GQ’s Guide To Buying A Suit

I took some time to review this and, less some of the inane commentary, the article is directionally correct.  Blueprint for Style will be doing a follow-up post on specifics (to be included in the Men’s Wardrobe Essentials section along with article) but for now, I want to share a version of Gentleman’s Quarterly‘s insight:

1. Beware of the sales guy – they’ll say anything for a sale so, go with your gut or with your Image Consultant!
2. Know why you’re buying a suit – whatever purpose the suit will serve will help determine the type of suit you need to buy
3. Start at a department store– they usually ahve a lot of selection instead of specific designers
4. Know your size – better wording is know your fit because it’s the most crucial element of the purchase!
5. Shoulders – good advice…if you stand sideways against a wall and the shoulder pad touches the wall before your arm, the suit is too big
6. Chest – be able to easily button it but there shouldn’t be a fist size gap between your chest and the button
7. Length – this is a little bit of preference but, the golden rule is the jacket sleeve should provide 1-inch clearance of the shirt sleeve
8. Number of buttons– knowing what you want will determine the cut of the suit (3-button is longer, 2-button is more mod and up with current fashion, 1-button is very European and demands a slim build)
9. Vents on the back – again, this helps determine how the jacket will fit (no vent = no way!; single vent = most popular; double vent = super suave)
10. Lapels – these are a matter of personal preference (notch is standard, peak is more elegant and conservative)
11. Pants – they should be comfortable but this is not the time to let anything ‘sag’
12. Dressing room – a 3-way mirror is best, and make sure you’re trying your suit on with a dress shirt
13. Tailor – [pants] they can work the hemline or waist by about 1-inch; [shoulders] if the shoulders aren’t working then the suit isn’t for you; [jacket] look for jacket to be contoured only, make sure they allow for 1/4 inch of shirt to show and a good tailor can remove the roll in the back of a suit jacket

Well that’s it!!  Good shopping…..