Tips for online suit shopping?

Cait

Hi YLF-ers! I am getting ready to buy my first, real, grown-up suit. Yay! (I am a medical student, and will be wearing this suit for approximately eight hundred million interviews in November.)
Because I live in a small city, and spend 80 hours a week in the hospital, it would be most convenient to do my shopping online. But on the internet, all suits look basically the same. I feel kind of paralyzed by choice, but also by my lack of knowledge. I think I am looking for something classic/boring, that will travel well, but beyond that, I am stumped.
What does one shop for in a suit? What kind of fit/fabric/cut should I even be looking for?
Do you have any tips on how to shop for suiting, and/or where to start looking?

(I am an hourglassy pear shape wearing 8-10 on top and 12-14 on the bottom, if that helps.)

11 years ago

Shopping

3 replies

Latest reply was from Cait

N-Marie

Veteran

I wear suits for medical conferences on a regular basis.

Back when I was first interviewing, I went to the mall and bought an Ann Klein suit that was boring and black, but fit well. I am the same size top and bottom so I was able to buy a set, but you may need to buy separates. I wear suits with a variety of tops, but primarily Brooks Brother's non-iron shirts, which travel well (and also have a variety of fits to suit your body type).

IMO, the key for buying suit jackets is that the fit in the shoulders must be just right. So you will either have to buy a few and return some or break down and go to the store. Different brands tend to favor different shoulder breadths and torso lengths so you should sample different brands.

The site Corporette has a pretty good guide to women's suiting (http://corporette.com/shop/sho.....s-suiting/). That site runs pretty conservative in terms of dress style, but that should be a good match for medical schools, which are similar. I would disagree with their preference for skirt suit over pant suit- in a male dominated environment I personally prefer a pant suit since it is less fussy and makes me feel more confidant. And you can can get away with more comfortable shoes if they are mostly covered by pants.

11 years ago

gardenchick

Veteran

I've bought a few suits at Ann Taylor. The nice thing is that they make different fits (Modern, Curvy, etc..) of the pants that coordinate with a number of jackets. So you might consider calling to get a sense from the salesperson of which fits are more likely to work for you, and then try those in a size or two. Once you figure out which fit is best for your body, you can order a few different fabrics, etc. I have at least 5 pairs of the Modern fit pants and generally the fit is the same. The tropical wool suits are good for a few seasons, and if you pick one in a neutral such as black, brown, grey or navy, you could probably mix and match it with a lot of different tops, scarves, etc.

I did have the sleek suit from Banana Republic--but the pants stretched a lot.

Happy suit shopping!

11 years ago

Cait

Active Member

Thank you ladies! I appreciate your insights. I'm off on my (virtual) shopping spree!

11 years ago

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