Steal the Style: Brooks Brothers Slim Suit Fall Look
This is just about tailoring, color, and pattern more than anything. It’d be tremendous to wear head to toe Brooks Brothers, but that’s just not possible for most of us. Brace yourself, and your checkbook:
Here’s the original outfit which totals up to $1770.50
Fitzgerald Fine Stripe 1818 Suit – $998.00
Micro Medallion Tie – $95.00
Button Down Dress Shirt – $79.50
Cordovan Leather Wingtip – $598.00
And now the more affordable substitutes:
The Suit: The Indochino Navy Blue pinstripe three piece is probably the closest. And at $429 it’s not a bad price for wool, custom fit, notch (not peak) lapel, and flat front pants. Another options is the Hilfiger Trim Fit for $285.
The Tie: Proof that you can wear an orange or brown tie with a black belt and shoes. A less expensive, less busy, and much less orange-y option is this dark orange almost rust colored micro dot tie off Amazon
The Shirt: You’ll pay more upfront, but the J. Crew Button Down Collar Tailored Oxford is your best bet. It’s $65. But good luck finding another conservative button down collar shirt that won’t need to be brought in.
The Shoes: Turn to page 253 in the September issue of GQ. Look at the top. Those are the Topman Black Classic Brogues. The shape is flawless, the toe looks to be modern and slim, and it costs an incredibly reasonable $120.
Final Cost of the affordable substitutes: $634.00
Your thoughts?
 |
If you use the promotional code couponsnapshotfall at indochino you can get 11% off the suit, a free shirt, and a free tie. It expires 11/30/2010.
I actually just saw those shoes in GQ. Looks pretty decent for the price.
Thanks you for sharing the Indochino promo code I was planning on ordering a suit from them this week.
Instead of the shirt from J.Crew I’d recommend a shirt from Lands’ End. You can get a tailored fit no iron for $29.50, or if you prefer a pinpoint shirt for $39.50. The tailored fit is a great fit and the no iron finish keeps your shirt crisp all day long.
Joe, where can I get the Hilfiger suit for 285? I’d like to buy it but its 375 through Macy’s.
The Brooks shirt for $14 more than the JCrew is worth it. Of all the non-iron, I have found BB’s to be exceptional. You will save the $14 many times over in dry cleaning and opportunity cost.
@Adam: Macy’s actually has an exclusive deal with Hilfiger right now to carry their stuff in the US (I think). But it looks like the sale that was going on has since expired. Don’t worry though, the Hilfiger Trim fit and Alfani RED suits go on sale ALL the time. It’s actually kinda rare when they’re not. I’m guessing, and this is just a guess, that they’ll go back on sale during the Labor Day Weekend? And if not this weekend, it’ll be at most a month before they’re marked way down during the next One Day Sale. I wouldn’t jump on it while it’s full price though. You can save some serious money by sitting tight and checking back…
@Jason, I have had terrible luck with Land’s End shirts and would never order a shirt from them again. They have all been the opposite of “tailored fit”. So anyone looking to do that beware. J.Crew tailored fits aren’t bad, but not as good as Express 1MX or Alfani Red, in my opinion. Also, this probably isn’t a big deal considering the content of this article, but beware tail lengths on J.Crew button down shirts. They are always too long to leave untucked. Again, thats more of a general thing and probably not too applicable to this article (since I hope you’d tuck in with a suit).
@Joe
Just wondering, but why do you seem to dislike 3-piece suits/vests so much? With a flattering cut, suit vests seem pretty versatile.
It seems as though express 1mx now come in buttondown collars. I’m not sure if it’s worth it, with the weird wrinkling that express shirts inexplicable seem to have, but there is probably the slimmest OTR BD collar you’ll be able to find.
Oh wow! I think I found an actually good suit website! Thanks for linking Indochino!!!