Not all suits are created equal, and if you are in the market to buy a suit, you'll quickly find it can be a confusing task. Most people buy their suits off the rack, and when you're looking for good value, that's a terrible way to do it.
What these unfortunate souls are doing wrong is confusing a low price with good value. In reality, good value does involve taking the price into consideration, but it's also about the quality of the product. More specifically, it's about getting the best quality at the lowest price. This is also known as the quality-to-price ratio. When you have a positive QTP ratio, you're getting good value. When it's negative, then the inverse is true.
You're smarter than that of course. You know that buying a good suit means getting a custom tailored suit that fits you properly. The reason why buying off the rack is such a bad idea is because those suits are not created with quality in mind. They're mass produced and they're produced for the masses. That means they're not designed to fit you as an individual, but somebody of about your size and shape. About!
Now why is that a problem? Well for one thing it means the suit is going to have problems. It will be bulky. It will have shoulder pads to fill it out and keep the shape. The stitching will be clearly inferior, and the way the sleeves join to the jacket body will make your arms look funny. Often the seams on these machine made jackets make a clear ridge at the shoulder, and it's a very bad look.
The machine made suit will also give you creases and wrinkles, because the materials are inferior and the suit just simply does not fit properly. Even if you have it altered, there will still be problems evident.
Tailor-made suits don't have those problems because they are created especially for you. But the really amazing thing about the whole issue is that tailor-made suits are not necessarily more expensive than the machine made ones.
For example, I happened to discover a company called Studio Suits and I was amazed at the prices on offer for a custom tailored suit. Many suits from off the rack are more expensive, and that's mainly to do with the fact that they're big business with huge overheads. Sometimes a personal service will give you far better value if you know what to look for and you're prepared to do your homework.
It is really an easy process to buy a custom tailored suit, but so many people think it will be difficult. Really as long as the measurements are correct, you can't go wrong. Make sure you choose a fabric that is appropriate for the climate where you are going to be spending most of your time (so for hot and sunny places like LA, that would be linen or cotton, while for a cooler place such as Boston, you'd probably choose wool). Then get a suit style that matches your personality and needs.
In general, a single breasted suit in a traditional color is going to be the best choice for most men. You don't necessarily need to have the best of the best, but you should make sure the suit you choose is of good quality and that it's actually worth at least what you pay for it.
