I see that they have their annual sale of buy one suit get three free. Do they have nice stuff? I've never purchased anything there. How is it quality wise?
Jos A Bank/AKA knight_poster_15 Suit Guide Thread
- Thread starter KnighttimeJoe
- Start date
Don't go there. Their suits are usually not good.
Jos A Banks, Mens Wearhouse, etc. sell lower end suits to people who are required to wear business suits but don't care about quality or style.
Their suits will have low armholes, poor quality fabrics, and poor designs that don't flatter a man but make him look 10 years older.
If you want more conservative/traditional look, go with Hickey Freeman, Brooks Brothers, or J Press.
Look for suits made with wool from places like Loro Piana, VB Canonica, etc. Stick with a Super 110. Don't bother with 130 and above. Go with a suit that is half canvassed or full canvassed. Don't get one that is fused. Many salespeople won't know the difference. One way to find out is to ask about the construction of the jacket. The sales person ought to tell if you if its fused, half canvassed, or full canvassed. If they don't mention it, then assume they're a dumb ass or they think you're dumb ass. Neither is good.
If you go Brooks, I'd say go with a Regent or Fitzgerald model in Navy S110 in the 1818 line. Do not buy a 346 line suit from the outlet.
If you're patient and shop well, you can get a great suit for $500 that looks as good and wears as well as a $3000 suit.
And have the suit altered by modifying the waist of the jacket (taken in. let out), waist of the pants, and obviously shortening the sleeves and pants hems as necessary. If you're tall, maybe considering getting the regular length to give the coat a more trendy short look.
Jos A Banks, Mens Wearhouse, etc. sell lower end suits to people who are required to wear business suits but don't care about quality or style.
Their suits will have low armholes, poor quality fabrics, and poor designs that don't flatter a man but make him look 10 years older.
If you want more conservative/traditional look, go with Hickey Freeman, Brooks Brothers, or J Press.
Look for suits made with wool from places like Loro Piana, VB Canonica, etc. Stick with a Super 110. Don't bother with 130 and above. Go with a suit that is half canvassed or full canvassed. Don't get one that is fused. Many salespeople won't know the difference. One way to find out is to ask about the construction of the jacket. The sales person ought to tell if you if its fused, half canvassed, or full canvassed. If they don't mention it, then assume they're a dumb ass or they think you're dumb ass. Neither is good.
If you go Brooks, I'd say go with a Regent or Fitzgerald model in Navy S110 in the 1818 line. Do not buy a 346 line suit from the outlet.
If you're patient and shop well, you can get a great suit for $500 that looks as good and wears as well as a $3000 suit.
And have the suit altered by modifying the waist of the jacket (taken in. let out), waist of the pants, and obviously shortening the sleeves and pants hems as necessary. If you're tall, maybe considering getting the regular length to give the coat a more trendy short look.
JAB is fine as long as it's 100% wool and you take it to a tailor. The thing is, you end up with 4 okay suits for ~800 bucks. You can find 2 or 3 great ones for that price, and almost no one needs 4 okay suits.
You need a suit or you were just looking because of the sale? Just get one sweet suit, so that way you're looking for an excuse to wear it.
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Just looking because of the sale and I need a couple new suits. More of an updating thing really. I was thinking of saving for a Hugo Boss suit since I wear a lot of their dress shirts and I like that slimmer style.
That's the problem I have. Those styles can be difficult to find since it seems button downs are made like tents. Don't these companies know that that not everyone is fat? There's nothing worse than having to tuck in a couple of extra bolts of material into your pants.
I bought 4 JAB suits 8 years ago, one is really nice, the other three were ok. They are finally on their last leg (well I ruined one in a long boarding slip riding home one day in Switzerland).
I'd have no problem going back - but they aren't the nicest suits. But totally functional.
I'd have no problem going back - but they aren't the nicest suits. But totally functional.
Don't you watch old movies? Professors are supposed to look frumpy and out of sorts. Supposed to be to smart to notice their looks. Perfect place for Joe.
I've bought from JAB - I use...er, I should say used the suits for about 2 years (probably wore them 4-5 times per month) until I started noticing the fabric falling apart, etc. To the comment above about low arm holes, etc. - I was complemented on several occasions (by people I had just met) about how well the suits fit me. I guess it all depends on what your body type/style is. I would never wear a JAB suit as my "power" suit, but as a decent every day suit it does the trick. They sell suits as a commodity and not as a fashion statement, so as long as you're ok with that then you'll be fine. It's like Kia vs. Mercedes.
Don't you watch old movies? Professors are supposed to look frumpy and out of sorts. Supposed to be to smart to notice their looks. Perfect place for Joe.
Please kill yourself.
I'm so glad I don't have to dress up for work anymore. Jeans, golf shirt and tennis shoes. And it's basically a desk job.
I do have a closet full of dress shirts/pants that I wore for years and many of them are JAB. I had no problem with either and actually liked their dress shirts TBH.
I do have a closet full of dress shirts/pants that I wore for years and many of them are JAB. I had no problem with either and actually liked their dress shirts TBH.
Same here, but #whitecolorworkersmatter
Khakis & long sleeve button downs except for Friday jeans & polo.
Suits r colossal wastes of time & money
Suits r colossal wastes of time & money
I don't have to dress up while in the office (we very rarely ever have clients visit us), but I do have to wear a suit/blazer when attending conferences or traveling for work.
Also, I'll agree on the JAB dress shirts. I love the Traveler line with the extra bottom button. My only complaint is that the slim fit is still a little too bulky. For dress shirts I'm almost 100% exclusively Brooks Brothers.
This guy right here has the kind of style that I'd like to mimic. Note that he is actually 6'9" even though I don't think that comes across in the picture. Imagine how long he searches for clothes that fit.
His blogging name is chocsosa, and the blog I see him on frequently is trashness.
Notice on this first jacket how much room you can see between his arms and body. There are several reasons. 1 is high arm holes. If you look at a JaB suit the arms attach much lower on the ribs. It also makes the suit move really poorly when worn. Second is the high amount of waist suppression. Third is that the arms are actually tapered to slim down towards the wrist. Notice how the jacket also maintains some rigid shape over his pectorals. This is due to the canvassing that I mentioned. Fused jackets will not drape that well.
This second one is a completely unstructured jacket but the shoulder fit is great. The arms are slightly tapered. If you look at this jacket you'd think its comfortable. For most people, the first time you put on a jacket that fits this well, you will feel constricted.
His blogging name is chocsosa, and the blog I see him on frequently is trashness.
Notice on this first jacket how much room you can see between his arms and body. There are several reasons. 1 is high arm holes. If you look at a JaB suit the arms attach much lower on the ribs. It also makes the suit move really poorly when worn. Second is the high amount of waist suppression. Third is that the arms are actually tapered to slim down towards the wrist. Notice how the jacket also maintains some rigid shape over his pectorals. This is due to the canvassing that I mentioned. Fused jackets will not drape that well.
This second one is a completely unstructured jacket but the shoulder fit is great. The arms are slightly tapered. If you look at this jacket you'd think its comfortable. For most people, the first time you put on a jacket that fits this well, you will feel constricted.
So, do you subscribe the "it's better to look good than to feel good" mentality?
If I can't move my arms up and down without feeling like I will rip a hole in the jacket, it's useless. IDGAF what other think I look like in that case.
If I can't move my arms up and down without feeling like I will rip a hole in the jacket, it's useless. IDGAF what other think I look like in that case.
Yeah you don't want to rip the jacket. It's not that it is uncomfortable. It just won't feel like you're wearing a mumu sack.
This thing right here is probably comfortable as hell. But would you want to look like that ? There's a balance between comfort and look.
So I never wear suits. Like ever. I have an old crappy one that doesn't fit me well. Where would I go to get a decent looking suit for a minimal amount of money? I purely care about style and fit and not quality since I'll never wear the thing anyways and just want to look fly when I do. Would a men's warehouse or JAB be fine to get a cheap but good looking suit and just get it tailored to fit well? That seems to be a better investment for me. I don't need this buy 1 suit get 50 free stuff since I really just need 1 suit.
The least expensive option that I can think of that has a very modern fit is Topman. Since Nordstrom closed I'm not sure who locally carries them. You could order online directly from Topman and return what doesn't fit.
I like Charles Tyrwhitt, obviously not the cheapest and you have to know your measurements, however stylistically they're on point.
That guy's suit looks like it's going to rip Chris Farley style if he moves in any position besides standing still
For "dress" shirts I love me some Express Extra Slim fits. I can't stand how baggy most dress shirts are.
Spier and Mackay, they're fairly new and one of the best at their price point. Everything is half canvassed and ~110s wool and the older stuff goes on sale for cheap. The prices are also in Canadian dollars, so it's like another discount while our dollar is strong. You'd spend at least a couple hundred more for a similar suit somewhere else.
I don't. I usually just go off the rack with one of their slim fit sport shirts. I'm in need of a new power suit and I've been thinking of going with BB. I love their patterns/styles, but I've actually been disappointed the last 5-8 years or so since they started production in Asia. They still seem to have far better QC than most, so I've stuck with them.
The other option is a local suit maker here in Tampa that a friend of mine swears by.
Oh, and that suit in the pics. I realize it's a modern fit, etc., but I would never wear that in a million years. The only places I generally see guys wearing suits like that are in LA and NYC. Styles like that come and go - I'd rather stick with something that's a little more classic and will stand the test of time.
BB's 1818 line of suits is still made in the US or Canada I believe. And even BB suits are now thinner cut such as their Fitzgerald fit. In fact, I'd say that those thinner looks are more classic and timeless than the sack suits of the 1980s and 1990s. They look closer to what was worn in the 1950s and 1960s.
What do you think of this suit then? Classic or too trendy?
