Which Alfani Red Suit should I pick and a few other questions about shoes, shirt, and tie to go...

Sounds like you've decided, but try it on before committing. Just because a cut fits on a model doesn't mean it will work for you. Personally I'm not crazy about the peak lapel on the gray suit, but it's the 3-piece vest that makes it seem particularly out of place for cockail attire. Make sure it looks OK as a 2 piece.

This forum is not the best place for budget recommendations. It does sound like you're looking for the basics:

- You don't want a patterned shirt. In this case of cocktail attire, plain white's the best to stick with. For other uses, you can get a blue, pink, or maybe pale yellow. Nothing dark.

- You don't have to spend $100 for a shirt though you might need to spend $80 if you want a good-fitting one and you're not a median size. If you're not too fussy you can find a cheap white dress shirt that will do.

- Black shoes are the easiest match for the occasion. The type does not vary by cuff/no-cuff beyond a general sense of formality/conservativeness to match the cut of your suit. Belt should be roughly same color as shoes.

- The good thing about sticking with basics is that you have a lot of latitude to find a tie you like. Most things, within taste, will match.

I second the idea of a white shirt. If you have a hard time matching it just makes everything much easier. Also, for the shoes make sure you don't get square toes.

Why no square toed shoes?

Because square toes are about 15 years out of style and hideous.

 

Just to be clear, by "square toes" he's referring to:

 

 

;

 

not something like:

 

 

 or

 

which, while bearing "squared off" toes, are more than acceptable (not necessarily for your proposed getup, just last exemplars).

To the OP: I think you got the best suit of the three for your purposes.

Macy's Alfani suits don't get too much love in the forum culture, but I had one for about a decade, and it was a decent, serviceable, reasonably attractive garment. It obviously wasn't the equal of the custom suits I get from W.W. Chan, but it was, well, okay.

If it fits you well and you pair it with a decent white shirt, a conservative tie and some reasonably decent black dress shoes, you should look just fine.

I actually have four Alfani Red slim-fit suits - that gray one, the navy, the brown, and the black. I love them all, though I'm not as keen on the gray jacket due to the peak lapel. I'm guessing that's their "Mad Men" throwback suit. However, I see peak lapels once in awhile and if you are bold enough to carry it off, it looks fine as a 2-piece or 3-piece suit. The others are all notched.

 

I got all four suits together on sale for $760. That's less than $200/suit, which I think is a steal given their fairly high fabric quality and style for the money. The interior linings have attractive red trim, interior pockets on each side, a pen pocket on the left, all the nice details except a coin pocket in either of the outside front pockets. I especially like the fabric of the brown suit.

 

My navy and black suits were made in China, while the brown and gray suits were made in India. I love the way they fit. I normally wear a 43R with 33W trousers. The Alfani Reds come as suit separates, so I can choose the pieces that fit best. The 42R jacket is a little tight in the shoulders, especially when I stretch forward to wash my hands, but the armholes are higher than some (not as high as Tommy Hilfiger) and it looks great when I am standing or walking. I hang it up on a hanger in my car and at my desk, so I mostly only wear the jackets when I am transiting the building or at meetings. The pants are low rise and look great on me. Having lived in Europe for three years, I much prefer the European cut of these Alfani Reds to an American sack suit cut like my JAB Sig Golds. They are not skinny cut, but slim.

 

Before I knew what I was doing, I made the mistake of steaming my navy jacket twice on the front and it's now a bit wrinkled in one place. Hard to see when I have it on, but I notice it. That's the result of the glue delaminating on the fused shell. But the other three are fine, and I will simply buy another navy jacket if I need to. And now I know not to steam a jacket anywhere but where it actually wrinkles during the day - on the lower half of the back, and on the fronts of the sleeves.

 

Bottom line: for less than $800 on sale, I got four fairly well-made slim-fit suits that required only cuff tailoring. Yes, they are fused and not made of the very best wool you can find. But as reasonable suits that get worn once or twice every two weeks, they are serving me very well and I like the way they fit much better than anything by JAB. For me, slim-fit suit separates are the way to go if you can't do MTM or bespoke.

RedDevil10, exactly.

 

Those monk straps are nice, BTW.