Young Professional Starting a Wardrobe in Toronto - $2.5k budget

Hello Styleforum.

I will be starting my professional career this summer at a Bay Street law firm, and I'd like to begin building a wardrobe that will suit the the environment I'm working in. Since I'm still in law school, however, my budget is extremely limited.

I have $2,500 to spend, max, including taxes (or 2200 before taxes). I need to buy at least 2 suits, and should probably pick up at least 3 shirts.

I currently have one charcoal suit which will do the job, and a few shirts (white, very light blue, very light grey), but that's it.

The bright side of the situation is that I can wait for sales. I'm planning on shopping consistently over the next 3 or 4 months, so if you guys know of recurring sales, do tell...

The current shoes that I have are pretty amateur, too. I think they were like $70 from The Bay, two years ago. Do you style aficionados suggest taking a substantial chunk out of the budget to buy good quality shoes? If so, where would you suggest going, and what brands offer the best value?

My belts are also cheap. Does anyone notice/care about this?

The overall goal of the wardrobe is to not embarrass the firm if I sit in on client meetings, and to convey competence to the partners I'll be working for.

Thanks in advance,
Scatterbrain

http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2009/02/building-suit-wardrobe.html

http://asuitablewardrobe.dynend.com/2006/11/suitable-wardrobe.html

I prefer this: http://putthison.com/post/712103418/the-essential-mans-wardrobe-perhaps-the-most

Brooks Brothers slim fit shirts are currently $40 and $44 at the Mr Porter 50% sale. You could certainly grab a couple.
http://www.mrporter.com/Shop/Sale/C...signerFilter=Brooks_Brothers&sortBy=price-asc

Allen Edmonds has a 2 for $300 sale through 12/11 on factory seconds. Considering these are usually $325 a pair they are a great deal if you need shoes.
http://content.allenedmonds.com/htmllinks/112for300v2weblink.html
Just contact the Allen Edmonds Shoebank at [email protected] and they'll email you a list of shoes in your size.

Fred

I'm actually in a similar situation to you though I had access to a cheap (relatively speaking) Asian tailor. The AE shoes are a solid recommendation and I picked up two pairs of the Fifth Avenues which are ideal for a law firm imo. Keep in mind that if you have them shipped to Canada, the cost adds up to something closer to 430 or so. If the Toronto firms are anything like the ones in Montreal, you'll find that most of the lawyers aren't that well dressed (ill fitting suits for the most part). One of the sharper looking partners even had the same suit I did, a Calvin Klein fused suit made by Peerless that seems to be quite reviled on SF (I got it at a significant discount).

Try to get a sense of the general level of style in the firm before making too many big purchases. You wouldn't want to end up with an outfit that contrasts too much with the other lawyers, or one that would put partners' wardrobes to shame. As boring as it seems, I'd stick to standard white or light blue shirts (one for each day of the week should do the trick) and two suits in charcoal and navy. You can even throw in a black suit as I've found a number of lawyers wear them at my firm. I'll get flames from other SF for that suggestion, but keep in mind that one of the most important parts of keeping your job in big law is to churn out massive amounts of quality work while pissing off as few people as possible and dressing too well or too diffirently might actually irk some lawyers.

To be frank, off the start:

1) as long as your sleeves are an appropriate length and your suit isn't too big or too small, you will already be better dressed than most Bay St. lawyers, who as a general rule, aren't particularly well-dressed.
2) Litigators tend to be a little flashier than solicitors, in my experience, so your choices are going to depend in part on your expected department. Solicitor? Go more conservative. Litigation? Be a little more daring.
3) I'm not sure what your expectations are of the work you will be doing, but its pretty unlikely you will be meeting any clients face-to-face for a very long time if you are at a large downtown firm - you will be locked in a sub-basement writing research memos. For years. No I am not exaggerating.

That said, you are on the right track - you can easily outfit yourself pretty well for $2500.Here's how:

1) You're doing it - asking around. Be warned that this site is strange and plenty of people here claim that they wouldn't be caught dead wearing a sub-$1000 suit etc. Again, I am not exaggerating.
2) You can check out sites like dappered.com for additional advice on how to get the best bang for your buck. I am sure there are others, but that one in particular often finds, for example, $50 belts that are almost indistinguishable from $250 ones.
3) Here's my best secret tip: Talk to the guys who makes lawyers robes in town. Lots of them also make high quality $3-4000+ bespoke suits, but more importantly they see hundreds of young lawyers on limited budgets come through their doors every year. They will have very good advice on where to go and some even offer very good MTM options for $5-800 that will blow the lining out of anything you can buy off the rack.



nexus said:

1) You're doing it - asking around. Be warned that this site is strange and plenty of people here claim that they wouldn't be caught dead wearing a sub-$1000 suit etc. Again, I am not exaggerating.

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You're exaggerating. Plenty of people recommend BB 1818 suits.



Liquidus said:

You're exaggerating. Plenty of people recommend BB 1818 suits.

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You mean the same 1818 suits that retail for $1,298+HST at Brooks Brothers on Bay Street?



nexus said:

You mean the same 1818 suits that retail for $1,298+HST at Brooks Brothers on Bay Street?

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I can't speak for prices in Canada, but on the US BB website they're $898 retail and can easily be had for 25% off.



Liquidus said:

I can't speak for prices in Canada, but on the US BB website they're $898 retail and can easily be had for 25% off.

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Its just not the case up here. I'm in BC and I've never seen them dip below $1000 even with a sale.

That said though, its still a good recommendation. I've seen them sell lightly used on ebay for considerably less than retail so thats definitely an option, though you don't get the benefit of trying it on.

Winter is coming, don't forget a wool overcoat. As I posted in another thread, suits with a parka or down coat is a crime. Rosen's outlet in Mississauga has a sale on, look for Eamuelson suits, the advice on shoes sounds good, plus try to pick up more quality ties cheap, they add variety to a limited wardrobe.



nexus said:

Its just not the case up here. I'm in BC and I've never seen them dip below $1000 even with a sale.
That said though, its still a good recommendation. I've seen them sell lightly used on ebay for considerably less than retail so thats definitely an option, though you don't get the benefit of trying it on.

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When you are on a budget, you should try it on at the store and buy the same model online. It's a shameless move but until you have a substantial budget, you don't have a choice.



With a 2.5k budget you'll probably be able to build a really a good wardrobe. Take your own measurements on stuff that fit you well and scour eBay for deals with similar fit. I'd also recommend checking out the B&S section of this forum, you can get some pretty good deals. Also Yoox sometimes have pretty good stuff occasionally at competitive prices and they have a really good return policy so you can return it if it doesn't fit well. I think Suitsupply is also pretty decent as well as Benjamin from eHaberdasher are pretty good entry levels priced well.



For shoes, apart from AE seconds, you could also check out Plal for their Cheaney seconds which work out to be a pretty good deal as well. Personally though, I'd shell out more money on shoes so I'd get better ones.

I don't think you should worry too much about your belts, just make sure it matches with your shoes and no one will really pay too much attention to them.


In all grab 2 suits(1 Navy, 1 Grey), grab about 4-5 shirts (2/3 whites, 1 light blue and another 1 of your choice), 2 pair of shoes(1 black captoe and 1 brown wingtip/half brogue). If you still have leftovers then, grab some ties that match and you are good to go.



Liquidus said:

I can't speak for prices in Canada, but on the US BB website they're $898 retail and can easily be had for 25% off.

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when can you get BB suits for 25% off? does this occur often?



Ivon said:

Winter is coming, don't forget a wool overcoat. As I posted in another thread, suits with a parka or down coat is a crime.

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I disagreed, if you get a parka with no hood it is particular good young look



scatterbrain said:

My belts are also cheap. Does anyone notice/care about this?

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My best advice will be not to wear any belts. I don't wear belts in all my suit or trouser, get a side tap

With this budget I would try a HK tailor to make two beginner suit, if you have a chance to go there

Or in fact, just have one nice suit and your current grey suit. Two should be enough