Post: #51

Excellent guide. I usually use suits and blazers as my main gaming tool.

I want to know your opinion about double breasted blazers (with wide peaked lapels), like this:

   

Since I was a child, I'm in love with this type of blazer, because for me it's a timeless design.

Post: #52

(03-23-2016 10:14 PM)DrCotard Wrote:  I want to know your opinion about double breasted blazers (with wide peaked lapels)...

Since I was a child, I'm in love with this type of blazer, because for me it's a timeless design.

Double breasted jackets, with or without wide lapels, are a lot like a pinstriped suit. A classic style, not easily combined with anything other than the pants it came with.

Falls into the Intermediate Suit category. It's fine to have one, but only after you have the Classic Four Suits for regular wear and at least three summer suits or jackets.

For your eighth suit and after, feel free to explore these options as your budget allows, but not before, since you'll be painting yourself into a corner.

Post: #53

Thanks. I just came across a company called Thursday Boot on a search. They have a decent selection.

Post: #54

(03-23-2016 09:59 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 05:58 PM)Balkan Wrote:  Nice thread +1

What do you think of retailers like combatant gentlemen? Link here. They have full suits for ~$200. I have 2 of them and I quite like them but admittedly they are rather basic. Any retailers/companies you'd recommend for your first few suits?

Fit is the number one priority. Fabric that appears quality is the second priority. If this company is fulfilling both of those requirements, there's no reason not to order from them to build a basic collection.

Do you get compliments when you wear their suits? If so, proceed. If it leaves something to be desired visually when you wear them, look for a better solution.

I personally have my suits done at a local tailor here in Beijing that gets me good results, so I've never tried online ordering.

I have, however, owned an off the rack suit from Zara that fit very well and I was very pleased with, but it never fit as well my bespoke suits. On the other hand, it wasn't bad for $300. My $100 bespoke suits are a far better use of my money, so I haven't revisited that route and only received that suit as a gift from a friend, but if you are a slim guy, you could do worse that European retailers like Zara and H&M.

I also have several Zara blazers that I got at a very good discount that I am very pleased with and offered accents that my tailor probably wouldn't have the ability to produce.

Get a decent amount of compliments but not within the realm that I get for a few other items I know are money. Strangely enough, way more guys than girls comment whenever I wear a nice suit/blazer and 90% of the time it's about the pocket square. Thanks for the response, I'll give zara a look.

Post: #55

Fantastic datasheet, repped.

Request: Datasheet on shirts, and how to match shirts/ties/pocket squares with suits.

Post: #56

(03-25-2016 12:26 PM)Valentine Wrote:  Fantastic datasheet, repped.

Request: Datasheet on shirts, and how to match shirts/ties/pocket squares with suits.

I would also be interested in a thread on ties. I've got over 30, but I know I could still learn something from Suits.

There's a lot of cool 'casual ties' in the shops these days, in cotton or woollen fabrics, as well as the knitted ones you see a lot in London. That type of tie is perfect when you're wearing a tie for style rather than formality. It's also perfect for business, in those instances when nobodies sure whether they're expected to wear a tie.

Post: #57

Amazing datasheet Suits.

Haven't read it all (hory shet there's a lot of info) but I can see you've put down outstanding work here.

Stickying this for future reference concerning suit game.

I own a tailored navy suit that I wore on graduation, coupled with brown Oxfords. Itching to wear it again - a good suit feels like power armor. And boy do broads look at you differently when rocking a suit.

Getting a grey suit for summer next.

Post: #58

Unreal guide op. Thx for the hard work in putting that together. Ill be coming back here before I buy.

Post: #59

If it is chilly you can put one of these on under your suit.

Nobody will notice and you do not need to worry about an overcoat.


Great data sheet Suits.

Post: #60

(03-23-2016 10:14 PM)DrCotard Wrote:  Excellent guide. I usually use suits and blazers as my main gaming tool.

I want to know your opinion about double breasted blazers (with wide peaked lapels), like this:



Since I was a child, I'm in love with this type of blazer, because for me it's a timeless design.

Double-breasted blazers are my favourite. They disappeared after WWII due to fabric shortage.

3 points:

- They are more formal. Try to match it with a pair of trousers. Be careful with jeans. It's not totally impossible. depends on the formality of your blazer.

- Double-breasted jackets have less open areas on the front. So you must wear it with a tie. It won't look good if you just keep your shirt buttons open.

- When you are standing, always keeps the buttons done.


Also, you can watch this video:

Post: #61

(03-25-2016 12:26 PM)Valentine Wrote:  Fantastic datasheet, repped.

Request: Datasheet on shirts, and how to match shirts/ties/pocket squares with suits.

It should be a long article. But start with this:





and

Post: #62

If you are going to Colombia then these threads have some great info and recommendations on purchasing a wardrobe (of suits) there:

Buying an entire wardrobe in Colombia: advice please
/thread-9808.html

[Style] Getting a Custom Suit for $350
/thread-16082.html

Post: #63

Great thread..... it read like: "one trick pony" followed by pics of purdy suits.
Just Joshing ya guy.

Headed out after my morning coffee to get my first two custom tailored suits made here in Shenzhen. I'm going to get a Navy and Charcoal Grey for starters. Then probably have one more grey suit made before I leave China.

Also a great accessory to a suit that hasnt been mentioned yet is a beard

Post: #64

(03-27-2016 08:33 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  Headed out after my morning coffee to get my first two custom tailored suits made here in Shenzhen. I'm going to get a Navy and Charcoal Grey for starters. Then probably have one more grey suit made before I leave China.

At Shenzhen prices, it will make more sense to get 4 or 5 done. You'll get a much steeper discount on a bulk order, so in the end, you might not be paying much more for four suits than you would for two.

Also, don't pay more than 800 RMB per suit on the mainland, no matter how many you buy.

Up to 2000 HK$ is fine in Hong Kong, as quality is generally higher there.

Post: #65

It's a great accessory Cr33pin. Unfortunately I can't grow a beard.

(03-27-2016 07:09 PM)IronShark Wrote:  

(03-23-2016 10:14 PM)DrCotard Wrote:  Excellent guide. I usually use suits and blazers as my main gaming tool.

I want to know your opinion about double breasted blazers (with wide peaked lapels), like this:



Since I was a child, I'm in love with this type of blazer, because for me it's a timeless design.

Double-breasted blazers are my favourite. They disappeared after WWII due to fabric shortage.

3 points:

- They are more formal. Try to match it with a pair of trousers. Be careful with jeans. It's not totally impossible. depends on the formality of your blazer.

- Double-breasted jackets have less open areas on the front. So you must wear it with a tie. It won't look good if you just keep your shirt buttons open.

- When you are standing, always keeps the buttons done.


Also, you can watch this video:

Thanks for the video. Getting quality info on double breasted blazers is very difficult.

Post: #66

(03-27-2016 08:58 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 08:33 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  Headed out after my morning coffee to get my first two custom tailored suits made here in Shenzhen. I'm going to get a Navy and Charcoal Grey for starters. Then probably have one more grey suit made before I leave China.

At Shenzhen prices, it will make more sense to get 4 or 5 done. You'll get a much steeper discount on a bulk order, so in the end, you might not be paying much more for four suits than you would for two.

Also, don't pay more than 800 RMB per suit on the mainland, no matter how many you buy.

Up to 2000 HK$ is fine in Hong Kong, as quality is generally higher there.

I'm heading to a place some Shenzhen YouTube celebrity expat guy (SerpentZA) highly recommends. He says he charges $1200 RMB a suit....

I'm not sure about having 4 or 5 suits... I travel to a new country about every month and its usually always hot & summer where I travel. (not fan of cold weather)

Post: #67

(03-27-2016 09:34 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 08:58 PM)Suits Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 08:33 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  Headed out after my morning coffee to get my first two custom tailored suits made here in Shenzhen. I'm going to get a Navy and Charcoal Grey for starters. Then probably have one more grey suit made before I leave China.

At Shenzhen prices, it will make more sense to get 4 or 5 done. You'll get a much steeper discount on a bulk order, so in the end, you might not be paying much more for four suits than you would for two.

Also, don't pay more than 800 RMB per suit on the mainland, no matter how many you buy.

Up to 2000 HK$ is fine in Hong Kong, as quality is generally higher there.

I'm heading to a place some Shenzhen YouTube celebrity expat guy (SerpentZA) highly recommends. He says he charges $1200 RMB a suit....

Better 1200 RMB for a highly recommended suit than 800 RMB for a suit from a questionable source.

(03-27-2016 09:34 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  I'm not sure about having 4 or 5 suits... I travel to a new country about every month and its usually always hot & summer where I travel. (not fan of cold weather)

Linen.

Post: #68

(03-27-2016 09:34 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  I'm not sure about having 4 or 5 suits... I travel to a new country about every month and its usually always hot & summer where I travel. (not fan of cold weather)

Agreed. Even with two linen suits, that would take up more space in my luggage than I'm willing (or allowed) to carry on.

How would a globetrotter avoid looking like a one trick pony in this case? Do suits have good resale value?

Post: #69

(03-29-2016 10:44 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 09:34 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  I'm not sure about having 4 or 5 suits... I travel to a new country about every month and its usually always hot & summer where I travel. (not fan of cold weather)

Agreed. Even with two linen suits, that would take up more space in my luggage than I'm willing (or allowed) to carry on.

How would a globetrotter avoid looking like a one trick pony in this case? Do suits have good resale value?

If you're travelling, you won't even have the time to be labelled a one trick pony. It's highly unlikely you'll run into the same people enough in such a short period to be labelled as one, like you would if you wore the same suit every day to work back home.

Are linen suits really bearable in intense humidity though? I couldn't even wear a short sleeve shirt in Bangkok cool season without sweating my balls off.

Post: #70

(03-29-2016 10:44 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  

(03-27-2016 09:34 PM)Cr33pin Wrote:  I'm not sure about having 4 or 5 suits... I travel to a new country about every month and its usually always hot & summer where I travel. (not fan of cold weather)

Agreed. Even with two linen suits, that would take up more space in my luggage than I'm willing (or allowed) to carry on.

How would a globetrotter avoid looking like a one trick pony in this case?

I travel with one of these.



When I travel, it's not to visit a bunch of temples and take a bunch of pictures of things that I could easily find photos of on the Internet. I travel to meet people and run game.

I come prepared to make a powerful impression. In a bag of that size, I can fit four very strong outfits.

(Four suit jackets, two or three very interchangeable pairs of pants, two pairs of dress shoes, plenty of socks, a single t-shirt and some shorts for sleeping, five button down shirts and one pair of running shoes).

I don't carry much other than clothes with me. Just a small laptop (~2 LB), a small portable hard-drive, maybe some electrical converters and a toothbrush.

I don't end up with a heavy bag at the end of the day, in fact, I've been known to bypass escalators and run of flights of stairs to save time.

I'm generally pretty sweaty on arrival, because the bag blocks air flow to a big portion of my body surface, but once the bag is in my hotel room and I have a full wardrobe ready for my pipelined dates.

Once I'm settled in, you'd never guess that I'm a tourist from how I'm dressed.

The Suit's lifestyle requires a certain level of commitment. It's not something you just casually do.

(03-29-2016 10:44 AM)CleanSlate Wrote:  Do suits have good resale value?

No.

Post: #71

So that means you'd check in your luggage containing your suits at the airports. I was kind of hoping to avoid that, because I've had bad luck with losing my luggage at baggage claim. 6 times in the last 5 years... but that's always with American airlines. Asian airlines are better with not losing checked baggage, no?

Post: #72

^ Not to take anything away from this masterpiece of a datasheet, though. I would love to heed the advice in this thread, but traveling and luggage restrictions has been on my mind lately. It's probably much eaiser and cheaper to own several suits when staying in the same place for a year at least.

Post: #73

If you want to dress to impressive, you're going to have to check baggage.

Airlines do lose things, but 6 times in 5 years pretty much statistically removes that possibility of it ever happening to you again.

There's no way your carry on is going to even come close to accommodating a flexible wardrobe.

That being said, I once wore six suits onto an airplane, because the airlines was being a bitch about the carry-on weight limit.

If you wear one suit when you travel and carry another in your bag, you'll have two choices to work with.

Post: #74

Awesome stuff, repped. I really need to get my suit wardrobe up to date, as I only have 1 suit, and it's fully black. Two questions for you:

1) How much $ do you normally invest for a suit?
2) Would you wear suits in places where everybody dresses casually? For example, here in Bangkok, in malls, everyone dresses casually, I have yet to see someone wearing a suit.

Post: #75

(03-30-2016 10:34 AM)Suits Wrote:  If you want to dress to impressive, you're going to have to check baggage.

Airlines do lose things, but 6 times in 5 years pretty much statistically removes that possibility of it ever happening to you again.

There's no way your carry on is going to even come close to accommodating a flexible wardrobe.

That being said, I once wore six suits onto an airplane, because the airlines was being a bitch about the carry-on weight limit.

If you wear one suit when you travel and carry another in your bag, you'll have two choices to work with.

And have your drycleaner return one or two of your shirts wrapped and folded. That way you can put them in your carry on and if the airline loses your luggage, you'll have at least 2 unwrinkled shirts you can use at your destination until your luggage catches up with you.