Suit for Young Professional

Bantex_2

M & S at around the £200-£300 mark really are quite good.

Flugelhorn

M&S ... in the days when consultants wore suits at the hospital (now it is all "bare below the elbows" and no ties) I reckon that more than half the suits in the place were M&S - DH had 5 with 2 pairs of trousers to each jacket. They all wore well and did not cost mega bucks
DS has one of the £99 suits for the odd occasion at uni that he needs one - looks good.

InsideInsurance

I am fat not stocky, I find the M&S trousers wear out very quickly. Certainly get multiple pairs of trousers as they always go before the jacket but high street stores only stock each line for ~9 months.

Alternate the trousers you wear each day, as well as shoes, greatly increases the life of both. If things get very wet in rain etc then ideally 2 days between wears is even better.

TM Lewin, Hawkes and Curtis etc are all find for shirts. Only ever buy in their 4 for £100 type sales, the shirts are worth that price but not their claimed RRPs.


Fit is 100% king, the difference between Savil Row bespoke, off shore MTM and high street RTW is 90% about the fit of the item. Unless you are an odd shape or really want a particular fabric then most people are better off buying a RTW suit that fits well in the shoulders and chest and then getting a tailor to adjust the rest. To get the same quality fabric and construction from MTM, even off shore, would be massively more expensive.


What area are you going to be working in? Audit or Consultancy? Which industry?

Some places are still very conservative and will expect you to have a straight forward black, navy or charcoal suit with little to no surface detail. Medium notched lapels and certainly no pocket squares etc. Other areas are more relaxed, a few even like more individualised people, so chalk stripes, birds eye or prince of wales are all acceptable along with more "fashionable" lapels etc. Black oxford shoes with or without toe cap for those who are ultra conservative. Black or brown, oxford, derby or monk, toe cap, broguing or wingtips fine elsewhere.

If you arent sure, go conservative as it'll be accepted anywhere, if a little boring for some.

Zinger549

If you can get to Golders Green you could try Gold's. They do suits and shoes and they offer a tailoring service. http://www.thebigredbuilding.com/

ceh209

I work for this firm (for 2 more days!) as does OH.

I'm female so just ignore what I wear - though I will say I have one suit jacket which I wear maybe 3 times a year.

OH buys suits from M&S (the £100 type ones, not the really expensive ones), or if just trousers then from Burton, Next etc. He would consider Tesco and Asda but I don't think he's actually used them. No one's ever commented that his clothes don't fit and he doesn't complain about them! I don't think he owns a pair of cufflinks.

We're outside of London so I don't know if that makes a difference to people's attitudes.

You should be eligible for a loan that you receive about a month before you start so you can wait till then and buy a half decent suit rather than settling for Primark.

pablakeman

ceh209 wrote: »

I work for this firm (for 2 more days!) as does OH.

I'm female so just ignore what I wear - though I will say I have one suit jacket which I wear maybe 3 times a year.

OH buys suits from M&S (the £100 type ones, not the really expensive ones), or if just trousers then from Burton, Next etc. He would consider Tesco and Asda but I don't think he's actually used them. No one's ever commented that his clothes don't fit and he doesn't complain about them! I don't think he owns a pair of cufflinks.

We're outside of London so I don't know if that makes a difference to people's attitudes.

You should be eligible for a loan that you receive about a month before you start so you can wait till then and buy a half decent suit rather than settling for Primark.

Yes I will be eligible for a loan so will be buying a couple of good suits when that comes in, as you say around a month before I start. I wore a Primark suit to my final interview and I look back and I am glad I got to take the jacket off straight away!!

googler

The trousers will get the most wear, so if you find somewhere to buy jacket+two pair trousers, do that.

If you get trousers with belt loops, for goodness' sake, wear a belt with them! Nothing looks worse than belt loops without a belt.

Make sure the shoes match; black shoes with black, grey and blue suits. Brown shoes with brown suits.

Is there anyone in your family who can genuinely, truly ADVISE you on how you look in a suit? Not your school or college friends, not your brothers or sisters, but an older person who has actually worn one, and looks the part?

For a perfect example of how NOT to wear a suit, go to the BBC iPlayer, queue up "Invasion of the Job Snatchers" Episode 1, and find the two or three shots of the hopeful in the grey suit walking into/from/around the accountant's or similar office - a more ill-fitting example I have not seen in a long, long time..... and there's a couple of other howlers in the title sequence.

pablakeman

InsideInsurance wrote: »

I am fat not stocky, I find the M&S trousers wear out very quickly. Certainly get multiple pairs of trousers as they always go before the jacket but high street stores only stock each line for ~9 months.

Alternate the trousers you wear each day, as well as shoes, greatly increases the life of both. If things get very wet in rain etc then ideally 2 days between wears is even better.

TM Lewin, Hawkes and Curtis etc are all find for shirts. Only ever buy in their 4 for £100 type sales, the shirts are worth that price but not their claimed RRPs.


Fit is 100% king, the difference between Savil Row bespoke, off shore MTM and high street RTW is 90% about the fit of the item. Unless you are an odd shape or really want a particular fabric then most people are better off buying a RTW suit that fits well in the shoulders and chest and then getting a tailor to adjust the rest. To get the same quality fabric and construction from MTM, even off shore, would be massively more expensive.


What area are you going to be working in? Audit or Consultancy? Which industry?

Some places are still very conservative and will expect you to have a straight forward black, navy or charcoal suit with little to no surface detail. Medium notched lapels and certainly no pocket squares etc. Other areas are more relaxed, a few even like more individualised people, so chalk stripes, birds eye or prince of wales are all acceptable along with more "fashionable" lapels etc. Black oxford shoes with or without toe cap for those who are ultra conservative. Black or brown, oxford, derby or monk, toe cap, broguing or wingtips fine elsewhere.

If you arent sure, go conservative as it'll be accepted anywhere, if a little boring for some.

Especially as a grad trainee I will be happy to go conservative. Dark colours to blend in etc...

I will be working in Audit. Not sure exactly what industry though I will be based in Edinburgh, which specialises in Financial Services. Of course it isn't limited to this.

Thanks for all your tips, really helps to hear it off people who actually have FH experience as I am a complete novice! I wore a shirt and jumper to my assessment centre and everyone else there was in suits!

pablakeman

ceh209 wrote: »

I work for this firm (for 2 more days!) as does OH.

I'm female so just ignore what I wear - though I will say I have one suit jacket which I wear maybe 3 times a year.

OH buys suits from M&S (the £100 type ones, not the really expensive ones), or if just trousers then from Burton, Next etc. He would consider Tesco and Asda but I don't think he's actually used them. No one's ever commented that his clothes don't fit and he doesn't complain about them! I don't think he owns a pair of cufflinks.

We're outside of London so I don't know if that makes a difference to people's attitudes.

You should be eligible for a loan that you receive about a month before you start so you can wait till then and buy a half decent suit rather than settling for Primark.

Also good luck for whatever your pastures new bring you!

slightlyconfused1

Another vote for Slaters. My ds bought a suit there and the salesman was really knowledgeable about fit and what style would look good. He got a lovely flattering suit that is great quality.