Suit prices

BillyBoy13 · 12-05-2014 7:51pm #1

I suppose there probably is no real defining answer to this and is probably more of a personal preference but you never know till you ask.

Im wondering whats the minimum price you should be paying for a suit. As in, if its any cheaper it just couldn't be good quality.

Sometimes I see advertisements for suits and its 150-200euro includes the suit, shirt and tie and I just cant help but wonder about the quality.

And on the far end of the scale at what point is needless expenditure. I mean, if the average worker turns up in 5K saville row suit he'd get some funny looks. So wheres the upper cut off?

Pawwed Rig · 12-05-2014 9:40pm

There are 2 aspects to a suit. First off is the material and secondly we have the tailoring. Generally a cheaper suit will be off the peg and be made with cheap materials with at least a portion being polyester. As you go up you can get wool, cashmere, silk and various other materials (either a percentage or 100%) all of which will increase the price as the materials used are more expensive to manufacture.
When you go for tailoring the sky is the limit. They range from the back alley guy to Saville Row as you say. The better guys in general can charge more.

Keano · 13-05-2014 9:26am

A cheap suit will look it's price after a couple of years. An expensive suit will still look good in 20 years.

hardCopy · 13-05-2014 10:02am

Keano A Legend wrote: »

A cheap suit will look it's price after a couple of years. An expensive suit will still look good in 20 years.

An expensive suit made of fine wool can go to pieces in no time if it's worn regularly. It's hard to look past M&S for longevity.

Pepe LeFrits · 13-05-2014 10:03am

Keano A Legend wrote: »

A cheap suit will look it's price after a couple of years. An expensive suit will still look good in 20 years.

Your body shape may change a bit in 20 years though

It depends on what you use the suit for. I find off the rack slim-fit suits from a couple of high street retailers fit me rather well so I've a couple of those for work, and I've a couple of nicer suits I keep for special occasions.

OnTheCouch · 13-05-2014 11:35am

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

There are 2 aspects to a suit. First off is the material and secondly we have the tailoring. Generally a cheaper suit will be off the peg and be made with cheap materials with at least a portion being polyester. As you go up you can get wool, cashmere, silk and various other materials (either a percentage or 100%) all of which will increase the price as the materials used are more expensive to manufacture.
When you go for tailoring the sky is the limit. They range from the back alley guy to Saville Row as you say. The better guys in general can charge more.

Yeah this is a good rule of thumb to follow, try to get 100 percent wool if you can - or in combination with one of the aforementioned materials as you go up the price scale. Avoid artificial materials if possible.

Interestingly enough, the suit that fits me best is one I got for 100 euros reduced from 200 in C&A in Germany. 100 percent wool and looks really good. C&A would be a continental equivalent of Penney's I suppose, most of the stuff is to be avoided, but there are one or two gems if you are prepared to look around.

hardCopy wrote: »

An expensive suit made of fine wool can go to pieces in no time if it's worn regularly. It's hard to look past M&S for longevity.

Exactly, if you are going to be wearing the suit regularly, look for Super 100s or Super 120s wool, as it will be far more durable. Higher quality and finer wool such as Super 150s and 180s will look fantastic and you will pay a comparable price, but are ironically enough quite delicate and should only be used really for special occasions, weddings, fancy dinners etc.

The OP is also correct about Savile Row and expensive tailoring. Not that I would consider in anyway that people in Ireland dress in any way better the higher up the food chain they go - quite the opposite in fact in many cases, but if someone starting an entry level position were to come in with a Savile Row suit, I wouldn't personally have an issue with it, but I could understand how it might cause controversy to say the least in the office and is probably to be avoided.

BillyBoy13 · 13-05-2014 11:55am

OnTheCouch wrote: »

Yeah this is a good rule of thumb to follow, try to get 100 percent wool if you can - or in combination with one of the aforementioned materials as you go up the price scale. Avoid artificial materials if possible.

Interestingly enough, the suit that fits me best is one I got for 100 euros reduced from 200 in C&A in Germany. 100 percent wool and looks really good. C&A would be a continental equivalent of Penney's I suppose, most of the stuff is to be avoided, but there are one or two gems if you are prepared to look around.

Exactly, if you are going to be wearing the suit regularly, look for Super 100s or Super 120s wool, as it will be far more durable. Higher quality and finer wool such as Super 150s and 180s will look fantastic and you will pay a comparable price, but are ironically enough quite delicate and should only be used really for special occasions, weddings, fancy dinners etc.

So let me just get this straight in my head. So far as material goes, between super 100 and super 120 is what a person should be aiming towards for everyday wear in a wool suit?

What about quality of work? It wont be as easy to measure that by label. Thats probably something you would actually have to physcially check yourself. (Or I suppose you could buy a known good brand?)

OnTheCouch · 13-05-2014 8:10pm

BillyBoy13 wrote: »

So let me just get this straight in my head. So far as material goes, between super 100 and super 120 is what a person should be aiming towards for everyday wear in a wool suit?

What about quality of work? It wont be as easy to measure that by label. Thats probably something you would actually have to physcially check yourself. (Or I suppose you could buy a known good brand?)

Yes exactly to the first point.

Yeah the quality of work is a little harder to tell. Obviously suit snobs will always advocate having fully canvassed suits, but this will cost a good bit, almost certainly over 1000 euros minimum. I would recommend doing a Google search for what to look out for (say uneven stitching) and then look at these when in the shop itself.

Be careful about buying brands, especially when it comes to suits, you often are paying for the label rather than the quality. Hugo Boss for instance are notorious for having badly-made suits (at least for the price range they are sold at).

Slattsy · 14-05-2014 10:59am

2 types of suit in my eyes.

Work
&
Formal

Work - M&S do lovely ones and places like Next/Suit Co. are grand too. You dont want to spend too much on work. All the public transport, sitting on your ass all day etc, waste of money spending any more than 150e-200e imo.

Formal - Only 2 suits i wear and will ever wear - Hugo Boss and Ted Baker.
Honorable mention to Reiss also. Picked up lovely one in Kildare Village a few years back.

As the lads say above, the difference in a good and a bad suit is Messi and Carrick

Pawwed Rig · 14-05-2014 11:12am

Slattsy wrote: »

As the lads say above, the difference in a good and a bad suit is Messi and Carrick

Excellent point Slattsy, no comparison

Slattsy · 14-05-2014 12:07pm

lol

brinty · 15-05-2014 8:14am

Pawwed Rig wrote: »

Excellent point Slattsy, no comparison

Too right Slattsy, Carrick suit looks flipping amazing

Have to agree with the guys here re wearability of the suit.

You need to go with cheap and cheerful for everyday suits and splash out for more formal wear suits.

I had to wear suits in my early work days and all i could say was thank jeebus for River Island and their suits. Stylish and inexpensive but after a couple of years you could tell they were banjo'd..

At that stage i'd move into a work environment where i didn't need a suit every day, was earning a lot more money and so could pick out something a bit more refined and of a much higher quality.

I currently have only two suits in my wardrobe which do for evry occassion.

1) Hugo Boss charcoal pinstripe. I bought this as my wedding suit and it cost a small fortune. Fair play to Ms Brinty she told me to buy it as my wedding present to myself

As it doesn't get frequent wear it still looks as good today as when i first bought it.

2) Baumer Grey suit - always wanted a grey suit, took my time (3 years+) and waited until i could get something that looked brillaint. This does look well i have to say.

A good quality suit makes the man so its worth splashing out when you can

barry181091 · 23-05-2014 6:25pm

Hey guys,

So it's interview season for me and I badly need a suit. I've just been going to interviews in a shirt and chinos. Generally ok but there has been one or two where I regretted it. May as well just overdressed from now on

I don't really know anything about suits or as to the quality brands etc. Where would you purchase or have seen decent quality cut suits for a reasonable price?

I was just in Burtons and they have a sale on, I figure I could pick up a two piece suit for 150 ish.

I also went to Pennies(:p) and while the shirts and pants are fine, the jackets just don't seem to 'fit' right.

Anyway any help would be great!

Aidric · 23-05-2014 7:14pm

Don't bother with cheap suits unless you're restricted to a budget. Buy a suit from Hugo Boss and you'll be well served for years to come.

eh i dunno · 23-05-2014 7:15pm

M&S have a decent selection and the quality is good enough for interviews imo.

veetwin · 23-05-2014 7:17pm

Marks and Spencer's. Good quality at a reasonable price. Penny's and Burtons are pretty crappy in my experience.

stargazer 68 · 26-05-2014 12:26pm

There is a new mobile suit company just set up - they come to you, measure and then deliver! They sell Jack Doyle suits.. They are on FB - City Suits.

listermint · 26-05-2014 3:58pm

Ive never faulted suits in next for fit and 'contemporariness'. I have always had to get M&S suits modified as they never felt 'fitted' enough.

Their sizing can sometimes be too generic, if that makes any sense.

barry181091 · 26-05-2014 11:10pm

Well it could be a Next job as M&S don't 'do' suits anymore in galway - ridiculous. Also Debenhams don't stock suits either :mad:

DazMarz · 31-05-2014 10:19pm

I've never, ever gotten a suit or anything formal from M&S that disappointed me or that didn't live up to it. For every occasion, they are just head and shoulders above the rest.

For the day-to-day stuff and so on, you simply cannot beat M&S for quality, durability, value and looking-good. Comfortable too. That goes for everything from suits and shirts to socks and underwear.

And, of course, the food. Sweet Jesus, the food...

TheGlass · 06-06-2014 10:27pm

Hey all, just wondering if anyone has advice on buying a suit, fast. I've never bought a suit before, and have a job interview Monday morning. I've always worked outdoors and really needed a suit so put off buying one, now I'm panicking. Is it possible to find a well fitting suit off the rack, without it needing to be tailored?

DazMarz · 06-06-2014 11:17pm

Marks & Spencer is your friend here. They'll have any kind of suit you want, great quality, reasonable price, off-the-peg, perfect. Shirts, ties, shoes too. Definitely check them out.

Sky King · 07-06-2014 1:38am

You can get them in River Island and Next as well...though I am told they don't keep well - a few dry cleans and it's jacked.

Don't go too 'trendy' if it's a job interview .. navy would probably be a good option and keep the tie nice and sober as well... nothing too manic or trendy here either... unless your job is as a graphic designer or an advertising executive or something.

Make sure the suit fits you nicely - take the time to try on lots of sizes and get comfortable. Nothing worse than an ill fitting suit... too big looks as awful as too small. Wear nice suit shoes the same colour (roughly) as your belt.

Bafucin · 07-06-2014 5:14am

Denehams.

Good selection.

Designer and non Designer.

Different fits, regular fit, tailored fit, slim fit etc. If budget is an issue the cheapest one they have on their site is €56.

They have designer suits too if you want to fork out.

I'm quite tall and I found something. Staff are helpful. And you can get ties, shoes, belts there two in one stop.

Pawwed Rig · 07-06-2014 7:21am

threads merged.

Suit prices

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