Need advice for cheap placeholder suit

[kenneth]

Greetings Dappered,


Here's my predicament. I've been surprised with a wedding invitation to a wedding set to occur in a month. I've been planning for a long time to get an Indochino suit, but a month isn't really enough time to be sure that it'll arrive and in the condition that I want. Furthermore, I just ended a bulking cycle so I'm unnaturally large right now, so my body type is changing somewhat (not a great deal, though, I still wear the same size clothes, they just vary slightly in fit). So I thought it would be best to get a cheap placeholder suit for this wedding and just get it tailored before getting another, nicer, Indochino later in the year.


Any recommendations on suit brands to try or avoid? I've been considering perhaps a navy because I'm almost sure to get the Indochino Prince of Wales grey, so I don't want to get more than one grey. I'd like to get a suit that I can wear my walnut Strands with, though.


Corollary question: how long does it take to get a suit tailored? If it takes a while, I won't be able to order online.

[alan]

Walnut strands will also look good with light or medium grey. You can add pinstripes for interest if the Indochino is going to be your "proper" suit. All that said, I think navy is a great choice. Unfortunately, I'm pretty picky about navy suits so I won't be much help in finding a temporary fix.


What's your budget?


If this is a daytime or outdoor wedding (or both) have you considered something non-wool? Non-wool suits (and I don't mean polyester) are generally cheaper to begin with so instead of getting a crappy wool suit, you could get a not-as-crappy cotton suit for the same money. So instead of being a temporary patch, it could be a viable wardrobe addition.

[alan]

... and in that vein, this looks like fun (and it'll go fantastic with your walnut Strands).


http://www.josbank.com/menswear/shop...1_10050_362788

[kenneth]

I'd actually prefer something non-wool, I'm very glad you brought that up! I'm hoping not to spend more than $300 as this won't be my first-choice suit, and my PhD program applications have left me in the poorhouse


That JAB is really interesting... I'm not sure I could pull off something like that though! But JAB always has fantastic deals, that might be the best for the money.

[Hardrain]

I wouldn't recommend a blue/white seersucker for a wedding (well, really for anything, but thats just me). In my opinion, every time I see someone in a seer sucker suit it just looks like they are screaming for attention. As a guest at wedding I think it is rude to wear anything too loud or pulling attention to yourself when the day should be focused on the bride and groom

[kenneth]

@Hardrain - that's my concern as well, I work in the metro ATL area and seersucker would stick out in a major way, wedding notwithstanding. We all don't have Alan's panache with such things, lol.

[kenneth]

How about something like this? Or does this scream "cheap"?

http://www.josbank.com/menswear/shop...1_10050_357190

[alan]

If you can't wear a seersucker suit in Atlanta, where can you wear it? :-D But hardrain does make a good point for the whole "look at me" thing at a wedding.


As for the last one you mentioned, it has pleated pants. That bugs a lot of people so just a heads-up there. Also, it's a cotton/polyester blend so it'll trap in heat and could create shiny spots over time as the poly threads rub against the cotton threads.

[alan]

How about this for an compromise?


http://www.josbank.com/menswear/shop/Product_11001_10050_357141


It's seersucker, but it has flat front pants and a navy option without the white stripes. So you get the seersucker texture without looking like you're headed to the derby.

[Hardrain]

Haha I suppose it will fit in in Atlanta better than anywhere else, I just happen to have a strange disdain for seersucker that I can't get over (maybe it was this kid that use to wear it in College that I didn't like)


Kenneth, about the JAB suits: I know you are in a time crunch and the JAB suits are very tempting, but I would try to stay away if you can. I was in a similar position two years back when I got a job that required suits and I didn't have one. I quickly bought a gray and navy JAB suit, as it was all I could afford. They are pretty crappy, the jacket buttons fell off, the pants ripped at the pocket, and the fit is terrible. The worst thing about the fit is that I never got it tailored because I refused to sink a lot of money into tailoring a poor quality suit.


Obviously this will be hard to do with little time, but I would keep my eyes peeled for a good sale suit at Macys. You can probably find one for a little more than a JAB suit, but a lot better fit and quality.


For example I got this suit for about $190 when they had a good sale and I signed up for a macys card (auto extra 20% off or something). It still isn't an amazing suit, but much better than my JAB suits.


http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/t...xx.esn_results

[kenneth]

Alan, I think that's a winner! Thanks so much. Pardon my ignorance, but is the seersucker material going to affect tailoring any? By which I mean will it be additional cost to take in sides, etc? I'm thinking with the JAB traditional fit there is probably going to need to be quite a bit of tailoring, but with a $150 price tag there is plenty of room for it in the budget.

[alan]

Here's a wool/linen blend from BR. It's tan, but will still look great with walnut Strands. It's regularly $380, but there's a 25% off coupon code that brings it down to $285:


http://bananarepublic.gap.com/browse/outfit.do?cid=80361&oid=OUT15504


On the plus side, it's a trim fit. The one thing that some people may not like is the peak lapels, but that's a personal choice.

[bj]

If you can find one of Macy's Bar III Slim Fit suits on sale, they're great. I know you said you were looking for non-wool, but they (well at least mine in light grey) is really lightweight. I can survive in it in Texas. Also, I recently got a Banana Republic Factory cotton/linen blend suit in tan for under $200

[alan]

Hardrain has a valid point about JAB suits, but I think it still has its place. I wouldn't buy my go-to suits there, but I think it's a viable option for "fun" suits. I've owned a suit from there and it lasted me 5 years before I outgrew it. It never failed on me, though.

[alan]

@hardrain: The sharksin suit is cool. I don't know if Macy's still carries it, but the Hilfiger trim fit navy sharksin looked awesome. But... It's still wool. :-S And the TH suits are known for their large shoulder pads. It doesn't stop me from wearing mine (grey pinstripe), but it bugs enough to people in here to prevent them from buying one.