My first suit: Calvin Klein charcoal 3-button

I am starting a job with a financial services company, and needed a suit.

I opted for a beautiful dark charcoal 3-button that seems quite versatile in regard to occasion and matching with other things I wear. The cost was $400 plus tailoring, and seems reasonable since it was on sale from $550.

My arms are incredibly long, so many of the sales associates tried to convince me that a long jacket length suit would be better, but I quickly realized that the proportions of a regular length jacket would be much better. I just have long arms and legs...would they have me believe that if my thumbtips came down to my knees, that my jacket should go down to my knees? I don't think so!

I also plan on buying a few more as soon as I can afford to. In particular, I'd like a black one, a light grey, a navy, 2 pinstripes (black and grey/charcoal), and maybe some sort of houndstooth or subtle square/plaid design.

I feel myself getting into fine menswear in the same way that I did fragrances! (uh-oh!)

I got it at Lord and Taylor's. They did charge $25 or so for the tailoring.

I'm sure I'll climb the ladder of suit quality in good time (when I can easily afford it), but for now, getting half a dozen suits at $200-$500 a piece is going to be tough to begin with. I stumbled upon a site called www.askandyaboutclothes.com that is to suits what basenotes is to fragrances, so hopefully it will be my guiding light.

I at least hope to think that I started out with the "suit equivalent" of a decent designer fragrance as opposed to the equivalent of a scent you could find at the grocery store or wal-mart! I'm happy with it!

I'm thinking of picking up another from Bachrach. Seems like a beatiful fabric and suit for about 300 bucks. ("sharkskin" with blue pinstripe 3 button with dual vents) Any comments? (dare I ask?)

I'm discovering some of my preferences, such as 3-buttons, dual vents, flat-front pants, slim or "european" fit, etc.

Geez, I can just see my obsession switching from $100 bottles of cologne to $500 suits. There are half a dozen more that I feel like I absolutely must have (just like my "wish list"). Shit.

An update:

I've purchased two more suits and have plans for one more (at least!)

I went ahead and bought the Bachrach grey w/ blue pin and loved it, but found a tiny hole in the neck fold fabric today. I called and they immediately replaced it. I've found Bachrach and the tailors at Lord and Taylor to be the most knowledgable and helpful. The suits at Bachrach seem to be of great quality and fit as well.

Today I got a great deal on a Hugo Boss 3-button charcoal with subtle dark blue pinstripes. It is gorgeous - listen to this - Originally $695, with several sales and discounts factored in, I got it for only $190!

As far as tailors go, I've decided to make the resident tailors at Lord and Taylor my go-to guys. They do not charge extra for the "facing" that needs to be put in to lengthen the sleeves to the neccessary extent, and also charge much less than Macy's. I have yet to investigate the "freelance" tailors. Macy's wanted over $60 to lengthen the sleeves and hem the pants, while L+T was around $30.

I've found that of the small percentage of sales associates that actually know of a distinction existing between fused and canvassed suits, none of them have any available to even show me. The only place I've found Brioni suits is Saks. I didn't bother wasting the SA's time there. It is because of this that I must asssume that almost all of the "general", suit-wearing "population", wear fused suits exclusively. Now I don't feel so bad owning a few nice ones. I think Bachrach might use partial canvassing in some suits. The SA's and I were unable to determine for sure. They are honest about it, while some SA's try to cover up their lack of knowledge by changing the topic to some other, thinly-disguised pressure tactic. I've even been congratulated for knowing that canvassing exists by some SA's.

I love suits. And cologne. And furniture. And electronics. No wonder I'm always broke.

Nice,

You mentioned that CK isn't highly regarded, but what IS, that doesn't cost upwards of a thousand bucks (which is out of my price range)?!

Like you, I am very much impressed with the CK I got for a discount; I love the fabric, and it fits me like, well...a suit! (or a glove, if you didn't pick up on that..)

After doing quite a bit of homework on this, and evidantly surpassing the knowledge of the common suit department SA, I've decided that I have no problem buying designer suits costing only a few hundred bucks. I've learned of the difference between canvasing and fusing, and don't really care or have a preference, and to be honest, I don't think I'd be able to sleep at night if I paid $2000 for a suit anyway, even if I was making a million bucks a year. It's just simply NOT justified. I'm certain the guys on www.askandyaboutclothes.com will readily disagree with me, but for now, I'm feeling like a million bucks in my $300-500 suits.


And another thing....... Who the hell is actually going to Saks and paying $200 for these ties?! I am doing my best to not sound like a cheapskate, but $200 for a god damn tie?! I'll stick to TJ maxx and occasionally department stores (if I can get a hell of a discount), where I can get ten or fifteen ties for $200. And not crap either. So what if it isn't Hermes? The quality of the material is the same (or at least the same to most of us) and the patterns and stripes are so varied, I don't see any way someone could identify a discounted $15 Nautica tie from a $180 Hermes tie.

Oh well... "Nothing exceeds like excess"!