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Thoughts on buying a light grey suit

pinoy

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So here's the deal– I'm interested in getting a light grey suit. However, the process of finding the perfect grey suit is turning out to be a lot harder than I originally thought. The other day I recently tried on a light grey Band of Outsiders suit thinking it would look spectacular on me. While the fit was perfect, I ended up looking like this:
2034fe9.jpg
I also found a picture of justin timberlake and he looks pretty silly in his grey suit too:
jt.jpg
There's something about the specific shade of grey that I have to watch out for...but I can't quite put my finger on it. Needless to say, that particular "band of outsiders grey" color didn't go well with my skin tone and made me look like an old man
tounge.gif
Perhaps I need an lighter and colder shade grey? Something like this:
greysuit.jpg
Or maybe grey suits just aren't for me. I'm a short (5'8) and stocky (165lbs) guy. Perhaps grey suits are only meant for tall slim folks? Lastly, I clearly remember fadetoblack had a waywt photo of him in a ridiculously awesome grey (almost lavender really) lanvin suit. If anyone can help me find it and post it on here, that'd be much appreciated. In any case, I'd like to hear your thoughts / advice on buying a grey suit. Thanks!
 

Robert

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Somebody in the stylish movie thread posted a shot from a Wes Anderson movie showing Adrian Brody in a grey suit. Look at that one. I'd go for something like that.
 

djh

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Are you set on solid grey? I think glen check/POW grey suits are pretty cool... though this is coming from a kid who knows nothing about suits.

BTW, I think Justin Timberlake looks ridiculous because he's wearing a grey tux, not a grey suit.
 

pinoy

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robert– thanks for your advice. see, the thing is the BoO suit i tried on was pretty much the same color as the one adrian brody has on. a very neutral gray. that being said, the fabric on the BoO suit was also flannel, which probably contributed to me looking like an old man. djh[b/]– yup, i'm fairly set on a solid grey suit. not interested in 'traditional' patterns really. the only patterns i'd really consider are the unusual ones like CCP's "rain" pattern:
GM2386G_01.jpg
 

Robert

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"When you're a spy, there's an unwritten rule: Look cool. That means having in your possession at all times these two essential elements of spycraft: good-looking clothes and good-looking women."
 

tonio028

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I had been on a mission for this very thing for the last few months and at a size 36R, I came up empty with the exception of two brands at the price point I wanted to pay ($300-500): Michael Kors ($225) and Hugo Boss ($450 at my outlet). Others that I saw in my search included Hickey ($600-$650), Calven Klein ($200-$300), and J. Crew ($350-$400).

All of those had the type of suit I was looking for; however, the CK suit only came in a 38 as it's smallest size as did J. Crew. The Hickey suit was off the hook, but I wasn't willing to drop that much for the purpuses of my suit use.

It took me a lot of searching to find what I was looking for at my price point with the Kors suit. It fit well for the most part, but I will have the jacket and pants tailored to slim it up a tad.
 

tonio028

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Originally Posted by chronoaug
There was a nice looser fitting shipley and halmos one from fall08 that i wanted but i can't find my size anymore. Oh well. If anyone knows of any in 38jacket/32pants hook me up

I was looking for that very one myself, but with no luck. Now that I got my first Shipley blazer from Mauro's last flash sale, I love their fit and I'm all about their suits so long as the bottoms are a traditional suit pant bottom and not the crazy trouser/jean bottom with thick leather patch like the blue one from current season.
 

ctrlaltelite

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gray suits are fine i think as long as they don't have a sheen.
 

whacked

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Originally Posted by djh
Are you set on solid grey? I think glen check/POW grey suits are pretty cool... though this is coming from a kid who knows nothing about suits.

BTW, I think Justin Timberlake looks ridiculous because he's wearing a grey tux, not a grey suit.


+1. And Prince Charles was wearing a morning suit, a completely different animal from a suit as commonly referred to around here.

Originally Posted by chronoaug
Pinoy- Get it in a lightweight casual fabric. That's the problem with the first two pics and why they suck.

So you're saying Prince Charles' outfit sucks? Speaks the guy who complained about people criticizing SoCal the other day..
 

DLester

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Try a grey suit with a light blue shirt. That is the only way I can wear a grey suit. Otherwise I look washed out.
 

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