How to buy a suit

Let me first express that every man SHOULD own at least one good suit. Even if you don’t wear a suit every day, you should own one. There are always special occasions to wear a suit (and you should always wear one when taking your darling out to dinner) and when you see it hanging in your closet you’ll always feel a sense of pride.

You know you want it.

So what exactly makes a good suit? Well that’s easy enough to answer, a good suit is timeless, not trendy, made from wool and good fitting. That’s it. It’s easy to know what makes a good suit but getting one can be difficult. Let me make it easier for you.

First, when you walk in to a store to buy a suit make sure the sales person helping you actually pulls out a tape and measures you. I don’t care if someone has been in this business for 50 years, every person is different and has specific needs. If the sales person doesn’t pull out a tape and measure you ask for another person to assist you. Sometimes sales people will try to impress you by just eyeing you up. I’ve been selling men’s clothing and furnishings for awhile now and no one is good enough to do that.

A man has needs

The second thing you need to know going in is, it’s OK to be over-weight. A good suit will flatter your frame and make you look good no matter what shape or size you are but there are some rules you MUST remember. If you’re a shorter guy, don’t be offended if a sales person offers you a “short”. A “regular” will not fit you correctly and you’ll look like a little kid trying to wear his dad’s suit. The bottom of a jacket should fall to right wear your legs connect to your butt. And the top button on the coat should sit on your natural waist. If you’re a bigger gentleman, do not wear a slim fit suit. I understand that slim fit is popular now but you’ll look like a sausage and you won’t be able to move. Like I said, of you’re over-weight, that’s OK, the right suit will make you look good. As a side note, if you are of the portly variety, stay away from horizontal stripes.

No. Just no.

Now, let’s talk a moment about “timeless”. Would you wear a suit with bell bottom pants? No, you’d like ridiculous but 40 years ago that was the trend. Would you wear a suit with huge shoulders? No. Again you’d look silly but that was the trend 30 years ago. When you buy a suit, ask yourself ” Will I look silly in this in ten years ” if you think the answer is yes, don’t buy it.

No way in hell

So, as I mentioned, “trim fit” is popular right now, I can’t predict of that’ll still be the case in ten years but the thing to remember about “trim fit” is that it means it has higher arm holes and slimmer trousers. If you’re a bigger guy and want that look, buy an updated traditional and have it tailored to fit your silhouette.

So, once you’ve been measured out (under the arms and over the arms around your chest and back) and determined your size, it’s time to pick a suit. In this case, I am going to assume you’re getting something off the rack as opposed to made to measure or bespoke, which we’ll cover another time.

When considering a suit, look at the jacket first. You can tell a lot about a suit’s quality just by the jacket. First, if you’re spending under $1,000, look for a coat that has a half canvas inner (not the lining of the suit, the layer between the outside and the jacket The other type of inner is “fused” which means is a padding with little glue beads in it that are the heated and fused to the outer. Fused inners are garbage and within two years your suit will look awful.

Half canvas

Obviously you can’t take the suit apart and look at the inside of the jacket so and easy way to tell if it has a half canvas is to pinch the lapel and roll it between your fingers. If it rolls easily and moves around then it’s fused, look at another suit, if there’s resistance, you’re probably good.

Once you’ve established you have at least a half canvas, look at the inside of the suit, particularly the stitching on the seam leading up to the collar. If there is a noticeable step between the lapel and the collar, this is a sign of quality and it means the collar will sit properly on your neck. If the seam is a straight shot, find another suit.

So now that you’ve established quality, put the jacket on and button the top button. What you want to see are the following: first make sure the shoulders of the jacket are flush with your shoulders and aren’t pulling or sticking out too far. Second, make sure the lapels lie flat against your chest and don’t pop up or fold. When it lies flat this is called anchoring, if it pops up it means the jacket is too tight. If it does pop out a little that’s OK, you can have the tailor let the jacket out a little and the lapel will anchor. Finally, make sure there is pulling around the button. Again if there’s a little pulling the tailor can release that.

These next points are personal preference but I recommend them, first see if there is “pick stitching” around the outside of the lapel. Pick stitching is a visible stitch around the outside of the lapel, this is a sign of quality. The second thing to look for are side vents. A jacket will have either side vents, a center vent or no vent. I prefer side vents because if you need to put your hands on your trouser pockets the back of the jacket will still cover your… assets.

Now that you’ve got the right jacket and everything checks out, step into the fitting room and try on the trousers. I’m going to take a minute here to say a PROPER suit is matched with a specific set of trousers. If you’re buying your first suit, buying you’re only suit or just trying to buy a good suit DO NOT BUY SUIT SEPARATES. It’s not that their necessarily a bad thing or that suit separates means poor quality, it’s just very risky and better left until you’re a seasoned suit buying veteran.

The most important part about good trousers is the fit. If you’ve never bought a suit or good trousers before, don’t be surprised that the pants are unfinished and will need hemmed. Make sure that the pants fit well first in the thighs as that can almost never be let out, then the seat as that can also be difficult depending on the cut of the suit. If they’re a bit to big in either of those areas then a tailor can take them in.

Next is the waist. Again, better to be too big than too small, though in most suits there’s room to let the trousers out a little in the waist. When the waist fits properly you should be able to lift your arms above your head and not have the pants fall down.

OK, let’s pause here a moment. I’ve mentioned tailoring a few times so far. A good tailor is important, they make the difference between a great fitting suit and a $2,000 shit sack. If the place you’re purchasing a suit from does not have a tailor on staff whom you can speak to before purchasing the suit, find another place to buy it.

The final thing I will say about trousers is, you should never wear them with a belt. They are designed to hang from your waist, not be bunched up and constricted. When you get the trousers tailored ask to have suspender buttons added (grown ups don’t wear clip on ties, why would you wear clip on suspenders) and have the belt loops removed.

There’s a few items of personal preference to consider as well. If you want a single breasted suit, you should get a notched lapel, flat front trousers and a plain bottom. If you want a double breasted suit go for peaked lapels, pleated trousers and cuffed bottoms.

To make sure you get the best fit possible, wear a well fitting dress shirt and the pair of shoes you plan to wear with the suit when you get it fitted.

To be honest there are about 10,000 little details that go into buying, fitting and owning a great suit but if you follow the guidelines I’ve just laid out for you, you’ll get a great suit.

My name is Rocky and I sell suits for a living.