Suiting Up

With the wedding date now less than a month away, I felt the urge to buy a suit.

I only owned one suit in my life. My grandmother insisted on going with me when I graduated from college to get a nice interview suit. I tried to explain that it isn't necessary in the Graphic Design community, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. I did wear it to my first interview and was told, as I suspected, designers don't wear suits.

This time I took recommendations from a couple people on where to go and what to do to get into a stylish, yet economical suit.

Option #1 from Marian who cuts my hair- go to Banana Republic, and open a credit account. You get 15% off and get a nice stylish suit.

Option #2 from a cooworker- go to Moda Italia downtown. They use the finest materials and make the suits from scratch.

Option #3 from family- Men's Wearhouse

First I went to BR on a lunch break and saw a great suit. I would have bought it then, but wanted to get April's approval.  We went back later that night and she liked, but wanted to see what else was out there.

The next morning we went to Men's Wearhouse. NEVER AGAIN!

That place is where bad salesmen go at the end of their career. It reminded me of Glengarry Glen Ross. There were a bunch of guys sitting around and when we walked in, they pounced. They started measuring and pandering. None of the coats I tried on looked remotely fashionable, and they were fairly expensive.

We then drove downtown to Moda Italia. The vibe there was a complete reversal of MW. It was quiet and peaceful in there. We were surrounded by elegance. A little old man comes out and looks at me and says "42S". He then tried on some amazing coats. They fell on me like they were waiting just for me to pick them and take them home. The only problem was the price. I looked at the first coat's price tag, which was $900. The second was $1,200. The gentle suitmaker was understanding and asked me what I could spend on this suit. I told him $500. He said he wants to make this work, because he liked me and people of our height need to look out for each other. He said for $600 he could make me a nice one from scratch that I would absolutely love. 

Problem is, $500 was actually a bit high for my budget, with wedding costs exceeding what I planned. I told him we would go to lunch and think about it. 

We went to lunch at Trolley Square, which has another Banana Republic  in the mall. We checked in to see if they have the suit in my size, to get another look at it. They had the coat, but not the pants. We were leaving the store, when a worker asked if he could help find my size. He did find it and I tried it on. While in the changing room, apparently April used her charm to become his new friend, and with it being Friends and Family Weekend, that included 40% off my new suit.

I am writing a note to the kind suitmaker at Moda Italia, thanking him for educating me on suits and trying to help me out.