10T16:03:17Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/41 "2012-05-11T13:56:50Z")
It makes you look like Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl (my GF watches the show). IOW, basically how TV watching Middle America THINKS a 20-something Manhattan billionare SHOULD dress. IMHO, they look sharp (unless you are short and heavy, in which case you look like The Penguin from Batman). But they are probably more appropriate for a classy cocktail party than for work. ---
**Author:** ![Nava](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/da6949/32.png) [@Nava](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nava)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/42 "2012-05-11T14:01:20Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > Three piece suits used to be commonly worn. I’ve never actually someone wear one outside of movies. I’m considering getting a new suit and wondering if it should be a two or three piece. This is for meeting clients and appearing in court rather than social situations in bars. Since it’s to appear in court and meet clients, I think it’s a good option. You can always wear the vest when you know the court/client is someone who likes formality and leave it off when you know it’s not. I had a coworker who wore three-piece suits in a completely inappropriate setting: to meet maintenance workers and lab techs. He complained that “they did not look him in the eye” - dude, you’re more dressed up than the guy at the bank who denies mortgages! But for a lawyer, specially depending on which branch of Law you practice and which kind of clients you’ll meet it’s a good option. That guy’s previous consulting gigs had been for banks, where the three-piece suits were a good method to establish him as “the dude you guys will listen to”; in a factory’s lab or shop floor, they were scary. ---
**Author:** ![Ken001](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/43a26b/32.png) [@Ken001](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ken001)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/43 "2012-05-11T14:10:01Z")
I have three such suits and for many years regarded them as de rigour. Sadly I’ve slipped into two-piece lately, possibly in an unconscious nod to current trends. Used to wear my grandfathers fob watch too but its been misplaced. It depends upon your circumstances. As a lawyer it wasn’t an issue but if I’d been a stock and station agent, fancy clothes would have been stupid. Wear what feels comfortable but doesn’t estrange others. Intimidation is fine, but not estrangement. Ain’t language wonnerful… ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [May 11, 2012, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/44 "2012-05-11T14:54:45Z")
If you’re 29, I’d skip the three peice suit. I wear one because I’m developing a gut and the vest acts a little bit like a girdle. I also like being able to maintain a little bit of formality when I take off my jacket. European clients seem to appreciate the formality more than American clients. ---
**Author:** ![MichaelEmouse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/michaelemouse/32/101_2.png) [@MichaelEmouse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MichaelEmouse)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 5:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/45 "2012-05-13T05:58:08Z")
If others would again volunteer their opinions: Can you combine a charcoal waistcoat with either a black or navy two piece suit? I’ve seen waistcoats that weren’t the same color/motif as the jacket and pants (where the jacket and pants were identical) and they sometimes seemed to fit. I’d like to hear others’ opinions though. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 8:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/46 "2012-05-13T08:36:25Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > If others would again volunteer their opinions: > > Can you combine a charcoal waistcoat with either a black or navy two piece suit? I’ve seen waistcoats that weren’t the same color/motif as the jacket and pants (where the jacket and pants were identical) and they sometimes seemed to fit. I’d like to hear others’ opinions though. IMO no. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 8:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/47 "2012-05-13T08:38:23Z")
> [@AK84](#): > > I take it lawyer no longer wear gowns in Canada? Because one of the reasons three piece suits survived in England and other commonwealth countries was that lawyers continued to wear them and one of the main reasons for that was that the vest went really well with the gown (the suit jacket is invisible underneath anyway). [This is what](http://www.stockphotography.co.uk/Upload/Stock/Watermarked/11877.jpg)I meant. ---
**Author:** ![Der\_Trihs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/der_trihs/32/233_2.png) [@Der\_Trihs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Der_Trihs)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 11:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/48 "2012-05-13T11:15:22Z")
I don’t like suits in general, three piece or otherwise. They are both boring (in my eyes) and have unpleasant associations. ---
**Author:** ![Silophant](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a698b9/32.png) [@Silophant](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silophant)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 12:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/49 "2012-05-13T12:29:50Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > If others would again volunteer their opinions: > > Can you combine a charcoal waistcoat with either a black or navy two piece suit? I’ve seen waistcoats that weren’t the same color/motif as the jacket and pants (where the jacket and pants were identical) and they sometimes seemed to fit. I’d like to hear others’ opinions though. I think so. I’ve got a black vest that I wear with a charcoal suit, and I think (and, more importantly, my girlfriend thinks) it looks very dashing. I wore it to an interview, and got the job, so it apparently isn’t terrible, at least. BTW, I’m a 21-year-old engineering student in Minneapolis, so that may have been as much of a “he actually wore a suit to the interview” thing as a “that is a classy, classy suit” thing. ---
**Author:** ![swampbear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/swampbear/32/467_2.png) [@swampbear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampbear)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 12:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/50 "2012-05-13T12:46:02Z")
I’m not a fan of three piece suits. I don’t like vests as to me they are just uncomfortable. I do like a nicely tailored two piece suit however. ---
**Author:** ![BMalion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e274bd/32.png) [@BMalion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BMalion)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/51 "2012-05-13T19:00:02Z")
I guess capes and top-hats are out of the question. Pity, I have a nice set. ---
**Author:** ![kenobi\_65](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kenobi_65/32/13178_2.png) [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)\ **Post date:** [May 13, 2012, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/52 "2012-05-13T19:20:24Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > Do they even _sell_ 3-piece suits any more? I haven’t seen anyone wearing one in years. **Typo Knig** ’s last 3-piece suit was purchased in 1983. Agreed. The suit I got for wearing at my high-school graduation (1983) was a 3-piece, and ISTR they were pretty common at that time. By the mid-to-late 80s, when I was in college, when you’d see a guy wearing a 3-piece (such as at a dance), he looked a little behind the times. I wore suits all through the 90s as my work attire, and not only did I never see anyone in my workplace wearing a 3-piece, I’m not sure that I ever even saw one for sale. I note that, in 2010’s _Iron Man 2_, they put Justin Hammer (Sam Rockwell) in 3-piece suits, but he was supposed to be a vain dork. I don’t wear suits regularly, but I do buy a new suit every few years (I wear them for certain business meetings, as well as funerals and weddings). Still can’t say that I ever see them for sale. ---
**Author:** ![Tom\_Tildrum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e95f7d/32.png) [@Tom\_Tildrum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tom_Tildrum)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/53 "2012-05-14T15:58:38Z")
> [@MichaelEmouse](#): > > If others would again volunteer their opinions: > > Can you combine a charcoal waistcoat with either a black or navy two piece suit? I’ve seen waistcoats that weren’t the same color/motif as the jacket and pants (where the jacket and pants were identical) and they sometimes seemed to fit. I’d like to hear others’ opinions though. You’ll look like a groomsman who has wandered away from a wedding, or the Beadle from Charles Dickens. That said, it’s not unheard of. Here’s the guy from _The Mentalist_ rocking that look. But it’s piling non-standard on non-standard, and it runs some risk of looking either too retro or too runway for everyday wear. ---
**Author:** ![Mtgman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b5a626/32.png) [@Mtgman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mtgman)\ **Post date:** [May 14, 2012, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513/54 "2012-05-14T16:36:11Z")
Just posting because it amuses me that **Nobody** voted for the last poll option. Enjoy, Steven [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/three-piece-suits-too-much/621513.md?page=2)