What to look for?

[Rodney]

I'm new to the world of suits. I've never had to wear one for work. In my career path they were never necessary and I've led a pretty informal life. I am ready for a change, I want to dress better at least some of the time. My budget doesn't allow bespoke or even good new OTR and I won't bother with a cheaply made poor quality suit. What would be the point?
I'm thinking more along the lines of thrift store shopping and vintage. That's not a problem. I like thrift stores and prefer vintage styles anyway plus inexpensive doesn't have to be poor quality, especially when buying used. The trouble is even if I know what I like but I don't necessarily know what I'm looking at. What do you look for in a suit? How do you tell trash from treasure? Quality from not so good?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Rodney

 

[fashion frank]

To be Or Not to Bespoken.

I'm new to the world of suits. I've never had to wear one for work. In my career path they were never necessary and I've led a pretty informal life. I am ready for a change, I want to dress better at least some of the time. My budget doesn't allow bespoke or even good new OTR and I won't bother with a cheaply made poor quality suit. What would be the point?
I'm thinking more along the lines of thrift store shopping and vintage. That's not a problem. I like thrift stores and prefer vintage styles anyway plus inexpensive doesn't have to be poor quality, especially when buying used. The trouble is even if I know what I like but I don't necessarily know what I'm looking at. What do you look for in a suit? How do you tell trash from treasure? Quality from not so good?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Rodney

I'm up to 19 suits now and half are new and the other half are vintage.
Around here they have thrift shop's called Savers and I find vintage suits for as low as $12.00 ( most are around this cost) and as high as $ 20.00
What I do is I try on all of the suits even vaguely close to my size because you cant trust whats on the hanger .
As long as the pants are wider in the waist than your waist size and longer in the leg so that you can have them tailored .
Any suit jacket that you buy regardless of how long the sleeves may be on the jacket , the main thing to remember is when the jacket is on your body lower your right hand and the bottom hem of the suit jacket should be between the first and second joint on your thumb.
If you find any jackets like that ,then they are your correct torso size .
Also the back collar of the jacket should "lay"against the back of your shirt neck collar.
If all that lines up the suit jacket should fit you well.

My tailor charges me about $30.00 bucks to hem jacket sleeves ,paints waist ,and paints leg hems .
So in closing I can get a nice vintage suit ( that most times I will like better than my J.A.B. ) for about $40.00 then a good dry cleaning and that's it .

Hopes this helps you out and welcome to the Forum.

All the Best ,Fashion Frank

 

[brendanm720]

Frank has some great advice... Which I am going to add to.

I usually take a tailor's measuring tape with me (available a most sewing stores or where sewing notions are sold) and Measure the coats to weed out the ones that are too big in the shoulders and chest prior to trying them on.

You will want very little variance in the shoulder measurement -- I usually only go 1/4" either way. If the shoulders are too wide you risk looking like a linebacker, and too narrow, you risk looking like you've grown out of your suit. The chest measurement you will want to be between 2" and 4" wider than your measurement, depending on the cut (and usually, the era.)

I personally don't mind synthetic blends so long as the majority of the fiber content is of natural origin (e.g. wool, silk, linen, cotton, et cetera). Others will have other opinions. I usually stay away from anything completely synthetic, though.

Older suits will have heavier cloth.

If you hit the jackpot and find something golden-age (or even older) which fits and you like, snap it up before someone else does.

You can learn more about fit here and here. The site touches on things that both Frank and I have touched on, as well as a few other things.

Have a gander at the suit room sticky post for links to the 20's/30's/40's/50's suits threads for ideas as to what you'd like to look for, style-wise. They used a lot more interesting fabrics back then.

 

[Stanley Doble]

If you are used to shopping in thrift stores keep an eye open for Dress For Success by John Molloy. It has a lot of information and was written for people in your situation. Specifically, men who needed to dress well for work but had no idea how. I know you aren`t talking about work but the same info applies.

 

[Rodney]

Thank you very much guys. I'm reading those links next: Stanley: I'll check at the library too. They may have a copy there.
I haven't worked since 2011 when I became disabled. This is for me. I'm getting older and am tired of T-shirts and jeans. I'm ready for a change.
Rodney

 

[Rodney]

I did a little looking around at a Tacoma Goodwill today. Plenty of jackets and a few complete suits but nothing big enough to fit. Can you say "fat man in a little jacket"? I do think I might have learned a little though just from looking. Pretty much everything I saw had about the same size/style lapels and no obvious signs of how old they really were. I'm thinking relatively recent like in the last 10 or 20 years.
More studying is necessary.
Rodney

 

[Claudio]

The length of the jacket can vary depending on the year it was made (some styles of the 60's and late 50's were quite short) so it's something to take into consideration when judging the length/size. A revently modern made jacket should have all the information on inside labels (where it was made and fabric composition). If it doesn't have these (and the jacket is , say, 20 years old or younger) then it's pretty dodgy (either that or it can be a bespoke item). If it's synthetic mix (and not pure natural fibre) it is not of a good quality. Quality garments will always be made with quality material. Of course, not all natural fibre suits are necessarily of good quality, but if a suit contains sythetic fabric, it cannot be of good quality.
If the chest area is fused (inner canvas is glued to the outer shell), another sign of poor quality production. Usually (not always), if cuffs are working then that is usually a sign of a better make. Look at the finishing, at the stitching, at the button holes ....
Good luck with your search

 

[brendanm720]

Pretty much everything I saw had about the same size/style lapels and no obvious signs of how old they really were. I'm thinking relatively recent like in the last 10 or 20 years.
More studying is necessary.
Rodney

Most things in the Goodwills around me are from the 80's/90's/2000's. They all have a very similar appearance, though as you get into the 2000's the lapels start getting slimmer (a la the 60's). I think the gorge goes up a bit as you get later on in that timeframe, but otherwise the jackets are all very similar.

I haven't really had good luck with tailored items (read: suits, sport coats, et cetera) that fit properly in the Goodwill stores, because some time in the 80's we went to having an extra inch in the shoulders, which looks bad on me.

If you have a Salvation Army or a Church or Charity-owned shop, you may have better luck there.

 

[PeterB]

Just my two cents:
What I have found in London charity shops is almost all 80s onwards, and nearly not worth the discounted prices. I regret not buying more back in the 80s, when thrift shops in my home town even had old coats from the 1890s. But one can find vintage ties and in London, some old Austen Reed suits, which even in the 80s were not at all bad (still made from the heavier cloths, and often three piece). I usually check for stains, and I find particularly that the front part of the trouser thighs are often shiny and a different colour (slightly faded) from the rest of the trousers. This is often overlooked in the shop, and one gets buyer remorse on taking them home and holding them under a bright light. Agree with Fashion Frank about trying them on -- people whose clothes end up in thrift shops are often very strange sizes, and one wonders what they looked like. Darwin would be impressed by the length of the arms, compared to very short legs in some cases.

I generally ignore the cuff condition, if the legs will need turning up anyway, but sleeves have to be checked for wear on the elbows. Another thing is to look for wear on the jacket cuffs, because the points sometimes wear out like collar points.

The point about canvas / fusing is a well-rehearsed subject here and on Ask Andy. It is worth checking, but I wouldn't bother on suits earlier than the 50s, because one is buying them for vintage value, and not necessarily quality of construction. Anything 60s onwards I would check it, particularly to make sure that it hasn't shifted or been damaged.

Good luck searching.

 

[Rabbit]

..., and I find particularly that the front part of the trouser thighs are often shiny and a different colour (slightly faded) from the rest of the trousers.

Interesting that you should mention this. I recently had a conversation with my trusted dry cleaner, the owner of the shop I mean, about the "shot" fabric on a mid 1930s navy linen suit which was slightly faded, especially on the thighs, like you describe it. He was sure that this particular kind of fading was due to the effects of the salt of sweaty hands. The salt eventually affects the fibers. The front thigh would be the most affected spot for that, naturally. The dry cleaning actually helped just a little to even out the fading, like I had hoped it would, but it's still visible of course.