Suit Up, ASAP!

If I could for the rest of my life elbow my way out of all formal, black-tie, white-tie, or suit-donning events, I definitely would. More so if the invite came in short notice. I broke in a fit the instant I got one four days before a major corporate event. Everyone, save for some, will be in suits and you would not want to be caught in a barong in their presence, would you? Neither did I. Based it on a bad past experience.

The event posed several interconnected problems. More like a chain reaction in this order: suits are so damn costly; no tailor would accept to make one for you in 3 days; off-the-rack and generic ready-to-wear suits are almost always ill-fitting and revolting; and, most importantly, I should be on the top 5% list of the best looking people in the event so how the flying f*ck could I pull this off?!

Being the suit jerk that I am, I need to consult with the experts. My hoards of monthly Manual magazines did not help one bit, save for a tip on how to button a three-button suit (top-sometimes, middle-always, bottom-never). I could not blame the local mag, it's too damn hot in this country most of the time, anyway, for readers to pay the thing needed attention. So I consulted the top brass, GQ magazine, for the way to wear one and what styles are socially acceptable at present. It said I should only get to choose between the more modern 2-button suit and the classic three-button ones. Drop the double breasted ones unless I wanted to look like a blast from the freakin' past. The shoulder length should not jut out of your frame: snug, trimmed, and sharp. For a first pair, the choices are dark grey, black, dark blue or dark brown. Pin-striped pattern optional. Tie should be slim or at least narrower that the regular tie cuts around. A tapered shirt would look sharp with one says the pros. Dress-shirt collar should be stiff as a board to lend a distinguished look. Dress shoes a must. Pants should be the same color and cut slim.

The more I read, it felt as though I was slowly yet continuously slipping into a state of calm and nirvana. Not! What the hell was I supposed to do?! The now referred to here happened a week ago and the question remains: was I able to pull it off? Damn right I did! In your face!

Here's how. I went to the department stores and tried fitting all the hideous suits trying to look for one which has just the right shoulder size. Beggars can't be choosers since time is of the penultimate essence, so department stores are a gift from God in times like this. After several hours, I found a charcoal black one at the Landmark. Cost: P2,500. It has as its pair pants of the same color and material and I got that for P850. The suit fit awfully at the cuffs, which was 3/4 of an inch short, and the body, too square and ordinary. The pants loose and shabby. I then brought the items to Exclusively His for alteration. The cuffs were adjusted and so was the fit. The pants were also fixed on my specifications. Alteration cost totals P950 for both. Total suit cost P4,200 when a tailor made one would have been P12,000 from King's Men.

On to the dress shirt which was as much of a challenge as I have slim-lean build, I went to trusty old Tyler and bagged a striped, tapered one. Cost: P2,200.

Now for the tie. In all of Makati, I have only found slim-cut ties in Zara but their colors were way off plus that it's expensive. I finally got one from, of all places, Bench for P350.

The key take-away from reading this post is if you have no time at all to have a suit custom-made, buy one off the rack and have it altered to fit you. It would make no noticeable difference when compared to custom made ones even when placed side by side.

Confidence is everything when wearing a suit. Bring extra.

image above from www.hugoboss.com

posted by Fritz @ 6:28 AM