How to Wear a Suit – Ranking The All Important Details
Above: J. Crew Worsted Wool Ludlow Suit – $590.00
Anyone can wear a suit. Anyone with enough money can buy a tremendously well made suit. But it’s the attention to a few key details, not the money spent, which sets a small group of men drastically apart from the suit wearing masses. Keep an eye on these six details and you’ll soon find yourself miles ahead of the male style peloton.
In order of priority, with what gets noticed most, and first.
1. The Fit and Tailoring
The easiest and most important step to looking great in a suit is to get it tailored. Buying a suit and not getting it tailored is like buying a sports car and never going over 25mph. What’s the point? This is your suit. It has to fit you. You want a V-shape, darted in at your sides, with shoulder pads that drop off where your shoulders end. The jacket sleeves should show about a 1/4″ of shirt cuff, and your pants should be neither baggy or high-water short. Need a perfect example? Take a look at Chuck Liddell in the August 07 issue of GQ. That’s how you do it.
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2. Your Shoes: Johnston & Murphy Gillum Runoff – $104.00 (reg. $124.95
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As an upright human being, you’re mainly vertical. Your feet are always horizontal, parallel with the earth. So if your shoes look off, there’s no hiding them. Your toes should be rounded points, or slight chisels. No squared off Frankenstein shoes. Also stick with modern lengths that provide a little extra length in the toe and keep it sleek through the mid section. For all that (and some sweet extra stitching at the toe) try the Johnston & Murphy Gillum
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3. Your Watch: Armani Steel Chrono – $295.00 | Skagen Brown Multi – $78.00
You can keep it clean and classic with a plain round case, a little thicker with a slimmed down chronograph, or even super dressed up with a slim rectangular watch. But if you just don’t wear a watch period, you’re missing the opportunity to say quite a bit with a very small piece.
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4. The Shirt Collar and Tie: Navy & White Stripe Tie – $15.99
| K. Cole Dress Shirt – $29.99
Think of wearing a suit as Thanksgiving dinner. The fit and tailoring is the bird. Pretty easy to take care of but God help you if it’s not done right, or worse yet… doesn’t make it to the table at all. Your tie is the starchy side dish. Throw something goofy out there like multi-color marshmallow yam casserole, and it’ll detract from the entire meal. Just mash some potatoes and everyone will love it.
Translation: Keep it simple. And do the opposite of what Chris Berman does.
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5. Your Pocket Square
It’s worth repeating: a pocket square is like steroids for your suit, with none of the side effects. I don’t care that it seems like a flash in the pan fad that’s starting to fade. You can wear a slim, folded, white pocket square from now until the end of time, and you’ll look all the better for it. Yes you can mix in patterns. No you shouldn’t let it poof out of a pocket. It’s called a pocket “square” not a pocket “lump.” Keep those angles at 90 degrees.
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6. Your Socks: Banana Republic Argyle Sock – $8.50 | Target Merona Striped Sock – $2.50
It’s the one place a minimalist guy can show some bright colors and it looks terrific. Gray suit, white shirt, navy tie and black shoes? Throw some big bold stripes in there for the hell of it. Wearing a patterned suit and a not-so quiet shirt and tie? Keep the socks toned down.
Agreements? Disagreements? Extra tips that were missed? Leave it all in the comments section below…
NOTE: Those shoes are actually only $104 right now. Endless is doing a back-to-school sale, where you get $20 off purchases of $100 or more. When you add the item to your cart and then go to Check Out, the price will update to the new price. Nice too, because they offer free 2 day shipping which, in my experience, often (not always) gets upped to next day behind-the-scenes.
Nice. Good catch Bryan. Thanks!
I’m glad you like your pocket squares to be square. Everyone I ask in WI likes it sticking out like a triangle, except me.
Cheers-
Not only that, but endless.com is still eligible for the 40% bing cash back until the end of the month, so those shoes really only cost ~60$.
Damn. I forgot about that, and have never done bing cash back before. I already ordered the shoes, is it still possible for me to get the cash back?
Here’s how Bing Cash Back works in case anyone is wondering… But I’ll give the cliffs notes version. You shop specifically through BING, jump through some hoops, wait 60 days, and you get a rebate check…
It is not possible to get the cash back, but they have free shipping on returns. So just re-order them with the cash back this time around.
Yea I read up on it and don’t think I am eligible because I did not click the cashback link to get to endless. I emailed them asking them to cancel my order so that I can re-order with bing.
Also, my ego has a problem with having a high schooler explain the process to me 😀 lol, so luckily I read up on it after seeing Steve’s comment.
Awesome post. I normally see a lot of advice on this subject but its too vague. Do you guys know of any on the subject of pants? Ex: The rise of the pant, how it should fit on the butt, what a tailor should be doing with a pant, etc.
The best thing about wearing a grey suit or a navy is that the look will translate perfectly from the office to the night-out. You can ditch the tie and unbutton the top 2 to 3 buttons of the crisp shirt and enjoy the rest of your evening. Good post.
Is this meant to represent someone at a common American workplace because then yes, this is the way to go. However, it seems very bland to be worn out and about, say at a wedding. It’s no wonder men voted Italians to be the best dressed on AskMen.com, they have the balls to dress how they want when they want and because of that it’s masculine.
Joe, I’m just wondering if you have a pocket square of choice for a simple white version? I know it’s an incredibly simple piece, but to look good, it has to be just right, so I’m wondering what you recommend?
Cheers,
Ben
And that’s an awesome, awesome suit!
@Ben: I just use a simple white one. Folded, starched, and ironed. But a gingham one would be perfect for this time of year.
I think I’ve been hanging out at SF too much because my first reaction was shock at recommending a blucher to wear with a suit!
Thanks Joe. Where do you buy yours from? Are all pocket squares created equal, generally?
Cheers,
Ben
Absolutely. Shoes are a greater investment of money than suits. Find the right fitting suit is about effort and knowledge.
The grey suit with the narrow black tie in the pocket square picture is great. Any idea where I can find a suit with that cut? It looks like it has narrow lapels and a higher stance for the button.
I love all of these suggestions. With a doubled breasted suit. To me, the double breasted looks better.