helping my husband build a professional wardrobe - YouLookFab Forum

Category

Shopping

Welcome! Read about what to wear and how to wear it on the YLF Blog. Join the YLF Forum to ask specific questions or just chat about fashion and personal style. Or check out the curated list of things we love in YLF Finds.

Outfits Ensembles Trends Advice

helping my husband build a professional wardrobe

columbine(erin)

Veteran

Angie and all,

My husband has been in the military for 15 years and may be retiring this year. We will need to start building him a current professional wardrobe (for probably conservative office settings) and finding a suit for him. I am wondering where to start shopping for quality, current shirts, trousers, and a gray or maybe a navy suit. I'll have to ask follow up questions to be certain of perfect pants lengths in men's trousers, and about lapels, button placement, etc. We'll also have to find him new shoes; he can't keep stomping around in military or hiking boots. In the mean time, I am looking through all old posts about men's wear that I can find.

Thanks.

Shopping

19 replies

Latest reply was from Laura (rhubarbgirl)

Adelfa

Veteran

So much depends on your budget and your available retail options! If you're near a Nordstrom, I'd go there. They will have nice suits at a variety of price points. They'll also be able to help with all of the rest--shirts, ties, shoes, etc.

Macy's will have a selection too but I've never found good service there.

You can also go the suit-warehouse route. You can try googling "men's suits [the name of your city]" and various options will pop up from high quality men's haberdashers to bargain basement.

Good luck on your new adventures together!

columbine(erin)

Veteran

Thanks Adelfa. I think we will be budgeting $2000 for his new wardrobe. Off to ponder Nordstrom's options.

Anonymous

Hi Columbine. How exciting for DH. My DH found great help at Nordstroms when he left the military and needed a good basic business suit. The sales associates really taught him how to dress, what his size was, what to look for in fit, and basics about the different styles. I like the suburban stores vs the large urban stores because they generally have more basic suits, less push to the highest price point. Macy's can be good for sales but you need to be knowledgable on what works. I really like the rack for dress shirts and ties. I have seen great suits there too but again you are on your own on figuring out if it works.

I found this online. It is a good basic diagram on fit. A suit should look like it was made for a man. If your military man is anything like mine, the details have to be perfect.

http://lifehacker.com/this-vis.....1444682567

unfrumped

Veteran

Joseph Banks has pretty good quality and runs great sales. Also the major dept stores typically have a big sale on men's suits yearly.
Guys often hate to shop, but what I would do is go out for retail research to several such stores to identify some brands that fit him well ( men have body types and best styles, too, though all of that tends to be more muted by the menswear uniform) and would be his price range especially if half off etc. Colors also are much less driven by " color analysis , but even there it may be that this gray or that is better, if you have a choice. Then you would be prepared to pounce. Same for shirts-- now there are different fits too, but lots of options to get these on sale if he can plan ahead. Then he can get better quality for the $$ or have more leeway for accessories-- - ties, belts-- and all the other things that tend to come up in career transitions.
Good luck!

lesliekatya

I second Jos A Banks - my husband has four suits from them that he bought during different sales, that were marked down several hundred dollars. They have different levels of quality, but if you get your email on the mailing list, you'll be able to keep an eye out for the really good sales. We were surprised at how expensive ties were, so keep an eye out for those on sale too.

chadya

Veteran

I would also say Jos A Bank, they have great sales buy one suit get 2 free etc, if their style is your spouse's.
My son got his jr prom suit there and it will serve him well (as long as he stays the same size)

Isabel

Veteran

OK, don't laugh : JC Penney. They are the top place for suits for high earners and Consumer Reports has ranked them as the best suit for the money over and over. The quality is awesome. They generally offer really good tailoring too. They have good shirts, ties and shoes too.

Angie

(website)

Fashion Stylist

I echo what Adelfa says 100%.

Congrats to hubs. xo

JAileen

Veteran

If you have a Dillards, my husband has had great service there. And they have a huge selection.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

My BF has suits, but mostly wears dress slacks and dress shirts, and rarely the suits broken up as separates. So maybe start with 3 pants and 6 shirts instead of the suit (add a sport coat or 2 if needed, weather wise) unless it's a very conservative environment?

abc

Veteran

I think also you should be a bit wary of going from zero to fully stocked closet in one sitting / outing (basically in a short time frame).

I know for me personally it has taken trial and error to find my personal style, and I would suspect that it could be the same with your husband. I've made some mistakes along the way but I am in a way better place now than I was 2 years ago (pre YLF!)

Maybe start with a smaller capsule that will fill his immediate needs and go from there - as he wears the clothes he can learn what he likes and dislikes (colors, cuts, fabrics, etc) and make better informed decisions as time passes.

As with women's clothes, men now have many more options than before. I'd hate to see him try to do it all at once and not really explore what's out there. It could be a fun exercise and you could get a snazzy dresser out of all of this!

Good luck and keep us posted, we love seeing pics of DHs!

columbine(erin)

Veteran

Thanks so much for your wisdom, ladies, I knew this was the right place to ask for help! I have a good idea of what stores to try first now, and ABC, you are right, it wouldn't be a good idea to try to completely outfit him in one sitting. I'll post some pictures and more questions later when we have time to shop. It is crazy right now because we have a toddler with medical issues. Thanks so much, everyone.

columbine(erin)

Veteran

P.S. Marin, thanks for the chart, off to check that out.

rabbit

Veteran

I echo what abc says. It's good to get a great interview suit, but he also has to have a sense of what exactly the work culture is like, and it can vary a lot from company to company as well as field and position. My husband has worn a suit jacket for only two occasions in life, for interviews, and for a funeral. He works in a conservative office and often has client meetings as a project lead, but it just hasn't been necessary or that common.

columbine(erin)

Veteran

Yes, you're right Rabbit, he would expect to need an interview suit, but probably wouldn't need a suit often. He is very unused to suits after 15 years of wearing ABU's and flight suits and such! He has a gray pin striped suit, but it needs to be tailored for him, the trousers are way too long, and one brown suit that's very dated. Time to go shopping, I think. He was wanting to start with a black suit, but I think I've talked him into looking for a gray or navy one first. I just think black is more formal than we need.

rachylou

Veteran

I just finished reading something about suits: First navy, then grey, and then black - if you live/work in a big metropolitan city.

I also think if you're not in management, banking, law, medicine, or marketing, you should not go too sharp.

Kristin L

Veteran

I'm not sure if your only looking for suits or looking at other men's clothes, but I would suggest checking out Belk as well. They run some great sales on men's clothes (is it obvious I've been updating my DF's wardrobe?).

columbine(erin)

Veteran

Thanks for the suggestion, K, I haven't looked at Belk before.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

My DH and I have actually had good luck with Mens Warehouse (which is buying Jos A Bank, btw, presumably they'll merge). They do free alterations and have a range of sizes, plus a surprisingly wide range of more casual wear. I agree with everyone that even in conservative fields most guys don't wear suits every day anymore, unless you're a trial lawyer, so I'd get one suit and then fill in with sport jackets, shirts, slacks etc. until your husband gets an idea of his style preferences and what he needs to wear to work.