I need a men's suit.

October 30, 2022 9:57 AM

I need a suit. Average height, weight. I don't want anything trendy, and don't want to hire a tailor. 3 seasons. Are the 'fake' pockets on some men's jackets a sign of cheapness, or meant to prevent unsightly bulging? How wide a lapel? Don't like pinstripes. Good material. Have a light complexion. Need it soon.
posted by ebesan to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (16 answers total)

Thrift store. Goodwill. Men's section.
posted by Rash at 10:05 AM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Men's Wearhouse?
posted by chesty_a_arthur at 10:11 AM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Sometimes the "fake" pockets are real pockets that are sewn shut so that it stays in shape until the owner opens them with a tiny blade. I suggest Nordstrom if you have one near you. They have tailors on staff to make any adjustments to make the suit look good or at least open the pockets (sometimes the back vents) for you.
posted by tipsyBumblebee at 10:14 AM on October 30, 2022 [15 favorites]

I've never encountered fake pockets on suits. Often pockets are lightly sewn shut with a basting thread so that they hold their shape when on the rack, pre-purchase, but once you own the suit you should carefully cut those threads so that you can use the pockets.
posted by mumkin at 10:16 AM on October 30, 2022 [8 favorites]

but once you own the suit you should carefully cut those threads so that you can use the pockets.

Or you can leave them shut; I find the inside pockets on suit jackets to be plenty for me and I like having the better line which comes from leaving the pocket permanently sewn up.
posted by vincebowdren at 10:28 AM on October 30, 2022 [6 favorites]

(Side note, you never put anything in the pockets)
You really do want it tailored. If you’re just having one suit, get it off the rack or thrift store, but have it altered. It makes all the difference.
Good material is wool, bad material is polyester.
The best thrift stores I have found for suits are non-chain stores like a church or SPCA or something.
Nordstrom’s is great. Banana Republic if you’re thin enough (I am not). Or a local shop.
posted by kerf at 10:31 AM on October 30, 2022 [4 favorites]

If I needed one suit for infrequent wear and wanted it to last as long as possible without becoming hopelessly dated, I'd get a charcoal grey single-breasted two-button with notch lapels and a double-vent in the back. The pants should be uncuffed and non-pleated. Lapels should be an inch to an inch and half wide (if you're not sure what any of these terms mean, Esquire has a good guide here.

I highly recommend even if you "feel" it fits okay to have it checked out for alterations. Trust me, it is not that expensive and will do a world of wonders on how comfortable it feels and looks.

Thrift stores may not be the best source for "timeless" suit fashions as a lot of times the suits are from older or deceased men who obviously no longer need them - for years I'd see garish seventies or early eighties suits with giant lapels and bell bottom-ish pants. If you do find a suit at Goodwill you like, do a quick check of the crotch area to make sure it's not worn or torn - that is always the first place a suit wears out IMO.

Men's suits are some of the most conservative outfits in regular use but even with them the style changes eventually. An older suit wearer once told me a good rule of thumb is that suit fashions change about every 10-15 years and beyond that they look out of date - for instance, look at the suits Chandler Bing wears on Friends. They're exaggerated but I can confirm most suits in the nineties had that big boxy three-button look that now looks dated.

Good luck!
posted by fortitude25 at 10:56 AM on October 30, 2022 [7 favorites]

Many of the "fake" pockets on suit jackets and blazers are actually real pockets that have been sewn shut. You can open them if you like (always do this with the breast pocket so you can use a pocket square) or leave them closed. If it were something like a pocket flap that flips up to reveal nothing underneath--an actual fake pocket--yeah, I'd see that as a sigh of cheapness.

As for lapels, you should be fine with anything that's not extreme. People who are in to classic men's fashion nowadays tend to favor wider lapels, whereas younger men and those who are more trend influenced seem to be going for quite narrow lapels as well as extremely close tailoring and jackets that are shorter than traditional. In my opinion, a jacket with a lapel on the wide side will stand the test of time better than one with a skinny lapel.

As for materials, for a good three-season suit you want wool. The best recommendation for a man's first suit is solid navy blue, single breasted with a double vent. Second choice for color would be charcoal grey. Definitely do NOT get a black suit unless you are an undertaker or go to a lot of funerals. I would also recommend a solid color rather than something with a stripe or check. Why add the complication of pattern matching to your wardrobe choices when first starting out? If you do get a pattern, I'd recommend a micro-pattern or, better yet, a "pattern" that's created by the weave of the fabric.

Just like kerf, I have to ask why you don't want your suit to be tailored. Suits are literally designed to be tailored--they can look terrible and feel uncomfortable if they're not tailored. At a bare minimum you have to have the pants legs set to the correct length and finished, and the jacket sleeves must also be set to the correct length. You may have seen men whose jacket sleeves are creeping over their hands and whose pants are puddling around their ankles. Don't be that person. In addition, tailoring is the single most important thing you can do to wind up with a suit that fits properly, is maximally comfortable and makes you look the best. Thus, for example, if you have 600 bucks to spend on a suit, you are far better off spending $300 on the suit and $300 on tailoring than you would be buying a $550 suit and spending fifty bucks only to get the sleeves and inseams set. That first suit is going to look way better on you.
posted by slkinsey at 11:06 AM on October 30, 2022 [3 favorites]

Lapels should be an inch to an inch and half wide

Hmm. I have to disagree with this recommendation, pretty strongly. I have a mixture of bespoke and off-the-rack suits and blazers, and the lapels range in width from 3.5 to 4.5 inches at the widest point. 4.5 inches I'd call a "wide lapel." A "normal lapel" will fall somewhere between 2.5 and 3.5 inches (perhaps expanding to 2.25 for a fairly small frame and 3.75 for a fairly large frame). 1 to 1.5 inches is definitely in "skinny lapel" territory, and that's not going to age well or even look particularly savvy today among others who own and wear suits and blazers.
posted by slkinsey at 11:17 AM on October 30, 2022 [2 favorites]

Depending on your budget, probably the best thing to do is go to a large department store (if those still exist), or if you're in a big city there is likely to be a men's business wear store, probably downtown not far from the courthouse. As others have said, you will want some tailoring, but most places that sell decent suits will either have an in-house tailor or can recommend a tailor who's nearby. If you're of average build, you find a suit that generally fits and get a little tailoring. The tailoring will take less than a week, and if you're in a rush you can usually request next-day service.

Insist on 100% wool. As slkinsey said, probably navy blue or charcoal, single-breasted. Unless you have a specific other color in mind because of where you'll be wearing it. You might as well wear a button-up shirt when you're shopping so you can get a better idea of the overall look when you're trying on suits. If possible, try on a few different jackets and notice what you like or don't like in terms of lapels, length, etc. One or two vents in back doesn't really matter, IMO. The salesperson should be knowledgeable enough to critique the fit and tell you things like "oh this can be taken in a bit and will look great" or "the shoulders are wrong and that's impossible for the tailor to fix."
posted by unreadyhero at 11:20 AM on October 30, 2022

You said you need it soon. In your position I'd pay a tailor to measure me for a suit, and then I'd do the website customer service live chat thing to find the two most plausible sizes for this suit:

https://www.jcrew.com/p/mens/categories/clothing/suits-and-tuxedos/suit-jackets/ludlow-slim-fit-wide-lapel-suit-jacket-in-italian-worsted-wool/G1142

This has a lapel size that won't look unbearably dated in two years.

Probably still end up going back to the tailor but it would be wearable in the meantime.
posted by kensington314 at 11:52 AM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

The Jcrew Ludlow suit is a good option for a basic suit that will look nice. Ideally, you could find a store to try one on - but ordering a couple of sizes online is a good idea. Get navy or charcoal, not black. Hugo Boss at a department store like Macy's is another good basic option.
posted by Mid at 2:27 PM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

I'm guessing that when you say you don't want to hire a tailor, you mean you want to buy off the rack. Concentrate on making sure that the jacket fits as well as possible in the shoulders. You can have other things adjusted more easily in alterations if you need to.

You want a 2-button suit, in navy or charcoal. Plain wool is a good fabric. Agree with the JCrew and Hugo Boss suggestions. If you look at the "classic fit" suits from Macy's that shows you what a boring non-trendy but not unfashionable suit currently looks like. You want one that looks like that.
posted by plonkee at 3:02 PM on October 30, 2022

I would suggest going to a Men's Warehouse or a Nordstroms type place, where there are plenty of options and you can get a sales associate to assist you. Especially, if you are looking for an off the shelf option, it can be very helpful to have outside advice on what is a good fit.
posted by oceano at 4:11 PM on October 30, 2022

Echoing the navy or charcoal, 2 button wool suit. This will almost never date and be perfectly acceptable anywhere you need a suit, although it will never be 'trendy'. Also make sure the shoulders fit, but don't worry about length of legs, sleeves etc - it's well worth getting a suit altered to fit if it's something you're going to keep long-term. A suit that doesn't fit well will always and forever be uncomfortable and look like it doesn't belong on you. A couple of minor changes can work miracles with the say a suit looks on you.

Suits usually have the pockets sewn shut as others have mentioned. You can leave them sewn up or cut them open as you please. I never use the lower outside pockets of a suit jacket, but cut them open so I can tuck the pocket flaps in for a cleaner line. I do often use a pocket square for a more formal occasion and you can use this to give the suit a bit more personality or co-ordinate with a partner etc. There are plenty of tutorials online on the 'correct' ways to fold and wear a pocket square but, eh, do what you like.
posted by dg at 5:17 PM on October 30, 2022 [1 favorite]

Another mention to reinforce the single most important thing about the jacket fit: get the shoulders right. They should sit nicely on you, with the fabric draping down and just brushing your upper arms. Check that you can comfortably raise your arms completely, too.

If you've got a jacket that fits on the shoulders, it's cheap and easy for someone to adjust the waist; but not the other way around.
posted by vincebowdren at 5:27 AM on October 31, 2022 [2 favorites]