DH usually uses Men's Warehouse, but he has also used Macy's and Belk, a regional retailer. You can never go wrong with black or charcoal.

We had a really great experience at Jos. A. Bank, after we'd been frustrated at Macy's. We are definitely customers for life there now.

Maybe wait for the sales after Christmas? DH doesn't wear suits often anymore but he usually goes to Macys or Men's Wearhouse... I don't care for MW very much myself...they are too pushy for me. You would probably get more personalized service at J Banks...and sometimes the sales are better at the smaller stores. You can't go wrong with gray or navy.

Can you give him an IOU for a suit? My sister just told me Dillard's stores have a really good sale on men's stuff over Presidents' Day. If he doesn't need the suit yet and you're near a Dillard's it might be worth waiting.

Men's Warehouse is having a buy one get one free sale right now.

No Dillard's here in PA. The suit purchase will probably not happen BEFORE Christmas. He only gets home late tonight. I might do some preliminary looking. He is a typical male-doesn't want to shop all over the place.

Brooks Brothers. Pricey but wears like iron! Since he has a black suit, I would get gray.

Charcoal or navy pinstripe would be great. If he wants other than a suit, a navy blazer with grey flannel trousers is a must as well and very versatile. If you have a Nordstrom, they are good. Brooks Brothers is classic, but pricey. Of course, a good suit will last for years and is well worth the investment. It will make a great first impression which is important as your son enters the job market. One other thought-We even have some local menswear shops that sell suits for about the same price as Brooks Brothers and maybe you do as well. Those "oldtime" tailors are the best at fitting. They really know their stuff, more so than sales people at any of the chain stores in my experience.

Interesting thing about suits, they can be timeless. We have a picture of my DH's father with three of his brothers. It must be at least 30 years old. Those men could step out of that picture and attend a wedding or event today in those same suits.

We got DH a navy suit for travel as he can wear the jacket as a sports jacket too. I think we got it in Macys. In Europe all we saw were black suits but in the states it makes you look a lot like a funeral director or limo driver.

More important by far than color is fit...whether gray, navy, black, houndstooth, pin stripe or whatever, make sure it fits well.

Take him to NordstromâÂÂs or Neiman Marcus to try on some Hickey Freeman suits or other like suits that are popular. After he finds a fit he likes you can order here and save a lot LASTCALL . com . You can get suits that retailed for over a grand for around $360. Really though the quality is more in line with a six or seven hundred dollar suit. LastC sends things pretty fast too. Or, check out J. Crew, they are very nice quality and they hold up to time. They also have slimmer cuts for the young and hip. The Ludlow suit is and has been all the rage with the younger crowd. My husband has a suit from there (not the Ludlow) and it is his favorite for comfort and looks. He wears a suit six days a week and the J.Crew suit still looks nice after much use.

Here is a link that might be useful: last call...I have ordered often (its Neiman Marcus sales)

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sat, Dec 21, 13 at 20:48

My DH hates to shop too, and only wears suits a few times a year. He had a great experience at Nordstrom last year buying a new suit.

I think gray suits are nice, better than navy. Something about navy makes me think Uniform, I'm not sure why!

My husband wears a suit 6 days a week. He's a big guy and hard on clothes. Once as he exited our walk in closet he somehow caught the belt loop (of brand new pants!) on the strike plate and tore the loop right off. He couldn't have accomplished that if he had been trying. He just ruined a pair of suit pants this week. The way they tore, they aren't repairable.

I'm trying to talk him into discussing a custom made suit with my tailor. Maybe if it's made expressly for him, the fit will be better and they'll wear better?

My next effort will be to talk him into a long weekend in Scottsdale to visit a Dillard's during the Presidents' Day sale. I'm only partially joking.

The last thing I wanted to do this week was drive up near the mall but I thought he should take advantage of the Men's Warehouse BOGO. He wasn't interested, and I can't really blame him, but he needs to get the process started so the alterations can be done and the suits can be put in rotation.

Jos A Banks uses lower quality fabrics. The seat of slacks will be shiny with average wear in a fairly short time.

DH only shops at Nordstrom or Brooks Bros for dress clothes now. Yes, you pay more....quality has a price.

hhireno,
Your DH and mine are of the same species!

DH has done the belt loop rip on more than one pair of pants. Also the pocket rip.

I seriously used pulls that have no protrusions instead of knobs on our bath and kitchen cabinets just to help minimize the opportunity of this happening.

I'm still an occasional suit fan!

I've always loved the wider-spaced "chalky" pinstripe look. Waaayy back in the 70's, DF had a dark charcoal suit with that type of pinstriping. Damn...I thought that suit looked SO sharp!
That was when Hart, Shaffner, & Marx was a desired suit name. At least Nordstrom's has the real stuff!

Check this one one out! There's a "zoom" feature to get a look @ the chalky stripes. I'd buy this one in a "Hart-beat"...:-)

Faron

Here is a link that might be useful: HSM Chalk-stripe...

Oh juliekcmo, you make me feel a little better! So I'm not alone, others have husbands like mine. It really is amazing the damage he can do to his clothes while going about his daily activities. I've learned to stop asking "how did that happen?" because he never knows.

He doesn't want to spend a lot on his suits because of his track record so that's why we usually use Men's Warehouse. I think we should buy two of the exact same suit so when parts get damaged he might still have a whole wearable suit left.

ETA: He just came home from church and told me the pants he was wearing have a hole! Luckily, it's on a seam so it can be easily fixed. Good thing he has one less work day this week, he's running out of clothes.

This post was edited by hhireno on Sun, Dec 22, 13 at 13:51

Faron, keep an eye on the Jack Victor suits on Sierra Trading post for sales. A couple of times a year you can get an additional 30% or more off the sale price. The quality is very nice, good bang for your buck and there is often pin stripes too. The only thing to watch for is that most of the Jack Victor suits are a generous classic fit and have a bit more fabric around the mid-section and hip/butt area (but that is where the reviews come in handy). However, JV also has trim fits (although the selection is small). I got a beautiful worsted wool suit for husband a few years ago for under $300, the workmanship and fabric far surpassed my expectations. The pants had a nice drape to them as well.

This post was edited by jterrilynn on Sun, Dec 22, 13 at 15:02

Funny, I was never a fan of chalk stripe suits, and even pin stripes are so formal, I see them only if you are in banking and finance. So much of the working world has grown more relaxed....I remember way back, a fellow I knew used to work in banking in NYC and when he first started, he didn't wear a vest, so when he entered the building, the receptionist asked if she could help him. After that, he wore the vest! Now, do they even wear 3 piece suits? A buddy of mine worked in NYC in the broadcast industry and wore "nice jeans" to work.

But when you talk about guys being hard on suits, DH was an engineer and he spent a lot of time visiting customer factories and inspecting huge equipment 2 and 3 stories high that was very messy. Of course, going to customers, he had to wear suits. One time, when he was inspecting a machine, a hydraulic hose blew and he was covered in oil. Other times he'd be covered in carbon black and all kinds of wonderful things. So I quit buying him good suits. Instead, I took him to the goodwill and we bought his suits there ... maybe $45. Fortunately, he is a standard size and many of the suits didn't even need tailoring...or maybe just shorten the pants. He ended up being very nattily dressed for very low cost. And if he destroyed a suit, I didn't care.