Spending $5k on suits

[Richard Pryor]

Hi. I'll try to make this quick.

Recently became a lawyer. Currently studying for the bar, which leaves me little time to do anything else. Honestly, this board is too unorganized and so full of information that it's unpractical for me to start reading through 30 page threads with 50% of the members saying Allen Edmonds suck and the other 50% saying it's the best thing since sliced bread.

Anyway, I'm 6'1" 200lbs, athletic. 30 years old.

I decided I was going to be a stylish lawyer. I went out and bought a couple of IWC watches (Pilot Chrono 3717 & Portu 3714) for those who care about watches.

Next step: suits and shoes.

Regarding suits: there is a local fashion designer who is a friend of my family (and mine). He has a lot of style and is famous in these neck of the woods. I thought that instead of me wasting my precious time reading about what makes a suit 'good', that I'd ask him to make me 4-5 suits. Is this a good idea?

This guy designs clothes for the rich and famous in my country. I think he's very stylish. But I'm not sure I should spend $5k at once without having a clue if I'll like the suits.

Don't get me wrong, I'm sure we'll sit down and talk before he starts to work on them, but I have no knowledge regarding suits and I'm not sure what to ask.

Any recommendations?

 

[taxgenius]

This is gonna be fun. Subscribed.

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by Richard Pryor

Hi. I'll try to make this quick.

Any recommendations?

Welcome to StyleForvm. I look forward to more of your posts.

Lots of good information in this thread. I did not start the thread, so it is unbiased.



- B

 

[Rathbone]

As someone who has never (yet) spent more than probably $300 or $400 dollars on a suit, and has zero experience with anything bespoke except for a fur cloak i had made for a friend i would suggest that if you are not 100% into the idea of spending $5k on a suit, don't. You can surely get a bunch of well-made, beautiful MTM suits for the same price. OF course, as i said i have absolutely zero experience with anything even MTM, let alone full bespoke, so you're welcome to completely ignore the greenhorn.

 

[scruff]

Originally Posted by Richard Pryor

Recently became a lawyer. Currently studying for the bar,


false.

 

[Wrenkin]

Originally Posted by Richard Pryor

Recently became a lawyer. Currently studying for the bar, which leaves me little time to do anything else. ... Any recommendations?
Check your local law society regulations to see if you've already committed an ethical violation by calling yourself a lawyer without yet having passed the bar.

EDIT: Haha, I'm not alone.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Sorry, English isn't my first language.

AFAIK, I have a Juris Doctor. The license to practice law in any given state is a different thing. A lawyer in California is a lawyer in NY and in Florida, even if he can't practice. Or is the right term esquire? Like I said, English isn't my first language, so sorry.

By the way, the $5k will be for 5 suits, not one. Though I'm not sure how much he will charge.

 

[pitboss12]

30 years old is a little late to start practicing isn't it?

 

[chasingred]

I'm a bit unclear on what you expect people on this forum to tell you. Go with some suit maker you haven't named and that we don't know? Spoon feed you links and information, but make sure it's all in a consensus first?

Almost every thread on here says AE is a good shoe for its money, but that there are better shoes out there. It's an entry shoe.

You probably don't have time to look very much into this, and that's understandable. However, if you want to do things right, then you'll have to do a little research, there's not really any way around that.

Personally, I wouldn't advise that you drop $5k on suits when you don't know anything about suits yet. A high quality bespoke suit is going to cost you $2.5k, and such a job can be easily botched up if you don't know what you're looking for or want. Spending $5k on suits means you get two good bespoke suits. If you want better deals, then you can go with off the rack stuff, but that still means you have to do a little research. You can easily get five decent off the rack suits for $5k if you do some research and browse the forums.

I recommend picking up Esquire's Handbook of Style and Alan Flusser's Dressing the Man. Start there, then use the search tool on Styleforum to answer any questions you might have. If you can't find what you're looking for, you can post a question. All this will take you five to six months of casual reading and trying on different suits off the rack. My roommate picked up an incredible wealth of knowledge about suits in less than a month, and he ended up with a great suit at the end of it.

 

[taxgenius]

You guys have way more patience than I.

 

[strungoutt1]

Originally Posted by pitboss12

30 years old is a little late to start practicing isn't it?

Not at all. Most graduate from law schools around the age of 26-28.

Just this year our school had its oldest graduate at 79.


You have a Juris Doctor. That does not make you an attorney. Have to pass the bar exam.

 

[lawyerdad]

Originally Posted by pitboss12

30 years old is a little late to start practicing isn't it?

Not really, no.

 

[taxgenius]

Originally Posted by strungoutt1

Not at all. Most graduate from law schools around the age of 26-28.

Just this year our school had its oldest graduate at 79.


You have a Juris Doctor. That does not make you an attorney. Have to pass the bar exam.

He didn't say he was. He said he's a lawyer.

 

[chasingred]

Originally Posted by taxgenius69

You guys have way more patience than I.
I appreciate the patience I've received on this board, as well as good deals. I'm just trying to return the favor. To the OP, this thread is going around right now. You might want to read it http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=196835 Also, there was a decent thread where people created a "hierarchy" of labels. It's not something that should be totally adhered to, as there are different suits for different purposes, as well as different builds, but it's a good place to start. I don't have the link though. Maybe someone can throw it up on here? EDIT: Nevermind, found it http://www.styleforum.net/showthread.php?t=140387

 

[voxsartoria]

What's a good age to start making law?

- B