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.
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.
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…
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.
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.
This is whatI meant.
I don’t like suits in general, three piece or otherwise. They are both boring (in my eyes) and have unpleasant associations.
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.
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.
I guess capes and top-hats are out of the question.
Pity, I have a nice set.
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.
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.
Just posting because it amuses me that Nobody voted for the last poll option.
Enjoy,
Steven
