In all seriousness, buy one and see for yourself. They have a bullet-proof return policy.

I liked mine (both of ‘em) enough for the price to keep them and get them altered. Are they the nicest suits you’ll own and can buy? Nope. But for ~$200-250, they certainly are in my book. A lot better than the similarly (or higher) priced stuff from Topman, Zara, H&M, etc. Just my opinion though.

Yup, definitely had my tailor do some work on it. The side have been taken in on the jacket, the trousers have had the seat and waist taken in and the legs tapered to a 7.5” leg opening.

I didn’t shorten the jacket, but I am 5’11”-ish and am wearing a regular. Maybe that’s the reason?

You’d be correct that it’s nearly impossible to find 38L off the rack. I think Tommy Hilfiger and Haspel have that size, but it’s pretty rare. Most brands have 38R and 38S.

Most of the time I go with a 38R and then let out the sleeves if possible. Also, I tend to show more cuff than the average person, so I can live with a shorter sleeve length.

I’d recommend plain black captoes (like the Allen Edmonds Park Avenues), but you could also probably go with burgundy or brown captoes. Less formal would be brogues and wingtips. Tough to really give a concrete answer without knowing your budget or if you live in a location where you can snatch something up quickly.

Whatever you do, avoid wearing loafers with a suit.

ADDING from Anon:

“White OCBD with knit tie go well with the JCrew Ludlow suit?”

Some people don’t like button-down collars with suits, but it works if it’s casual.

I can’t recommend Jos. A. Bank to you. For that kind of cash, you should just order a suit from Lands’ End (jacket, trousers) in your size and then take the suit to a tailor to make it fit perfectly.

Plus, you can use coupon code SAVEBIG with PIN 1234 to get 30% off the highest priced item in your cart. That’ll put the price of the entire suit at $198.15 and leave you with $100 extra to do some alterations.

I would go with the navy or charcoal, especially dark charcoal. I’ve worn a navy suit with a black tie to a wake before. Maybe it’s a newer thing, but the immediate family of the recently passed didn’t wear black — on purpose. For them, they didn’t need to feel even more grim is what one of them told me. So, I think navy or dark charcoal would work for funerals. Traditional? No, but it still can convey a respectful tone.

Wearing black is such a powerful statement of formality and (sometimes) somberness, yet can also be interpreted as fashionable. I don’t think a black suit is very “conservative” in comparison to navy or dark charcoal. It’s a strong statement.

I don’t mind either, actually. Although, I wouldn’t buy a 3-button jacket if it wasn’t a 3-roll-2. I’d avoid ever getting a suit or jacket where the top button on a 3-button front isn’t rolled and the lapel clearly is formed with the intention of having the wearer button it.

Statistically though, I only have one suit with 3-buttons. Every other single-breasted jacket I have (suit or otherwise) is 2-button stance.

I think Put This On gave a fairly comprehensive explanation between the types of suit, sportcoat and blazer jackets.

Some historical context is perhaps helpful. Suits emerged from formalwear and were meant generally to be worn in the context of business or other occasions calling for them. Sportcoats come from a sportswear background, in such activities like hunting and horseback riding.

The sportcoat includes details that make some functional sense. Pockets will have flaps to keep items securely inside (and rain, dirt, snow out). Often, the pockets will be at an angle instead of horizontal to make them easier to reach into while riding. The back will have a single center vent, allowing the coat to sit split over the horse’s back. Sometimes hunting and shooting jackets will have an extra collar tab and throat latch that allows the coat to be buttoned at the neck for warmth.

Of course, these are traditional details that really aren’t modern-day defining elements of a sportcoat, given that designers have borrowed and reappropriated them into suits (and vice versa).

Generally speaking, your sportcoat or blazer won’t have matching pants. They’re made of fabrics that full suits might not ordinarily be made of. They have patterns or colors that often aren’t made into full suits (think: patchword madras, tweeds, etc.). And they’re usually more casual than a suit jacket would be.

I’m having a hard time coming up with a figure of what that Theory suit costs, but seeing that their blazers run $500, that makes me assume that the suit plus tax and alterations will come near or above $800. If that’s an acceptable price and you’re happy with how it’ll fit and look, then go for it.

However, you should be aware that a lot of made-to-measure Chicago tailors start at around $800, too, for a suit (Nicholas Joseph, DeLouice, Sebastien Grey, Balani). There’s also traveling MTM operations with an in-person tailor like J. Hilburn and MyTailor.

I don’t have any experience with these operations or Theory suits, but if the money’s all the same to you and you have the time to wait for a MTM suit, then I’d definitely give that a look instead.

Hope this helps.

ADDING from the comments:

williamstelmach said:

I love the fit of Theory suits too. The quality issue comes from the fused vs canvassed. I think the suit’s retail is about $699. Go to Off Saks. They have them on sale and if you are a More member they are always 40% off or BOGO. Dont buy at retail

jhilla said:

I bought a Theory suit 7 mo’s ago and payed $500 total (30% off). They are tempting since the fit is slim but it’s true the quality really isn’t great for the price (especially if paying retail). It’s evident in the lapels and movement of the jacket

dieworkwear said:

You can find Theory suits on sale for like $300 at places like Off 5th, or when Saks has their big sales. The fit is good on some people. Construction isn’t great tho. Big prob is those wimpy lapels, but fit is 90% of anything anyway, so your call

docbound said:

My sibling has stuff from Theory, and their stuff is terribly overpriced for the quality. Ring Jacket Navy Wool Suit from The Armoury. Done deal.

Thanks. I do agree that if you’re not dressing up every day, then you probably don’t know how that suit in the back of your closet fits. Worth doing every six months or so, or at the change of the season, to see how it fits and if you need alterations and/or a new suit.

I’m not entirely sure if they’re the same suit that ends up on Gilt, but I’d assume they might be. If you can make it to a Macy’s, then at least you could try them on and get an idea if you like them or not. Either way, Gilt’s non-final sale return policy is fairly decent now.

At the price range you’re looking at, I’d go with whatever fits you better (or will fit better with alterations, that is). If it was my money, I’d probably go with the Brooks Brothers options for a few reasons. First, J.Crew’s final sales have no returns, so unless you know their stuff will fit you perfectly (or you’re buying in-store), then I’d be conscious of that. Secondly, all of J.Crew’s final sale suits (and it looks like a lot of their suiting) appears to be fully lined. That’s going to be dreadful in the summer and probably another $35 to have the tailor turn it into something partially lined, which is only partially better for the summer. Finally, I tend to think that J.Crew’s lapels are kinda too slim for my tastes (and, yes, I’m aware that I own several jackets that have slim lapels). Not saying that’s a dealbreaker, but something to keep in mind. If I were buying something where all things are being equal at money spent, I’d just go for moderate sized lapels.

Thanks, taking the time is something I enjoy doing and others have definitely taken their time to answer my questions in regards to stuff sartorial. So, I’m happy to help if I can.

I’m going to break this down into a few parts. First, in regards to having to wear a tuxedo at least once a year, I’m going to recommend you buy one. For about the price of 1-2 rentals, you could’ve bought a full tuxedo, gotten it altered to fit properly, look better and gotten a shirt that also fits nicely.

I wrote about the tuxedo I bought last year and have a guide to buying a tuxedo (dinner suit) on eBay. Read over it and consider investing in a solid piece of formal wear. Occasionally, I’ll post links to tuxedos/dinner suits I find on eBay here as well. The one thing I didn’t touch on and would probably go back and do differently is use an online made-to-measure shirt service to make me a perfect-fitting tuxedo shirt. If you have a MTM service you trust and a good shirt to model your measurements off of, then I’d go that route. It’d probably be about the same price and fit better.

I’m going to tackle the shoe question next. It’s probably not going to look great with a suit. Passable? Maybe. Generally, I’d say loafers are too casual to be worn with a suit and you need some sort of laced-up shoe.

That said, I’m in the camp of suggestion you find a pair of plain, black captoes. They’ll be wearable with your tuxedo and suit at the same time. Not sure what your budget is right now, but Nordstrom has the Allen Edmonds Park Avenues on sale right now for $200. That’s about 38% off retail price. You could also try your luck on eBay to snipe a pair. Speaking of Ferragamo, I actually found my black captoes from them for $50.

And that brings us back to the suit. I’m a fan and wear several Lands’ End suits. The fact you can choose your jackets and trousers (yes, go plain front) separately is a good thing. Navy will work just fine for a color, although I think the dark charcoal is also perfectly fine.

I will say that you’ll definitely want to have your suit altered, unless you luck out with it fitting perfectly. The trousers will probably need to be tapered and taken in at the seat, too.

If you’re set on buying from Lands’ End though, then I would hold off for a bit. Subscribe to their email list and wait for the inevitable 25-30% off all items sales they seem to have every month. If you don’t think you can wait too terribly long, then sign up and wait for a discount code that’ll probably knock at least $50 off your order with free shipping.

In regards to the shirt, I’d go with Brooks Brothers ESF shirts, too. If you only really need one shirt, the only get one. However, if you feel you could use an oxford and another shirt, then go for the 3 for $200 deal. I love their OCBDs.

For a silk grenadine tie, I think Derek’s necktie series at Put This On did a great job with suggestions, but to add my two cents, the Kent Wang grenadine is phenomenal. I just received it today as a birthday gift from my brother and it knots amazingly and looks just great.

Hope this was helpful!