HOW YOUR SUIT SHOULD FIT
You can be a gentleman no matter what you wear, but you can sure look like a gentleman by mastering the art of suiting up
I'd recommend both being one and looking like one, but let's focus on the latter here. Suits don't have to be boring or professional anymore. My 3 key ways to make suiting fun while getting it done right? 1) Fit 2) Fabric 3) Fcolor... or just color. Let's just go with hue.
1. First key is always fit, whether you have a $2,000 suit or a $200 suit. In fact, fit can make that less expensive suit look and feel like a million bucks. Conversely, a poor fitting Gucci suit won't even turn any heads and you'll be depressed. Luckily you can take it to the tailor for most fixes. As a general rule, try getting one size lower than what you think you are (assuming you haven't found your perfect fit). So if you have always thought yourself to be a 42L, try either a 42R or 40L to see what's better.
When discussing fit, there are a few areas to focus on. The shoulders are critical in this regard because they'd be expensive to tailor, especially compared to everywhere else. Make sure the suit's shoulder seams hit that bone area where your shoulder and arm meet. This is also a good blueprint for shirts and polos as well.
Length of your suit pants and jacket. Let's start at the bottom. The pants should have a break (i.e. where your pants end) that is either right above the [dress] shoe (aka no break) or right where the laces start (quarter break). Of course, if you are confident in your personal style, then feel free to show it off. I prefer no break or sometimes even higher depending on the shoes I'm wearing, like sneakers.
2. Although you don't have to break the bank when suit shopping, you may want to consider the material(s) before making that investment. A polyester suit may just run you a couple of cheap dates worth of cash flow, but sooner or later you'll get what you paid for and most likely end up looking like the cheap date that you are. Don't be cheap and don't be a cheap date. You can find some less expensive suits with decent material. That's an entirely different discussion, but stick with some type of 100% wool at least. Or 100% cotton for the summer. Polyester isn't the worst thing in the world, but try to limit its %. You'll find the 'fast fashion' stores like H&M and Zara will have more polyester or viscose blend than preferred. That's because these suits aren't meant to last. Don't load up on these. Instead, if you're balling on a budget, opt for places like J. Crew, Banana Republic, Club Monaco, and the like. They'll have plenty of sales to take advantage of. Check out the deals I throw out there in case you're on the lookout. Of course, if budget isn't your thing, then you can afford to go high end. Then your options are bespoke or a nice Gucci suit.
3. If you are building your suit empire from scratch, then you may want to start with either a navy or gray option. Within those two are many hues, but it's hard to pick the wrong one so go with one you like! My first option would be a light/mid gray suit, but that's because gray is my favorite color. It's so versatile even if gray is your favorite color. Gray windowpane suit, gray plaid shirt, black tie, white pocket square? Quite possibly #winning.
Winner? I think so!
