Help with high school formal suit!

[MisterFu]

Just so you're warned, this forum is infested with pretentious old men who have been brainwashed into following the groupthink of dressing in ultraconservative attire that allows virtually no freedom of style or expression. You will be flooded with suggestions to wear the same kind of attire that millions of men wear every day. All they want you to do is blend in with the crowd as much as humanly possible, so if it is within your desire to approach your outfit with some creativity and style, take what they have to say with a grain of salt lest you want to show up at the party dressed like a 50-year-old businessman. Of course, a lot of what they have to say is perfectly legitimate - i.e. make sure the suit fits you perfectly; avoid stupid, pointless fashion trends like ugly high waters and ridiculously short suit jackets and overly thin lapels - but some of it is also very suppressive. There's no reason you can only wear a navy blue or gray suit, or a white or light colored shirt, or brown cap toe oxfords, etc. If you want my suggestion, I'd say be creative, but just don't end up making yourself look silly. The suits you have suggested are not very good suits for the money you pay for them. The colors are also too bright to cover your entire body. You want something that will not make you stick out like crazy, but when someone willingly observes your suit, it should still show some creativity of thought. So if you want to do red, a darker red suit would be more appropriate. You could also do a darker red dinner coat with black trousers. Whatever you do, just make yourself look stylish and refined, creative and fashionable, without wearing something that is loud and obnoxious and pointlessly deviant just to make yourself stand out. Also, if the suits you have shown demonstrate your price range, then your best bet on getting a decent quality garment is to find one in either a thrift store or eBay, used. If you need some guidance on the brands to look out for, searching these forums will give you a good idea of the quality and construction of probably any that you have questions about.

My $0.02.

The whole "you should only wear grey and blues" is overdone, but that sentiment is mirrored so often because it's the easy and safe recommendation; the big blue uniform will rarely get you in trouble and most people here don't want to expend a lot of effort explaining the very soft science of color, pattern and situation matching. I personally refrain from dispensing recommendations on colors and patterns because they are largely a matter of personal taste and, frankly, people should have some latitude to experiment and see what works (I have learned more from my mistakes than from anything else).

That said, the one area that I feel is not up for debate is fit. My own worst days have been when I neglected necessary alterations to my older suits; you can get away with a lot, provided things are cut well and fit properly. Want to wear a seriously bold patterned suit or jacket? Go for it, but only if fits properly, otherwise you will look like a class A choad.

Back on the subject of OP's upcoming formal event, I think my recommendation of SS is still a good one. Yes, SS has been trending more towards fads, as of late (especially in it's US line, which is somewhat different from it's EU line), but they still have a nice selection of interesting options that are well suited to the younger and more athletic crowd. If there is one other suggestion I'd make, it'd be to get measured by the alterations tailor before ordering from any overseas option (paying special attention to sleeve length if ordering from SS as they insist on punching working surgeons cuffs at the factory which makes sleeve length alterations a challenge, something I wish they, and others, would stop doing).