How to wear a 20th Century Suit

It was apparent at Chimera that some of the gentlemen attending do not often wear a suit. I’d like to offer some friendly advice on how to wear one.

[size=150]Purchasing a suit.[/size]

Option 1 - the tailor
If you are after a good suit, go to a tailor, get measured and pay for a tailored suit. If you ever pass through Asia I recommend making the time to do this.

When I went through Hong Kong some years ago I had a suit made. I was measured at 10pm and it was ready at 10am the next day. This was a three piece suit with an extra pair of trousers and 5 shirts and it cost about $550. I have never failed to get a job when I have worn this suit to an interview so I consider that money well spent.

If you are ever in the position where you will need to wear a suit for work, take this option. Always get a second pair of pants.

NOTE: If you ever, even once, get a tailored suit, you have a tailor. Talk about your tailor as though you see him every week, even if you never plan to see him again. If anyone ever complements your suit you can say something like “thank you, I wasn’t sure myself but my tailor insisted it was the thing and that’s why we have them after all…” Always imply the other person must have a tailor, simply because you’re talking to them.

Asian tailors have websites and you can email them measurements. Send them photos of yourself from the from and side as well so they can see the curve of your spine.

Option 2 - off the rack (new)
There are some good high end suit shops in NZ but, unless you have a “normal” body shape it is often better value to get a tailor made suit from Asia.

Barkers / Hallenstiens and the other men’s clothing stores sell a reasonably plain selection of suits. Typically black or navy blue. They have specials and you can often pick up a new suit for around $200. When you try on suits, take a woman with you and trust them.

If you are short like me, make sure the jacket isn’t too long. If they want to charge you to take up the trousers raise one eyebrow and say “you can’t be serious, you charge to take up trousers”, look around as though worried someone may see you in a suit shop that charges extra to make trousers fit.

The most important thing with buying a suit off the rack is giving yourself time to find one that fits. Be prepared to try on a lot of suits and reject them. Look for the specials and when you go past suit stores pop in and have a look. Off the rack jackets will fit you about one time in ten. The average shop may have 3-4 styles of suit so plan to visit at least 4-5 shops before you make a choice.

Purchasing an off the rack suit is a bit like like seducing someone. You both send out signals and hopefully if the other person understands them and sends the right signals back you both end up fully appreciating the fact that a double espresso will keep you awake all night.

When you’re looking at suits and the salesperson says “do you want to try on the trousers?” it’s a bit like saying “would you like to come up for an espresso?” It’s not quite closing the deal, but all going well at this point, they’re assuming a “yes” could be on the cards…

If you’re not interested, don’t go up for coffee. If you’re not planning to buy the suit, don’t try on the trousers. Putting the trousers on says to the salesperson “I’ve bought the suit, time to get out the shirts…”

Option 3 - second hand
I often prefer a second hand shop to a chain store like Barkers or Hallenstines because the selection is that much greater. One of my favourites is “The Paperbag Princess” on K Rd (nothing over $40).

You can get some real bargains in stores like this and a lot of the clothing is in really good condition. The best thing is that they usually turn over stock reasonably quickly so you can call in a week later and expect that they’ll have things you haven’t seen before.

Option 4 - TradeMe
I’d probably never buy a new suit off TradeMe but I’ve bought one second hand one and a couple of jackets online and they’ve always been very good. Get out your tape measure and go web surfing. The nice thing about TradeMe is they have some funky stuff for good prices. The bad thing is you can’t try it on.

Styles of Suits
The two major styles in 20th century suits are single and double breasted. Generally speaking, if you are slim, wear single breasted; if you are solid, go for double breasted. All men look good in a suit that fits!

Never try to match jackets and trousers by trying to get fabrics that are close. If they didn’t come form the same bolt, they will not match. If you have a jacket, but no matching trousers, get contrasting trousers and don’t call it a suit.

  • Tweed jacket with brown/green trousers works.
  • Navy blazer with tan slacks works.

If you’re not sure, ask a woman, they’re born with a sense of fashion chromosome.

Shirts
When you buy a suit, get at least one new shirt. I normally get at least three shirts. Tailors will convince you six is the absolute minimum, if you if you let them. Shirts wear out faster than jackets because you wash them a lot. Then you iron them. If you don’t know what an iron is, ask your mom. When you’re young, the first time you ask your mom where the iron is, it’ll bring a tear to her eye. If you play it right, you can probably get the price of dinner out of her as well :smiley:

If you go to a good suit shop (not Hallenstines or Barkers) they’ll ask you your collar size (any but the greenest salesperson can normally tell your body size by looking at you). You probably won’t know it, and they will measure you.

Try on the shirt and do up all the buttons, fold up the collar, put on a tie and fold the collar down again. Do all of this in front of a mirror. If you can’t comfortably fit a couple of fingers down the buttoned up collar, it is too tight. Try the next size up.

When a shirt fits, it is comfortable and the tie and collar will sit flat. They collar will sit snugly and when the jacket is donned, it will slide over the collar.

Casual shirts have a collar that looks a bit like a business shirt collar but it may not work with a tie. Wear a business shirt with a suit.

Ties
Ties are made of silk.

Do not wear joke ties! No, really, just don’t!

Themed ties (golf, fishing etc) are lame. Everyone would rather be fishing than working. But when you’re working, you shouldn’t be dicking around thinking about fishing :unamused:

Get the salesperson to pick out a few ties and try them on with the suit. Buy the one they recommend.

Fabrics
Never wear a grey suit.

I prefer wool and my tailor says this is typical for a Kiwi. Some of the more modern fabrics crumple less.

Tails and bow ties
I recommend buying a set of tails the first time you have the need to wear a set. It’ll only cost you 3-4 times as much as renting one, but after you’ve had the occasion to wear them 3-4 times, every future time will be free. You’ll find reasons to wear them then because nobody can out dress tails. It just isn’t possible!

Once you have a set of tails, wear them 'til they fall apart. Pop seams climbing statues while drunk. Car surf in tails. You’ll get away with it because you’re in tails and you’ve obviously just come from a wedding. A man in tails can get away with anything! I drunkenly kissed a police woman once and all she did was smile at me and tell me not to play in traffic! Try that in a hoddie and see how far you get.

With tails, the shirt should be clean (napisan after every time you wear it) and ironed.

It’s called Black Tie for a reason. Black bow tie for most occasions, but white for State occasions. Red bow tie only if the groom insists or it is St Valentine’s Day. Try to talk the groom out of red.

Caring for your suit
Hang it on a coat hanger with the trousers. Dry clean only. Get a suit bag, good suits will come with one but they only cost a few dollars at the dry cleaners. I normally put my best shirt and a matching tie in the bag with the suit and toss a new pair of socks in as well. That way I’m ready to jump on a plane at a moments notice.

Do not iron a suit. Depending on the fabric, you may be able to iron the trousers. I never do because the fabric goes shiny. Hang them in the bathroom when you have a shower. Shirts go through the washing machine and be ironed.

The only time you should leave your suit on the floor is if you are entertaining a lady. (Hanging up a suit when undressing is not a good look).

Most suits come with extra buttons. Some are sewn inside the jacket so you will never loose them. Some are attached to a little tag you remove. If you remove the little tag, put it in your sock drawer. Replace them if they fall off or get your dry cleaner to do it.

Lastly…
The most expensive clothing you’ll every buy is the stuff you never wear. Don’t pick one shirt over another because it’s $10 cheaper. Get the one you like. You’ll wear it at least twice as often, so it’ll actually cost you less in the long run.

EDIT: yes I’m aware we’re not in the 20th century - but most of the games where we wear suits are.

Nice post Derek.

As a long time suitwearer, I can attest to the value of tailor suits. Most of mine were tailor in Bangkok, where silk/wool mixes are very inexpensive. Think $350 for a suit including two trousers, possibly even cheaper if you procure near the backpacker areas (e.g. Khao San Road), although you get what you pay for.

I even found a tailor who bolts of tye-died silk/cotton mix, so I was able to get some very sharp tye-died business shirts. When you are wearing a suit 4 or 5 days a week, funk is important.

I prefer double-breasted to single, but both are classic.

A good time to invest in some suits is when you are on your OE. A classic black suit is a must because it is so flexible (weddings, job interviews, tangi etc).

Tailored suits really stand out. I bought a couple of suits on my way up to London on my OE. When I started my first temping job, the staff commented on my jacket that was on the hanger. They all assumed that the only one who could afford it was the Senior Managar who earned NZD 300K per year.

A good suit goes a long way, although nowadays I wear jeans and T shirts to work…

Amen to that. I’m glad! I don’t have to wear a suit often; I tend to wear them for some events and not others, as the whim takes me.

In terms of wearing suits for larps what you wear will depend a lot on the game and your budget. Some of the roles we want to portray wear expensive clothing and it can be very hard to get something appropriate on a budget of $50. Most people are not going to be able to afford the right type of suit for each genre. So, in that regard, the fact that they’ve made the effort counts for something - if they actually put the suit on properly (hint: a mirror helps)

But when you decide to wear a suit in the real world, it’s good to have a suit that makes you look better, not worse.

Slightly related but not, this is advice for both sexes.

jugglezine.com/

The article is ‘How to use clothes to build “Brand You”’ and as a person with a distinctive dress style it was nice to see someone advocating this in a work situation.

(Notable tidbits of advice include “The conventional wisdom on dressing for success is ridiculously straightforward. Buy good, simple, quality suits and separates. Iron your shirt. Shine your shoes. Wear a good, understated watch. Splurge on a high quality handbag or tie. Avoid the outré and the trendy. Dress like your boss, or for the job you want to have.
To which I say: BOR-ing.
Instead, wear orange. Wear polka-dots. Wear both together!”)

Malu - you say that like it’s a joke :smiley:

I’ve sworn off black and blue suits for the moment. Orange is good but I’m not sure about polka dots on a man…

…available on TradeMe…

Ooh, here’s a tip: If you buy a cheap (new) suit, still get 2 pairs of pants. Keep one for wearing only with the suit.

I bought a cheap suit when I was 16 and picked up a set of tails a few years later. I also have a few funky jackets (and pants) for out-dressing the other jeans-and-t-shirt-wearers at work.

I wish when I was 16 I’d just got one that fit. If you’re over 16, you’ve probably finished growing - so don’t get something just a little bit too big. That stopped working a couple of years ago.

The 2 pairs of pants thing is an artefact of the suited office. If you’re constantly wearing suits, then it’s your pants that take the hit since you are likely to hang your jacket up when you get to your desk.

Ergo, the jacket wears out more slowly than the pants.

Except of course when your buying a burial suit…in that case turn down the 2nd pair of trou :stuck_out_tongue:

I’ve always been a fan of knee-length suit jackets. Any reason why no one wears them anymore? I can’t seem to find any of them around, which is really the only reason I don’t own a suit. A normal suit jacket just looks terrible on someone like me who naturally slouches forward while walking or sitting.

You can find them at places that do rental suits for weddings and such like.

I used to have one until I left it some unknown place. It was great, except that it could sometimes look like a dress. They can also look a bit “Matrix”.