Dressing better

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by RFX45

Avoid Mens Wearhouse and Jos A. Banks at all cost.


Persia, I do not find Zara suits too short at all shorter than usual but not too short.
Maybe it's my height?

Here's an example, just bought this blazer from PS, this is usually the regular length in most suits and I find it a bit long.
I'll probably ask the tailor to take out an inch in length since it'll look longer once I take out 3/4" from the sleeves.

I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with the new trends in suiting, and how suitable (no pun) those trends are in your field of work.

Personally, I love the trendy short jacket look, but I would look ridiculous wearing a short jacket to a job interview given the field I work in. Any shorter than the jacket you're wearing here would be a huge faux pas for me right now.

So it does definitely depend on your own situation + your comfort level. So maybe he needs to analyze that a bit, tell us what sort of interview he's going into, etc. If it's an ad agency, that's one thing. If he's going to be interviewing at a law firm, that's a whole different matter IMO.

 

[young br3ad]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by RFX45

Avoid Mens Wearhouse and Jos A. Banks at all cost.


Persia, I do not find Zara suits too short at all shorter than usual but not too short.
Maybe it's my height?

Here's an example, just bought this blazer from PS, this is usually the regular length in most suits and I find it a bit long.
I'll probably ask the tailor to take out an inch in length since it'll look longer once I take out 3/4" from the sleeves.

I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with the new trends in suiting, and how suitable (no pun) those trends are in your field of work.

Personally, I love the trendy short jacket look, but I would look ridiculous wearing a short jacket to a job interview given the field I work in. Any shorter than the jacket you're wearing here would be a huge faux pas for me right now.

So it does definitely depend on your own situation + your comfort level. So maybe he needs to analyze that a bit, tell us what sort of interview he's going into, etc. If it's an ad agency, that's one thing. If he's going to be interviewing at a law firm, that's a whole different matter IMO.

The interview is for a position working in the pharmacy for the VA hospital in D.C.

I will check out nordstrom rack. I'm a really slim dude so finding stuff that fits well is not an easy task. I already know whatever I get I will have to go to the tailor. I wouldn't even know what to tell the tailor to do though. Would it be good to take a picture of how I want the suit to fit to show them?

 

[rfx45]

I am not familiar with applying in a hospital pharmacy but my guess is it isn't as critical as applying for a law firm or a fortune 500 company, then a more modern suit is fine, especially if he isn't going to wear it to work every day. If it will end up being a going out suit, modern maybe the way to go.

It will really depend on your height though.

 

[young br3ad]

I wouldn't be wearing a suit every day to work. I'm about 5'6-5'7 140 lbs.

 

[prurientsole]

Originally Posted by RFX45

Avoid Mens Wearhouse and Jos A. Banks at all cost.


Persia, I do not find Zara suits too short at all shorter than usual but not too short.
Maybe it's my height?

Here's an example, just bought this blazer from PS, this is usually the regular length in most suits and I find it a bit long.
I'll probably ask the tailor to take out an inch in length since it'll look longer once I take out 3/4" from the sleeves.

Why avoid those two stores?

Never had an issue with either of them, save for tailoring being a bit expensive at MW.

 

[niidawg3]

The key things to look for in a long lasting suit are:

01. Fabric: 100% wool. Most of Zara's suits are not 100% wool. Neither are H&M and Express. You will end up destroying these suits and then needing to buy another one.
02. Lapels: 3 inch lapels, at least. All the 2 inch-@!@ lapels you see will be out of style within 2 years. Avoid them with a plaque!! Peak vs Notch doesnt matter - but notch is more conservative and traditional than peak. Peak has its peaks and valleys ... no pun intended.
03. Gorge: Fairly high gorge, but not too high. The gorge is the gap between the top of your lapel and shoulder. The new trend is to have the gorge waay up close to the shoulder, please avoid that.
04. Chest: Your suit should fit your chest. When buttoned, it should form a straight V down your chest. Too many people walk around trying to wear slim suits and have bowed/bent lapels on their chest.
05. Length: In terms of length of the jacket, it should hit your knuck when you clench your fists. Or when you bend your fingers inside the jacket, it should touch the inside of your hands where your fingers bend.
06. Colors: Most versatile colors are charcoal or navy. Save yourself all the unique colors till you have a deeper wardrobe.
07. Shoulders: One of the most important fits of a suit is the shoulder. The shoulder of the suit should hug the shoulder of your body. Whether it is a structure shoulder, or soft shoulder it should fit your shoulder and drop gracefully down your arm. Here again Zara, H&M, Express and especially Mens Wearehouse fall atrociously short
08. Buttoning point: The buttoning point of the suit should be proportional to your body. In a 2 button suit, the first button should be above your navel, the second should be at the waist of your pants. In a 3 button, the second button should be above your navel, and the third button should be a touch below your waist.
09. Alterations: Alteration, alteration, alteration ... if you are not getting a Made-To-Measure or bespoke suit, please get your suit and promptly head to a reputably tailor for alterations. A reputable tailor will tell you the things that need fixing. If the chest/shoulders are part of his fix, your best bet is to send the suit back and look for a new one!! If your tailor is not reputable/not good enough after a couple tries, find a new tailor.
10. Cliff Notes: If you do not remember anything i said above - just remember ... 100% wool, chest fit, shoulder fit and alteration for a OneSuit!!!

There are other things like high armholes, lapel shape, cloth patterns and weights, other types of clothes like cotton, linen, cashmere etc ... but that is when you get to the next level and are not worrying about a OneSuit. For a OneSuit, keep it simple so you can use it for more things.

Your best bet for suits is Saks, Nordstrom or Bloomingdales. Try to catch them on a sale - and get your OneSuit through that. You WILL get a suit for less than 400 at these stores if you look hard, and they will be more quality, look better and last you longer than H&M, Zara, Express, Mens' Wearhouse etc. You can have some luck every so often on eBay, Marshalls etc, but that is more difficult if you dont have patience to keep looking. Go to Saks, Nordy and Bloomy's on a big sale weekend and you WILL have luck.

 

[young br3ad]

niidawg dropping serious knowledge! I appreciate it. I'm going to do some looking this weekend. Thanks everyone for the help.

 

[rfx45]

Originally Posted by niidawg3


The key things to look for in a long lasting suit are:

01. Fabric: 100% wool. Most of Zara's suits are not 100% wool. Neither are H&M and Express. You will end up destroying these suits and then needing to buy another one.
02. Lapels: 3 inch lapels, at least. All the 2 inch-@!@ lapels you see will be out of style within 2 years. Avoid them with a plaque!! Peak vs Notch doesnt matter - but notch is more conservative and traditional than peak. Peak has its peaks and valleys ... no pun intended.
03. Gorge: Fairly high gorge, but not too high. The gorge is the gap between the top of your lapel and shoulder. The new trend is to have the gorge waay up close to the shoulder, please avoid that.
04. Chest: Your suit should fit your chest. When buttoned, it should form a straight V down your chest. Too many people walk around trying to wear slim suits and have bowed/bent lapels on their chest.
05. Length: In terms of length of the jacket, it should hit your knuck when you clench your fists. Or when you bend your fingers inside the jacket, it should touch the inside of your hands where your fingers bend.
06. Colors: Most versatile colors are charcoal or navy. Save yourself all the unique colors till you have a deeper wardrobe.
07. Shoulders: One of the most important fits of a suit is the shoulder. The shoulder of the suit should hug the shoulder of your body. Whether it is a structure shoulder, or soft shoulder it should fit your shoulder and drop gracefully down your arm. Here again Zara, H&M, Express and especially Mens Wearehouse fall atrociously short
08. Buttoning point: The buttoning point of the suit should be proportional to your body. In a 2 button suit, the first button should be above your navel, the second should be at the waist of your pants. In a 3 button, the second button should be above your navel, and the third button should be a touch below your waist.
09. Alterations: Alteration, alteration, alteration ... if you are not getting a Made-To-Measure or bespoke suit, please get your suit and promptly head to a reputably tailor for alterations. A reputable tailor will tell you the things that need fixing. If the chest/shoulders are part of his fix, your best bet is to send the suit back and look for a new one!! If your tailor is not reputable/not good enough after a couple tries, find a new tailor.
10. Cliff Notes: If you do not remember anything i said above - just remember ... 100% wool, chest fit, shoulder fit and alteration for a OneSuit!!!

There are other things like high armholes, lapel shape, cloth patterns and weights, other types of clothes like cotton, linen, cashmere etc ... but that is when you get to the next level and are not worrying about a OneSuit. For a OneSuit, keep it simple so you can use it for more things.

Your best bet for suits is Saks, Nordstrom or Bloomingdales. Try to catch them on a sale - and get your OneSuit through that. You WILL get a suit for less than 400 at these stores if you look hard, and they will be more quality, look better and last you longer than H&M, Zara, Express, Mens' Wearhouse etc. You can have some luck every so often on eBay, Marshalls etc, but that is more difficult if you dont have patience to keep looking. Go to Saks, Nordy and Bloomy's on a big sale weekend and you WILL have luck.

You should save this on MS Word or something so you can easily copy and paste it in a month or so again.
I think this is like the 5th time you've written something like this. 

Or jsut leave it on your sig. 

 

Great info as usual though.

 

[dead stokc]

Thoughts on these?

Ferragamo btw

 

[persiafly]

Originally Posted by Dead Stokc

Thoughts on these?

Ferragamo btw

Love them at first glance, but I don't understand why the bow thing is brown. Throws off the look IMO.

 

[persiafly]

Here is my suit.

Kenneth Cole, from Nordstrom Rack, $355 including alterations. 100% wool.

Might get the sleeves slimmed out a bit. Bit extra room. Otherwise happy with the fit.

Thoughts please, Nii, RFX, etc. First suit I've had that I actually love. On my budget, and given my height/weight (6'4, 190), it's extremely hard to find well fitting suits.

 

[rfx45]

Suit looks great, really wouldn't expect that from a KC suit, your tailor did well.
You just need a longer shirt to show off some cuffs and a pocket square and your good to go.

Only complaint I could see is that the gorge might be too high, it looks like it could be a 3-button suit with all the space in the bottom.
That is more of the jackets style though than anything.

 

[oo206oo]

My dude Persia has some "man hands". Word to Seinfeld.

Suit looks good though.

 

[ooiron manoo]

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

Originally Posted by RFX45

Originally Posted by DoubleJs07

I'll never understand the high-water look with slacks....I love style, but that doesn't look right.

Is this based off the Kanye pic? Or the Thom Browne conversation a few pages back?

Nah....

*shrugs* To each his own tho...

I can't get down with this look either, it get's raves though since (IMO) it is very euro-centric.

Dress shoes with no socks is a personal faux pas.  Along with the "high water" look.  I like little to no break on my slacks w/ fashonable dress socks (Argyle, "Happy", Plain, etc.).   Seems to get rave reviews from the physical people I encounter, doubt it will from the cyberspace world.

I think the fact that he wears loafers w/ no socks kills the look, might as well accessorize those bare ankles with some ankle bracelets

 

[rfx45]

Fun socks gets lots of love from the internet. I wear them all the time too, my favorite are Paul Smith stripe socks. If they didn't retail so much I'd try and get all I can get my hands on.

The look on that pic isn't bad at all. I think it works for his style, very slick and fashiony. Not everyone can pull that off though.
I wear my loafers with no show socks sometime to get the same look, my pants just aren't as high.

 

[sputnik]

for 400 you can almost cop a hugo boss suit from the rack, id go with that

 

[shogun]

Originally Posted by RFX45

Originally Posted by shogun


i know wearing dress shoes with no socks goes with the highwater pants look but i still find it weird.  dress shoes are already uncomfortable, not wearing socks would probably add to the problem.

Your body just has to adapt to wearing dress shoes. It is like switching from baggy to a more fitted clothes, in the beginning it is uncomofrtable but once you get used to it, then you will be uncomfortable with the baggy clothes. 
The wearing no socks, it also takes some getting used to. I personally do not so it, but I do have loafer socks which works well for me.

I've been wearing dress shoes more often lately, but i'll always prefer boots and sneakers. They're more practical since I run around the city a lot and most of my shoes get beat up.  The new Johnston & Murphy shoes I bought aren't bad.  Cushioning is good, the leather just has to soften up more so the shoe won't be so stiff.  I want to try a boot/mid-cut type of dress shoe.

 

[rfx45]

I love wearing chukkas, check them out when you can.

 

[akuratl02]

RFX - you seem to know a lot ...

I like those oxfords that you posted a while back .... Think I will copp ..

But here's my question .. Where does a skinny tall dude shop for work pants @ (6 ft 5 190lbs) that will compliment those shoes? 

I need them to fit properly ... Shirts too if you have suggestion.

Thanks, appreciated!

 

[rfx45]

Definitely check out Nordstrom Rack. Most of the pants they have, especially dress pants have a 36" inseam and are unfinished. Just browse around which brands fit slimmer.
I posted too many shoes in this thread so I am not sure which one you want/like, hard to make suggestions.
However, going with navy or charcoal/grey, pretty much covers both brown and black shoes.

 

[crumps brother]

looking for some dirty bucks

reasonably priced...recommendations??

 

[jrhodges11]

Originally Posted by PersiaFly

Originally Posted by RFX45

Avoid Mens Wearhouse and Jos A. Banks at all cost.


Persia, I do not find Zara suits too short at all shorter than usual but not too short.
Maybe it's my height?

Here's an example, just bought this blazer from PS, this is usually the regular length in most suits and I find it a bit long.
I'll probably ask the tailor to take out an inch in length since it'll look longer once I take out 3/4" from the sleeves.

I guess it depends on how comfortable you are with the new trends in suiting, and how suitable (no pun) those trends are in your field of work.

Personally, I love the trendy short jacket look, but I would look ridiculous wearing a short jacket to a job interview given the field I work in. Any shorter than the jacket you're wearing here would be a huge faux pas for me right now.

So it does definitely depend on your own situation + your comfort level. So maybe he needs to analyze that a bit, tell us what sort of interview he's going into, etc. If it's an ad agency, that's one thing. If he's going to be interviewing at a law firm, that's a whole different matter IMO.

Honestly never understood why you guys say stay away from there maybe bad personal experience but Jos. A Banks has pretty good quality suits
  

 

[biff lawson]

Originally Posted by ksteezy

The shoes are Cole Haan, i didnt know there were many NTers around here...

Tap tap pull all through cross county mall...lol

will do

 

[imnacho]

Mi graduation:

Graduation Party (The shoes where Zara mocassins/drivers in brown suede):

What do you think?

 

[akuratl02]

Originally Posted by RFX45

Originally Posted by Falcon4567

Finally, I found a pair of plain black/brown oxfords

This ones not bad and on sale: http://www1.bloomingdales.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=452654&CategoryID=18680
http://www1.bloomingdales.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=452655&CategoryID=18680

RFX - In question as to which shoe post I was regarding to, it was this one .. 

So I was asking what style/brand pair of pants would make a great fit for somebody who is slim at 6 ft 5 190 or so ??

Appreciate it ..