Suit Shopping

Shopping For Suits

A few questions to ask yourself before reading:

1. What suits do you wear?
2. How much did they cost?
3. Where did you buy them?

Where I Get My Suits

So lets start with telling you where I got my suits. We have all tried the big name brand stores that charge too much for poor quality. Perhaps the local town stores that probably charge the correct amount given the quality, but that too can cost more than you'd like. Where did I get my suits? Almost all of my suits are from Macy's. I know what you're thinking, "Wow that is a bold move," or "Well I never thought of shopping there." Macy's if shopped correctly, can really push out great suits at a cheap price. However, if shopped correctly almost any store can produce the right suit for the right price.

Deals Deals Deals

I understand we all shop for deals and with deal with shops. Really I do not see a reason to buy suits at full price, and frankly I will make fun of you if you choose to do that. Suits can cost anywhere from $150-$5,000 and more. It is insane to spend that kind of money on suits. So you must constantly be searching for deals before you plan to buy.

Walk into Macy's and before buying, ask if there are any sales coming in the future. If there are, you may be able to pre-sale the item and stack on more deals. All of the sudden a $400 suit at Macy's is knocked down to $200. Pre-sale items are great if you do not need the suit immediately, and if you think you need the suit immediately, you don't. Save money should be your first priority. Don't buy often and buy in advance.

If you allow yourself time to shop, you wont have the pressure of settling for something expensive or something with poor quality. Neither of which you want to do. You wouldn't walk into a car dealership and buy a car without taking time to hear the specifications and test drive would you? Shopping for clothes should be no different. I highly recommend searching online before entering the store. It gives you an idea of what the store offers, the prices, and the current or future sales. Most times you can get the store to ship an item from their warehouse if they do not have it in store.

How Many Suits?

Well I would not call myself an expert but I stand by what I was told a long time ago by a family friend, "A man should only need three pairs of shoes. Brown, black, and casual." I believe this mentality can easily transfer to the suit world. How many suits do you own? Start with charcoal and then expand.

Now you'll have to stick with me on this one because I know you're going to want to buy multiple, and thats fine if you want to but you do not have to. Unlike you see in the movies, suits aren't often worn every hour of every day. The jacket is mainly for meetings or any time you are out of the office, so there shouldn't be a need to dry clean every week. The pants, unless damaged, should be fine to wear if you take care of them. Come home and immediately change pants, limits the amount of time and the risk of spilling coffee on them. So for the first week of the job, alternate shirts and ties, as they stand out more in a suit, and keep the suit clean.

Conclusion

Never settle for less than the quality you're looking for, never pay more than you budgeted for, and never listen to the sales rep unless it's an easy question not resulting in them selling an item to you. If the sales rep says something like, "Now this suit over here..." You are probably already in their trap. I challenge each of you to keep to 3 suits for an entire year. All you should need are Navy, and dark and/or light grey. Trust me, it works if done right.

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Have some questions or more tips? Leave them in the comment section!