Every white collar professional needs one go to suit. It is tailored perfectly, fits in at a job interview, office holiday party, wedding, funeral and the bullpen. Use this as a guide to getting your first suit and start off looking good on day one.
I fucked up out of the gate on this one and could’ve saved myself some money and embarrassment. Halfway through my summer internship, we had a team happy hour and toward the end, I found myself in a conversation with a managing director. This guy was a real size lord and someone who could influence me receiving a return offer. At the end of our short conversation, I asked for some feedback to gauge how I was doing. The MD paused and came back with, “I like you but you dress like SHIT.” Looking back, he was right but, in the moment, it was a gut punch. At the start of my internship, I had two suits; one black from high school I got for a funeral and one light blue suite from H&M and both fit like shit. Basically, I was switching back and forth from looking like an Olive Garden waiter and Adam Sandler from the Wedding Singer.
The conversation fizzled shortly after that and a full-time analyst I was friends with came over after overhearing the conversation. The next day I took his advice, bought a charcoal Jet Setter suit with an extra pair of pants from Bonobos and went to his tailor once it was delivered. In total, I spent ~$1,000, which was a lot of money at the time, but absolutely worth it. I wore that suit every day for the remaining ~4 weeks and secured a return offer. Id like to think my technical capabilities were the reason I returned full time but having a good suit and not looking like a clown didn’t hurt my case.
For a starter suit, the most important thing is tailoring. Any suit, even a Brunello Cuccinelli, will look like shit if it is not tailored. A good tailor will know what they are doing so I won’t state the obvious but these are some guidelines from top to bottom.
Tailor the jacket sleeves so you don’t look like a wizard
You should be able to fit you fist between your sternum and the jacket snuggly when buttoned to ensure a slim fit
Get the waist of the jacket taken in (yes this is possible) if you have a big “drop”
“Drop” is the difference between your chest circumference and your pant waist
Ex. If you wear a size 40 jacket and 32in waist pants (8 inch “Drop”), you will need the jacket taken in to get the desired “V” shape of a suit
Pants should fit around the waist without a belt
Taper the pants from the knee down to a 7 inch pant opening around the ankle
This is measured when laying the pants flat so opening is technically 14 inch circumference
Anything less than this gets borderline early 2010s skinny jean look
No break with whatever shoes you wear the most
Recommend no break on oxfords. Loafers are lower than oxfords so you will show some ankle but loafers are a more casual shoe so some slutty ankle exposure is fine
With that in mind, I would recommend a Bonobos Jet Setter or Proper Cloth Allen suit in either charcoal or navy. Both are mid-weight for year-round use and conservatively styled so you will look good without standing out (in a bad way). There are some slight differences between the two outlined below but you can’t go wrong with either of these.
Bonobos - Jet Setter Wool Suit
Slight stretch in the fabric
Pants come with a “raw hem” which require tailoring
$600 for the full suit
$200 for an extra pair of pants
Additional cost of tailoring
Proper Cloth – Allen Wool Suit
Made to measure
This requires an in-person visit or providing them your measurements online
If you can’t get to a Proper Cloth location, go to a local tailor and pay them ~$20 to professionally measure you
Made to measure takes longer as any changes require shipping back to the central alterations location and then shipped back to you (all free just time consuming)
$695 for the full suit
$200 for an extra pair of pants
Slightly more expensive than Jet Setter but don’t need to pay for tailoring so total cost is comparable
Sizes are saved so you can order other custom suits / pants / shirts saving time in the future
No stretch in fabric
Last piece of advice is to get a second pair of matching pants at the same time. It sucks paying the extra money upfront but you can usually get 10% off the whole order as a new customer and it’s worth it in the long run. Pants get wrinkled and wear out way faster than jackets so the extra pair will save trips to the dry cleaner and prolong the life of the suit as a whole.
Hopefully this saves you from looking like a schmuch and some money as well. Happy hunting.