It looks like it has been a while since the last "good, inexpensive suit" thread (or search isn't working), so here is my dilemma.
I switched jobs within my company and find myself suddenly in a suit environment. I currently have two. Both Brooks Brothers Fitzgerald 1818 Saxxon suits. The jackets of those suits were a solid fit nearly off the rack. If it were a movie, the room would have lit up around me as I checked the fit out in the mirror. A tiny nip in the midsection, adjust the sleeves, hem the pants and the suit is ready. Great Saxxon wool fabric. I had a 40% off coupon, so I recently went back to BB after learning about the job and picked up a regular Fitzgerald 1818. Not as nice as the Saxxon fabric, but still a nice fit from the start. I wear a 36S in them, so the selection is usually pretty thin, and the coupon was only good in-store. Plus I wanted as quick a turnaround as possible. So I'll have 3 as of Monday, unless something happened with the suit.
I'd like to add a couple more, but don't want to spend $800 (I have a 20% anything until the end of April or May from BB left) each. So I've been to Macy's, Lord and Taylor, Nordstrom Rack (2 locations), and JAB seeing if there is anything that catches my eye. Nothing. Lord and Taylor didn't even have my size on the floor. Many just feel cheap and they don't fit as well off the rack. I know tailoring can fix a lot, but it is nice to picture how you will look without too much imagination. JAB's latest fire sale actually didn't include the "slim fit" suits. Those are still $650. No thanks.
Regular Nordstrom won't offer much of a discount in price compared to BB and I felt the Boss suits that were a little more inexpensive in price, were a larger step down in quality. Hickey Freeman or HSM kicks you back into Brooks Brothers price range or higher. I am very much down on the quality Banana Republic puts out these days and had a hard time justifying their price even when it was on sale last week. JCrew is a bit too aggressive in their slim fits for me and nearly the same price as the big boys. It is a fairly conservative office environment.
So, is there anywhere I've missed? I'm in the DC area, and I should have pretty much any store available. I'd be more comfortable with a $3-400 tab for each. Or maybe I should just suck it up and buy 1 more 1818 instead of 2 and make do with that. But seeing as though I am realizing my AE shoes might not fit me correctly (rarely wore them the last two years...kept them for when I wore suits, which was fairly rare), I may need some shoe money too. I can only take so much of the shoe pressing into my toe bone walking from the train. They felt fine other times I wore them, but that is a whole other discussion. Too bad the two pair of AEs I own, I bought from Nordstrom and Endless.com. AE retail would potentially swap them out. One pair isn't even worn yet, but over a year old.
I switched jobs within my company and find myself suddenly in a suit environment. I currently have two. Both Brooks Brothers Fitzgerald 1818 Saxxon suits. The jackets of those suits were a solid fit nearly off the rack. If it were a movie, the room would have lit up around me as I checked the fit out in the mirror. A tiny nip in the midsection, adjust the sleeves, hem the pants and the suit is ready. Great Saxxon wool fabric. I had a 40% off coupon, so I recently went back to BB after learning about the job and picked up a regular Fitzgerald 1818. Not as nice as the Saxxon fabric, but still a nice fit from the start. I wear a 36S in them, so the selection is usually pretty thin, and the coupon was only good in-store. Plus I wanted as quick a turnaround as possible. So I'll have 3 as of Monday, unless something happened with the suit.
I'd like to add a couple more, but don't want to spend $800 (I have a 20% anything until the end of April or May from BB left) each. So I've been to Macy's, Lord and Taylor, Nordstrom Rack (2 locations), and JAB seeing if there is anything that catches my eye. Nothing. Lord and Taylor didn't even have my size on the floor. Many just feel cheap and they don't fit as well off the rack. I know tailoring can fix a lot, but it is nice to picture how you will look without too much imagination. JAB's latest fire sale actually didn't include the "slim fit" suits. Those are still $650. No thanks.
Regular Nordstrom won't offer much of a discount in price compared to BB and I felt the Boss suits that were a little more inexpensive in price, were a larger step down in quality. Hickey Freeman or HSM kicks you back into Brooks Brothers price range or higher. I am very much down on the quality Banana Republic puts out these days and had a hard time justifying their price even when it was on sale last week. JCrew is a bit too aggressive in their slim fits for me and nearly the same price as the big boys. It is a fairly conservative office environment.
So, is there anywhere I've missed? I'm in the DC area, and I should have pretty much any store available. I'd be more comfortable with a $3-400 tab for each. Or maybe I should just suck it up and buy 1 more 1818 instead of 2 and make do with that. But seeing as though I am realizing my AE shoes might not fit me correctly (rarely wore them the last two years...kept them for when I wore suits, which was fairly rare), I may need some shoe money too. I can only take so much of the shoe pressing into my toe bone walking from the train. They felt fine other times I wore them, but that is a whole other discussion. Too bad the two pair of AEs I own, I bought from Nordstrom and Endless.com. AE retail would potentially swap them out. One pair isn't even worn yet, but over a year old.
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