Today, as a slight change-up, Thicken My Wallet goes metro-sexual on you. For the better part of the decade, I have been a suit. Had to buy them. Had to wear them. Had to replace them. I scratched my head over the whole business casual thing during the earlier part of this decade and was equally puzzled when I first graduated law school trying to figure out what to buy to look professional in a corporate setting.
Looking back on the entire thing, I am astonished at how much money I have probably wasted buying clothes and how much bad advice on clothes you get (from a dollars and cents perspective and from a fashion sense). So, not that you asked, but here are some tips on dressing professionally for less. Now, given I am not a woman or a cross-dresser, my advice does tend to be very male specific (although if you have to shop for your male significant other, this may help you too).
- Buy three classic suits. Black (or dark blue), grey and blue in that order. Spend good money on the black suit. You can cheap out a bit on the others. Your black suit gets you in everywhere- work, formal work functions, weddings etc. Its your old dependable so pay a little more. Outlets sell perfectly good suits BUT the one thing you should not alter are the shoulders. If the shoulders don’t fit, don’t buy it. Remember you are not going to the NBA draft but to work- buy classic suits (no 4 button, 1 button, pink pin-stripes).
- Buy white and blue shirts- avoid the trendy colors. Remember the pink shirt trend? Anyone wear it anymore? Stock up on white shirts and blue shirts; you may not work at IBM but they are good colors to buy- they are classic and get you into every function without comment. The one downside is that white shirts and blue shirts don’t go on sale that much but why would you buy a pink shirt on sale if you could only wear it for one year? A good shirt should last you at least 18 months (more if you are careful).
- Never buy a tie at full price. They always go on sale especially in the summer.
- Try to wash your own shirts. Dry-cleaning is expensive and very hard on the environment and your shirts (a lot of chemicals are used to dry-clean). You can get more wear from your shirt if you wash and iron them yourself. You don’t need to dry-clean your suits more than once a year (you actually damage them if you do; the heat cause the suit to lose its shape). The cost of maintaining your clothes through dry-cleaning costs, over time, more than the clothes themselves in some instances.
- Causal Friday? Don’t go and buy a causal Friday only wardrobe. If your work place does not allow jeans for causal Friday, wear cords (good solid affordable pants) and a sweater- clothes you probably have already and things you can wear on the weekend with running shoes instead of your work shoes. You can do causal Friday without dropping hundreds of dollars at Banana Republic. Causal Friday was a conspiracy by retailers to get you to spend more money.
Anyone else want to share tips?
October 16th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Actually, many of the men in my office still wear pink shirts. They’ll never go out of fashion among the Brits, god bless em.
October 16th, 2008 at 9:33 am
Haha, good point. Just don’t mix your whites and pinks when you wash your shirts!
October 16th, 2008 at 12:04 pm
I still wear my pink shirts, but that’s because I’m colour blind and can’t tell the difference.
These are some great tips. Once you’ve got the basic three suits, I’d recommend a classic sportcoat to mix things up a little. Also, pay attention to the fabric of your suits- if it’s not 100% wool, you shouldn’t be wearing it.
October 16th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
eBay!!! I bought a couple of nice outfits from Harry Rosen and got them sized properly. Now I have set up a search on eBay and it e-mails me every time a new shirt is added in my size and for the brand I want. I get $250 shirts for about $60. Same for jackets – $700 for $150. Ties…you betcha – $100 for $40. The only thing I have not tried is pants…the brand I like is Canadian made and not really sold on eBay much. Be careful for knock offs but saves a lot of money!
October 16th, 2008 at 11:14 pm
Great post. Allow me to plug a store I have no connection with other than I get my suits there: Rugged Replays in Whitby Ontario. Bought a Nautica, Ralph Lauren, Shipley and Tommy Hilfiger suits – all four for $950. They sell many suits that are just over-produced and the major chains don’t have the need for them. The exact same suits at major chains would be $500 – $750 each. They get new stock in all the time. First time I went, nothing that I liked that fit. Second time – three suits in one go – all were phenomenal fit and style. They may even have dresses for Four Pillars.
October 16th, 2008 at 11:20 pm
Thanks for all the great tips! I hope we didn’t just put Brooks Brothers and Harry Rosen out of business!
October 19th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
“You know what ends up marked down? Weird colours. Guys don’t wear orange or citron.” — Mickey Drexler, CEO of J. Crew
Your advice is sound. Where you go influences what you wear. For meetings in a bank-branded tower in downtown Toronto, an Italian suit from Harry Rosen feels appropriate. Elsewhere, that’s overkill.
One day, I tried suits from major designers and found them better constructed and better fitting. They feel like part of your body, but different brands fit differently. Luckily, the $5,000 Brioni didn’t have the right cut for my body
I’ve toyed with shirts with French cuffs but find them a tad pretentious. No monograms either.
October 26th, 2008 at 9:28 pm
Best bargain in quality suits for my money. Costco. They have a traveling men’s clothing show that comes to select stores every fall . The prices are awesome and the quality is absolutely amazing. Picked up a cashmere/wool blend sports jackets (do they still call them that?) for C$139. Unbelievable value. If you’re a member check it out.