Suit Shopping!

Mr. T got some gift cards for his birthday so we did a bit of shopping this weekend. Both of us have felt frustrated with feeling so limited in the money we can spend because we're saving for the wedding. I like to think of it as good practice for saving for a house (or condo, or whatever), but still, we couldn't go on like this indefinitely. Mr. T definitely felt a lot better finally being able to replace some of the clothes he's worn out in the last year. (Boys are so much harder on their clothes. I don't have that excuse, alas. All my clothes are still okay, sigh.)

Along the way we also decided to make our first excursion into suit shopping! Mr. T is looking for a slim-fit retro style suit, like the Justin Timberlake Dolce & Gabbana one from the GQ cover (but without the $2300 price tag). We went to Macy's, Nordstrom, Bloomingdale's, Ben Sherman, and Armani. Macy's had really limited stock, it felt like, but then again no one came over to help us, so we could've missed something. Mostly the suits looked boring and boxy.

After Macy's we went to Armani (the store with the cafe, not the upscale shop) and not only was their stock sparse, not one person offered to help us...so we left. There wasn't anything out in Mr. T's size, so we couldn't do that one on our own.

Bloomingdale's was our next stop and they were right on it with the customer service. The employee sized Mr. T up in 30 seconds, literally, and brought him a selection of suits to try. Mr. T just tried the jackets on for most of them...I guess that's how guys do it. Why bother with the pants unless you think you're going to like the whole thing? The suits were nice but not quite right. The one we liked the most was priced at $1085 and was a "Zegna" (which I'd never heard of before). Here's a photo:

We were joking that he looks like a mafioso with the blazer and white tee look. I was surprised by how thin the pants were but Mr. T says that's just how it is with suits, especially nice ones. This one was closest to the slim fit Mr. T is looking for, but he wanted to look around more, so even though the employee offered him 50% off (I would've caved. I'm weak.), Mr. T stuck to his guns and left the store.

We went to Nordstrom next and the employee there put Mr. T in the exact same Zegna coat in a different pattern (and it was more expensive at Nordstrom, which I hadn't expected). He told Mr. T that their sales happen in June (hint, hint!). Mr. T also tried on a Hugo Boss coat but it was boxier than the Zegna. The employee also crushed Mr. T's dreams of a three-piece suit a la the D&G Justin Timberlake look...he said that because vests add $300 to the price of a suit, they weren't doing well, and suitmakers weren't offering them anymore. The only three-piece he had was one of the boxy ones we didn't like.

Disappointed, we left Nordstrom, had a little retail therapy at Puma (we both got sneakers...mine are a fabulous pink glitter fabric!) and we stopped in at Ben Sherman. Ben Sherman definitely had the cuts we liked but their selection was small, and Mr. T didn't think the suits felt formal enough for a wedding...they were more like stagewear for a rock band.

I told Mr. T he should go custom if he really wants the perfect slim-fit, three-piece suit without buying that D&G one. He's considering it (know any suit-makers?), but we'll also visit some more stores, like Brooks Brothers, Sak's, and Neiman Marcus. I had no idea it would be this challenging!