buying my first suit

[TanisHalfElven]

all right. i need to buy a suit for interviews for internships. i can't get help from anyone else cuz my friends are as clueless as me and my family lives really really far.

so here whats happened so far. i ordered a suit from jos a bank because i liked the rain coats i bought from them last year. it was 199+tax. now it does not fit. the sleeves are small and the waist is large. so i call up a local store and they are charging me 70 bucks to fix it.

so now i am looking at walmart and target and other cheap places. keep in mind i am poor college student and didn't want to spend 200 on a suit anyway. however i can't decide if i want to by from walmart or not.... its cheaper but not worth the money if i don't gett he internship (which pays around 3000 so getting it would pay the suits cost easily).

what do people here think ?
Thanks.

 

[JulesMaximus]

Remember, the pin stripes go up and down and not left to right.

 

[Modular]

Jos A. Bank is a great store for suits. What you should have done is go in there and be honest with them. That's what I did. I walked in, said: "I need a suit for an interview, and I have no idea what I'm doing or looking for." The salesman was awesome, sold me a $499 suit for $199 that looks phenomenal. Of course it was on sale, but they always have sales there. I suggest you return the suit you bought online (buying a suit online is a HUGE no-no anyways), walk into the store and do the same.

 

[TanisHalfElven]

Originally posted by: Modular
Jos A. Bank is a great store for suits. What you should have done is go in there and be honest with them. That's what I did. I walked in, said: "I need a suit for an interview, and I have no idea what I'm doing or looking for." The salesman was awesome, sold me a $499 suit for $199 that looks phenomenal. Of course it was on sale, but they always have sales there. I suggest you return the suit you bought online (buying a suit online is a HUGE no-no anyways), walk into the store and do the same.

ok i'll try that method. but i hate it that there charging me 70 buck to do what should be free. maybe if i buy from the store alterations will be free.

 

[SViper]

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven

Originally posted by: Modular
Jos A. Bank is a great store for suits. What you should have done is go in there and be honest with them. That's what I did. I walked in, said: "I need a suit for an interview, and I have no idea what I'm doing or looking for." The salesman was awesome, sold me a $499 suit for $199 that looks phenomenal. Of course it was on sale, but they always have sales there. I suggest you return the suit you bought online (buying a suit online is a HUGE no-no anyways), walk into the store and do the same.

ok i'll try that method. but i hate it that there charging me 70 buck to do what should be free. maybe if i buy from the store alterations will be free.

Not really. When I bought my two suits, I got charged ~$75 per suit for alterations and that was at Men's Warehouse. All future alterations are free though.

 

[Modular]

Originally posted by: tanishalfelven
ok i'll try that method. but i hate it that there charging me 70 buck to do what should be free. maybe if i buy from the store alterations will be free.

You could call them and ask flat out. To be honest, I'm pretty much an "off the rack" guy, so the only alterations were hemming the pants which didn't cost me anything.

 

[Injury]

Your mistake was ordering a suit online.

I can't imagine something as expensive as a suit not being custom fit. Not only will it fit better, but any suit store worth their salt can tell you what styles will require a few extra inches here, or a few taken away there.

 

[GTaudiophile]

Brands mean nothing if it doesn't fit.

Call and speak to the manager (assuming you bought from a B&M JaB store), explain your situation, and see if they will taylor it for free. If not, get out the yellow pages and find one of 100 alterations/dry cleaners (probably run by a nice, older Korean woman) in your area, go to them, spend a few bucks, and get the suit taylored.

No big deal. Pretty much all the clothes I buy must be altered. Plus, your suit shirt/tie should probably be dry cleaned & starched too.

Finally, before your first interview, get dressed up in your suit, shirt, tie, belt, socks, shoes, etc. and go have a professional woman give you a looking over. No doubt she will find a dozen things you've done wrong. Take her advice seriously, make the changes, and then focus on all the other aspects of the interview.

Remember, many employers (not all) view how well you dress as a sign of how serious you are as well as how much you value their time taken to interview you.

Good luck!