Help needed: budget, items and places

[notrichyet]

To start off with, I'm UK based. I've recently been lurking on here and have decided to take a lunge and get myself properly dressed or at least attempt to. I'm aware I'm not wealthy enough to compete but I think I should be able to brush up a little. I'm a student in England and have been working my arse off and saved around £1500GBP which translates to $2500 USD.

I currently have enough clothes that are casual / typically student in that they are fashion brands that fit terribly compared to here.

My plan is to build a versatile stock wardrobe and move up from there with a purchase every month or so, or a few.

I am thinking of investing £450 of my budget into shoes to buy me two pairs. I have three pairs of Timberlands that are versatile enough and one pair is smart enough. I would ideally like to purchase two pairs of Barkers or Church's or one and the other. Along that range where the shoes are £200GBP a pair. That's accommodating for the £22.50 it costs to add a 1/4 steel heel.

As for shirts, I am thinking five is good to start and I have found a local MTM place that has the same cloth as TM Lewin etc. I have felt it and it is the same stuff, they also offer a fit promise. Ideally, I'd buy the five basic ones with buttons then play around with french cuffs and the like on future orders. To buy a Ralph Lauren shirt here or even a TM Lewin shirt and have it altered costs £25 for the shirt, £20 to have a decent tailor shorten the sleeves and move the placket and £10-£15 for the darts to get my desired fit. It seems sensible to save the time, hassle and money just doing the MTM option.

I was then thinking of purchasing two sports jackets from Black Lapel for around £200GBP each and having these modified. The reason for this is that over here, as I need a jacket adjusted at the shoulder it's £40 if the jacket is bought from somewhere like CT and if not, a tailor charges £50-£60 to do this plus the waist compression would come to around £40-£50. Not to mention, I would have to source the blazer from abroad such as US to find a reasonable one for £100 GBP to stay on budget and have them altered.

I have around 5-6 ties that are not terrible quality but not brilliant either. Just DKNY ones.

I already have six pairs of Levis I came across that do not sag on the rear end and will have these shortened appropriately. This will cost roughly £100GBP.

I think the above should give me enough of a base wardrobe to start off with and should create links with the two companies at a budget that probably will remain the same until I finish university in three years and get my first job. I can afford to purchase the shirts throughout the year at that cost and a sports jacket maybe twice a year at that cost.

I am wondering if anyone thinks the above is the right plan, is the right way to go or I could invest the $2500USD or so better. Being UK based, tailors cost a lot more than the US prices seem to be and so do clothes. A RL shirt off the rack here is at least $100USD.

This of course won't be an overnight transformation and will probably take a good four to six months to get right with the times MTM takes etc. but I hope I'm right in my planning and can get started underway.

I will always retain the rubbish clothes I have until I have a base stock of decent ones in which I don't need the former of course so it's more a case of aiming to be a lot sharper in 6-8 months. I feel being a lot sharper dressed will help me next year as I want to start networking and being more pro active but in many ways, feel inferior to a lot of the older men I come across and am tempted to in that I'm aware I look like rubbish off the street and it shows that I have no regard for the rules of wearing blazers and shirts. My dress code would be smart shoes, jeans, ties and blazers / sports jackets. I feel this would be age appropriate as I do not work in an office so a suit is not a worthwhile investment until I absolutely need one.

All criticism, advice and pointers will be appreciated as it is a lot of money to me that I have saved and I want to put it to good use.

Also, for reference, even high street shops would run costly. For example, H&M which is regarded as okay or Zara would charge £20-£30 for a shirt but once butchered, it would come to around £60GBP which in relation to what I can get MTM, seems expensive.

Same goes for the jackets - they would cost at least £80 in H&M and when altered would cost £180 at least. I then wouldn't have the other minute details I can have with the MTM so it seems a huge waste of money to do this.

I can get a Ralph Lauren jacket from the states for around £70GBP with import but again, with £100GBP of alterations, I'd probably be unhappy with it.

So, how does Black Lapel to most compare to RL for example to you guys in terms of fabric quality and the like? I'm under the impression at this budget, there's no difference just a label and marketing. I have extensively looked at reviews of Black Lapel on here and it seems to be good for what I'm after albeit requiring patience for the fit. However, as I'm on a tight budget, I am most certainly willing to wait.

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Okay. Lots of typing for confirmation that never came. The plan sounds more reasonable than most. The parts that stand out the worst are the seeming 5-shirt first order (that's somewhat risky), the modification of many jeans (getting rid of some and replacing a few with other brands would make more sense), and not upgrading the overly DKNY tie collection. Underlying message: brand variety is part of almost any good wardrobe.

 

[Ich_Dien]

I really wouldn't bother with the MTM shirts. TM Lewin fabric?! Are you meant to be impressed by that? What a tremendous waste of time and money that would be.

There are RTW shirt brands out there, with a slim enough fit and much better fabric that would fit you immediately, without the need for alterations - you just have to know what you're looking for.

It sounds to me like you seriously need to lurk a lot more here before you go splashing £1500 on clothes to be honest, as you don't really seem to know what are essentials. There are lots of good threads here on the basics. Don't buy lots of stuff until you know what the basics are and what brands you should be looking at.

 

[inimitable]

What is so peculiar about your body shape that requires all shirts or jackets to be tailored so heavily?

I suspect there will likely be a brand that you can find OTR that will fit perfectly well, you just don't know where yet. Try looking somewhere like Uniqlo that offers the basics for cheap (Oxford cloth shirts, dark denim, merino knitwear, casual blazers etc) so you can get an idea of what you actually like/want before you drop serious ££ on MTM. You can get a blazer is M&S for around £100 and the come in every size going. Not the best quality, but a start.

 

[FlyingMonkey]

At your age and clear uncertainty about what you are doing, I'd agree with what others have said and hold spending large amounts of money on MTM.

Uniqlo is probably the best of the value chains for cheap basics, as inimitable has said.

If you're a student and going to invest in something, you are going to be needing a half-decent suit and one pair of shoes for interviews at some point. This should be navy blue or dark grey. For a young guy, you really can't do better than Suitsupply - http://eu.suitsupply.com/en_GB/stores?countryCode=GB - they have three stores in London now and their £299 range has several suitable choices. Try them on, get something that fits in the shoulder and is roughy teh right length, and get anything else adjusted as necessary. They also do shirts for £59-£79. Again, no need to go MTM and no need to get 5. Get one white or light blue shirt for occasional use, and go to Uniqlo for the rest.

For the shoes, I'd go for decent pair of black or dark brown smart shoes (Oxfords or Derbies will be fine, despute what people say here about Derbies being relatively casual). And personally, although I know black is more conventionally formal, I think you will find dark brown more versatile. At your age, I would worry more about the combination of suitability and versatility than having a shoe for every occasion. Herring Shoes' own brand Classic range is very good value @ under £190 (Goodyear-welted and made by major British shoemakers), or their Continental range is even cheaper @ under £125 (Blake-welted and made in Italy or Spain), http://www.herringshoes.co.uk/ BTW, What do you mean by 'a 1/4" steel heel'? Do you mean taps? Any cobbler can put them on. Oh, and make sure you get measured somewhere and know what your size is...

Other than that, save your money. You're going to need it...

 

[mensimageconsultant]

Odds are he won't return here, but it sounds like he has unusually short arms (and a narrow waist). That would necessitate much alternations on the types of clothes mentioned. Whatever it is, if he needs much work done on TM Lewin shirts, which come in a very wide range of sizes, there might be no good off-the-rack brand for him.

More comments on the original post:
Based on the low price, the Ralph Lauren in question probably is a Lauren, which is "rubbish" and should not be bought.
H&M and Zara do not make quality dress shirts.

And neither does Uniglo.