First Suit/Jacket Recommendations Needed for University

[postman]

Hi Style Forum!

Well, I'm in the market for my first suit. Basically it'll be for Sunday dinners at the hall/college where I will be staying my first year of uni.

I'll quote from the dress code, "Men- a suit or shirt and trousers. A tie must be worn with a shirt. No sweatshirts, polo shirts, or jerseys. No jeans or denim."

Looking at their website, the norm seems to be jacket and tie, and suits as well.

So really I'm looking for recommendations on the colour, fabric, 2 or 3 button etc. Should I go for a jacket or put the money down for a suit.

Pants: Do i need a few pants of different colour etc?

Shirts: how many varieties do i need? (this will be a weekly thing) What features should i be looking for?

Ties: See above!

Anything else i should be considering? I dont want it to look like I'm wearing the same thing every week!

Thanks for your help.
PS: anyone know of any decent retailers in New Zealand?

 

[VMan]

Navy blue or medium to charcoal gray for either a suit or an odd jacket. If you can eat neatly enough that you can keep the suit clean and free from any spills, I would go that route, as you will be able to use it for interviews after uni. Otherwise maybe look at a more inexpensive jacket. I would actually do navy for the odd jacket, as I think it will be easier to match pants to, if you go that route.

Number of buttons can depend both on your body type and personal preference. Either 2B or 3B single breasted would be fine, but no double breasted.

If you go the jacket route, I would suggest three pairs of pants to compliment your jacket. Grays, tans, etc.

If you are only going to wear the shirts to dinner, you could get by with two or three and just rotate. I'd do a solid white, solid sky blue, and either white or sky blue with a conservative stripe pattern. I'd probably do a lilac, too. Collar shape should balance your face shape - read up on the forum about that.

I'd get 3-4 ties as well. Stripes or small patterns. You could do blues, burgundys, black and silver patterned, dark golden yellow - whatever you want, and what looks good with your shirts.

 

[The Happy Stroller]

I would probably interprete the dress code as laid down to be basically a shirt with a normal long tie, and a pair of trousers. Unless you know better or have time during orientation to gather more relevant facts, it might be prudent to turn up with this basic outfit. You may even discover the dress code is not enforced!

Then assuming your uni is right in town, once you know if a suit is needed, go buy your off-the-rack (OTC)/ready=to-wear (RTW) suit, assuming you're the typical young and fit man who is in pretty to acceptably good shape.

Unless you're in the creative area (e.g., fashion design, media arts), the safest colors for shirts to start with are very light colours, such as white and light blue.

You might not need a jacket, especially if you see others substituting a buttonable cardigan or pull-down woolen sweaters for it. A navy blue, grey or beige one should do.

Otherwise, navy blue and light or medium greys are safe choices for your first suit, which should have a single-breasted jacket with notch lapel. Try to make sure your suit is made of 100 per cent wool worsted as this should give you acceptable comfort. You probably need only a suit suitable for summer wear, as you can always augment your suit with other accessory clothing, e.g., gloves, woolen socks, when the weather becomes cooler; also, many indoor places can be quite warm due to artificial heating.

Consider wearing brownish suede leather or buff-coloured nubuck boat shoes as your normal shoes. But for the Sunday dinner, you may have to consider a pair of black, dark brown or cordovan leather lace captoe oxford shoes. Were you working as an executive, I would advise you to buy such shoes with a leather sole (the heel can be rubber), otherwise I think a rubber sole is also acceptable.

If you wish to dress with some style in a traditional way that is not too loud, look up the Net on Trad or Ivy League dress style. It is a style very suited for uni life.

Originally Posted by postman

Hi Style Forum!

Well, I'm in the market for my first suit. Basically it'll be for Sunday dinners at the hall/college where I will be staying my first year of uni.

I'll quote from the dress code, "Men- a suit or shirt and trousers. A tie must be worn with a shirt. No sweatshirts, polo shirts, or jerseys. No jeans or denim."

Looking at their website, the norm seems to be jacket and tie, and suits as well.

So really I'm looking for recommendations on the colour, fabric, 2 or 3 button etc. Should I go for a jacket or put the money down for a suit.

Pants: Do i need a few pants of different colour etc?

Shirts: how many varieties do i need? (this will be a weekly thing) What features should i be looking for?

Ties: See above!

Anything else i should be considering? I dont want it to look like I'm wearing the same thing every week!

Thanks for your help.
PS: anyone know of any decent retailers in New Zealand?

 

[Great Zamfir]

I second the "look around first" advice. If you have a feel for the formality of the occasion, you can judge what you can wear.

Personally, I think a jacket seems to fit the occasion better than a suit, which will look a bit business-like, especially if you buy a suit that is also going to serve for interviews. But that's just a feeling, not a rule or something. And by the time you are atually doing interviews a suit you've worn for a hundred sunday dinners is probably not too sharpe looking anymore.

If the dress code is not too formal, I would buy a sporty, not too expensive jacket you can also wear on normal days, even with a T-shirt. You'll find that you can easily wear that where you would otherwise have worn a sweater. Jackets like that you can find in the local Zara or H&M or French Connection or whatever you have in New Zealand, or at a local denim store. Good thing: not expensive, means you can buy more of them in different styles.

I think it's better spend a-bit-more-than-you-normally-would on something you might wear when you don't have to than spend even more on something that's too formal to wear outside of the sunday dinner.

If your taste or the dress code run too formal for a potentially-with-T-shirt jacket, I would still say buy something that doesn't look too business like. If you can wear a shirt without tie in it without looking as if something's missing, you have something much more versatile.

Based on the above, look for a jacket with two buttons ( don't close the lower one), in basically any color or pattern you like outside of dark grey and pinstripes. Make sure to wear a jacket when judging it, it's very hard to see a jackets shape if it's on a coat hanger.

Once you have a jacket, wear it when buying shirts. Buy dress shirts, with a 'stiff' collar, not floppy button-down shirts. Don't be intimidated when the shirts are all packed in plastic, shops will let you try it on anyway. Dress shirts are probably more expensive then you're used to be paying for shirts, so you might just as well buy some you can wear without tie and jacket ( in opinion (some) dress shirts can look quite casual without tie and jacket, but casual shirts will look bad with a tie).

I second the light colours, but not the light blue. That really says Office with a capital O, in my opinion. Then again, a dark colour can be good if you have a good tie with it, but it will be hard to wear any other tie with it.

Find a shirt that looks good with and without the jacket, than let the guys in the shop pick a tie to go with it. Don't skimp on the tie.

A pair of good shoes is important. I don't think they have to be traditionally styled, but I would suggest a leather sole. You might have to get used to it, but really changes the way you are standing, much more 'dressed' than a rubber sole.

 

[Jared]

Originally Posted by The Happy Stroller

If you wish to dress with some style in a traditional way that is not too loud, look up the Net on Trad or Ivy League dress style. It is a style very suited for uni life.

+1 Ivy League Trad is the most entertaining option. Keep in mind, though, that the website may paint a particularly rosy picture. First-year university students are notoriously crass: I remember going to a dinner much as you describe that included a ceremonial food fight.

(Just dinner buns, so it wouldn't have soiled anyone's garments, and since it was ceremonial it was over quite quickly, but still...)