Which raises the question...do you have any advice on shopping for a bespoke suit? I don't normally need one, but a gentleman really MUST have a properly fitting suit and blue blazer in his wardrobe. And I'm built like a beer barrel, so bespoke is the only realistic option for me.CByrneIV wrote:By the by, I have similar kit. I think I've got about $30k in suits, and about $10k in shoes; never mind the watches, shirts, and ties.
Some situations require dressing well. Not only that, but dressing well and APPROPRIATELY, is both a duty, and a privilege, accorded gentlemen.
A guy my size, if you want a GOOD suit, it generally has to be custom made, and that starts around $1200 and goes up over $5,000. Same thing for good shirts ($100 to $500). At least I can buy normal size shoes (I'm a 12-1/2, so I usually have to buy 13), so good shoes only run from $300 to $2000 usually. Ties are all over the place, but a typical mid range silk piece will run from $100 to $700. I generally prefer not to wear them if I don't have to; but I've got a dozen decent ties, probably 20 decent shirts, maybe 10 good suits, and five good pairs of dress shoes or dress low boots.
That's really what I consider the minimum wardrobe of business attire, when you work in a setting where good business attire is required; not only by dress code, but simply to be taken seriously.
It may be incongruous to think of me that way; but you have to remember I AM a senior exec at a bank, and I didn't get there by accident. Yes, I wear jeans and a golf shirt 90% of the time, but not always.
Only pic I have of me in a suit is... 5 years old I think? Almost six? Should have been around Christmas 2003...
That's a Fioravanti suit (custom made), a Brioni silk shirt; and you can't see it but I'm wearing a Breitling Navitimer, and John Lobb low dress boots.
In that pic I'm probably wearing $15,000, a third of which was the suit (I commissioned two Fioravantis, for $10,000; and at the time that was a steal. They can run up to $25,000 a piece).
If I remember correctly, I was on my way out to Ruths Chris in midtown Manhattan.
At the time I was living at 86th and 3rd, but a few weeks later I moved down to 39th and 2nd because it was closer to where I was working (42nd and 3rd, across from the Chrysler building). My girlfriend at the time (a ridiculously skinny German ex model who worked for American Airlines) and I were dining with the CTO of Pfizer, and some senior VPs from Cisco and McAffee.
I've still got the suits actually, and the shoes. A good suit like that, never goes out of style. Of course the gut has expanded somewhat since then (like 100lbs... no joke), and good shoes can last a lifetime.
(The high-end watch I have. IWC Fliegerchronograph)