Disaster! Most important Interview of my Life and nothing fits

[Klobber]

I humbly beseech you to skim through what I have written. Hopefully you will realise my predicament, and yield solid advice as to what you would do.

I recently got accepted for a prestigious job near New York. I have to give a one hour presentation, go to a formal dinner, and of course have the customary interview. I leave on Monday next week.

This is the problem:

I was stupid to assume all my wonderful tailored suits still fit me. I do not wear suits at my current job which is smart casual, so have been wearing sport coats for past year using a suit only once.

I was going to wear a Navy suit for the interview and presentation, and a black suit for the formal dinner (I do not have a Tux that fits right at the moment).

I thought everything was OK until I decided to try on my Navy suit last night. The Pants do not fit - I cannot button around my waist and there is very little hem left to let out (these pants did not come with significant hem in the first place).

Ok, to hell with Navy so I decided to try on my other solid color suits suitable for interview (Medium Grey, Dark Grey, Charcoal) and those pants also fit poorly with little hem to let out!

Although I have a very great number of suits (15 of them), only 4 have enough hem in pants to let out. However, all jackets are either a little tight or a little baggy (weight lifting in past left me buying range of sizes).

- A grey - charcoal plaid suit (beautiful, but not really interview attire).
- A medium - dark grey Pinstripe suit (Sadly it is my worst suit - it is an Armani that has a sheen).
- A Charcoal Pinstripe suit with blue stripes (Second worst suit I have).
- A Charcoal Pinstripe with double barred medium - dark grey stripes (almost tonal, not quite).

I have a wardrobe full of very beautiful sport coats that fit well (a tiny bit tight on waist but nevermind about that), and no shortage of dress pants that can be let out for a good fit.

Solution:

Do I

1) Go to Saks/Nordstrom tommorrow and cross fingers I find a nice Navy / darker grey suit that fits off the rack (I doubt this)?

2) Take Navy jacket with me, find pants at department store that match most closely and hope nobody notices?

3) Rent a suit that fits me approximately?

4) Wear all black suit - given that after the interview we are having a formal dinner?

5) Wear one of the suits above, and accept jacket fit flaws? The flaws are big by SF standards, but by general public standards, the suit jackets still fit better than 70% of those out there.

6) Match a Sport coat to an odd pair of pants and hope this passes the grade?

7) Wear the navy suit with the pants that wont button? Zip up as far as possible and hide the evidence with a thick belt and buckle.

The only saving grace is I have some wonderful shirts, dress shoes, and ties. If I wear what I have, I think if I throw off the jacket during the presentation, I wont have people noticing the relatively poor fit.

I know full well I am not going to drop 10LB's in 3 days. I want everything to be perfect, and in future I promise to exercise more and lose the Pizza and 32oz cola diet.

 

[bigbjorn]

If you throw off the pants, people won't notice the presentation or the fit.

Is this even serious? How hard are you to fit? I walk into a 40R drop 7 with trousers hemmed at 31.75" so for me, it'd be an immediate trip to BB for a navy suit. You'll know best whether you can pull that off.

 

[tgt465]

1) Probably won't hurt to try, but your chances may be small. Suit separates would also avoid having to hem trouser bottoms.

2) Don't do this.

3) Don't do this either.

4) Maybe. While not ideal, if you're Asian or have similar complexion, a black suit can work okay. I don't know how you intended to change suits before dinner anyways, most of the similar situations I've been in it's straight to dinner right after meetings.

5) Depends on the severity of the flaws, this seems the most promising choice.

6) I wouldn't do this for a prestigious interview.

7) I've seen these kind of waist extenders in department and drug stores which might help:

http://www.amazon.com/Perfect-Fit-Bu...dp/B0037JRZCC/

But I think option 5 might be best, if the fit is not too terrible.

 

[acecow]

You could let out the pants as much as possible and steam-stretch them at the dry-cleaners. You could also stop eating until Monday. With a combination of any 2 of those suggestions you should be able to fit right back into them.

 

[acridsheep]

If #5 is true, I don't see how this is even remotely controversial. It would just mean that for one day you wouldn't feel good about posing for WAYWRN. Put another way, for one day, you could pass for a happy, well-adjusted person.

 

[Klobber]

Thanks for suggestions so far.

Originally Posted by tgt465

Maybe. While not ideal, if you're Asian or have similar complexion, a black suit can work okay. I don't know how you intended to change suits before dinner anyways, most of the similar situations I've been in it's straight to dinner right after meetings.

Im caucasian of British/Dutch/German descent (I was born in England) but californian sun has worked wonders on my color - Im very tanned at the moment.

Originally Posted by bigbjorn

Is this even serious? How hard are you to fit? I walk into a 40R drop 7 with trousers hemmed at 31.75" so for me, it'd be an immediate trip to BB for a navy suit. You'll know best whether you can pull that off.

OTR suits - sure I could find something that hits roughly in the ballpark. But I never underestimate the importance of the suit. I am in a fuss because I know if it does not look or fit perfect, I wont feel perfect. I know it is a strange psychology, but well tailored and groomed does wonders for the confidence. I do not want to be in an interview situation and feel like I am a "lizard in suit".

That is why I am having issues.

Sure, I could find a 46/56L suit that would fit OK, but then I would need sleeves taken in, possibly require the chest tailored etc etc ... All that cant be done in just 1 hour at a department store. I have only once in my life found the jackpot fit straight off the rack, and that was a Tom Ford suit where the only alteration required was 1/2 inch taken off the sleeve. I am not going to drive to to LA to find an elusive Navy or Grey Tom Ford suit that is 56L, my chances are slim, if not nil. I would have to look at whatever Saks etc have in store and hope for pot luck.

 

[tgt465]

Originally Posted by Klobber

Im caucasian of British/Dutch/German descent (I was born in England) but californian sun has worked wonders on my color - Im very tanned at the moment.

An important factor is your hair color and its contrast with your skin tone. Asians normally have black hair, and many have relatively lighter skin for high contrast, so a black suit/white shirt combination would not detract much from the existing contrasting tones. However a tanned blond could look washed out wearing such a high contrast outfit. It would be hard to say anything specific without seeing your particular case.

Having said that, I still think option 5 might be best.

 

[Coldcava]

I'd hit up Saks/Nordstorms or other trusted local haberdasher. This presents itself as a great oppotunity to rationalize purchases guilt free.

5 is ok as well.

If I noticed you had your pants unbuttoned and any other jury-rigged looking waist thingy, you probably wouldn't get the job.

 

[NAMOR]

Originally Posted by Klobber

I recently got accepted for a prestigious job near New York. I have to give a one hour presentation, go to a formal dinner, and of course have the customary interview. I leave on Monday next week.

You got the job but you now have the interview? Am i reading this correctly?

 

[viator]

1 or 5 are your options, realistically. Luckicly enough, you can try #1 tomorrow and then use #5 as Plan B if it doesn't work out.

 

[Klobber]

Originally Posted by NAMOR

You got the job but you now have the interview? Am i reading this correctly?

My bad communication - I was accepted for an onsite interview. I went through 1 interview process already on the phone, now this is the face to face. I feel implicitly the job is in the bag, they are literally rolling the red carpet out. Only I, and I alone, can screw this up. Im not even sure they selected any other candidates for interview - their interest in me seems quite serious though.

 

[CaymanS]

I am truly blown away that renting a suit is even an option. Seriously?

Go to Saks/Neiman/Nordstrom, find a suit off the rack, have them tailor it in-house and give it to you, and go to your interview.

 

[mcbrown]

Forgive me for focusing on a minor point, but for what kind of job and firm are you interviewing that would include a "formal dinner" as part of the process? As a professional in New York I am hard-pressed to think of a restaurant or other venue (besides a handful of private clubs) where one would normally wear a tuxedo to dinner. Nor can I think of a profession or firm where formal events would be so customary that one would be included in the "getting to know you" phase.

I raise this question only for the small probability that you have misinterpreted the formality of the dinner you will be attending (or that the person who communicated it to you doesn't understand that "formal" may mean something more than "jackets required"), in which case you will of course NOT want to change into a black suit, let alone a tux.

If you are certain that "formal" in this case means "formal" in the traditional sense, then simply ignore my comment.

 

[GBR]

A black suit is NOT a substitute for evening dress if the evening function requires it. If absolutely necessary you will have to buy an RTW evening dress.

 

[viator]

Originally Posted by GBR

A black suit is NOT a substitute for evening dress if the evening function requires it. If absolutely necessary you will have to buy an RTW evening dress.

Well that would be making quite a bold statement at a job interview!