This weekend we spent a lot of time suit shopping. We visited Nordstrom, Macy’s, Nordstrom Rack, Brooks Brothers, Men’s Wearhouse, Ross, TJ Maxx, Burlington Coat Factory (the winter coat shopping destination of my youth), and outlet stores for Banana Republic, J. Crew, Hugo Boss, Calvin Klein and Ralph Lauren. And you know what we learned? A nice, charcoal, three piece, two-button suit with flat front pants simply does not exist in this universe. We did end up getting two suits that look really great despite the lack of a matching vest. The first is a nice and soft one from Nordstrom Rack, the other was a suit from the Banana Republic outlet which isn’t made as fine of a cloth but there was a sale, and a Friends and Family coupon which a friendly random stranger handed to us on her way out of the store and we managed to buy the suit and a matching pair of pants (from which to possibly make a matching vest) for about $200. So far the suit from Nordstrom Rack is winning.
Who knew the biggest clothing struggle for our wedding would involve his outfit?
We also found a tie which is a very nice match for the dress and picks up some of the deeper champagne colors in the middle of the fabric flower applique. It’s just dark enough to be a good contrast against a white shirt. At least we have one complete victory to show for our shopping efforts.
when we tried to find exactly that for the guy i married, we got a navy suit at where ever and then a jcrew vest that was a very close match. (jcrew last season.) it was the only way we found to cobble together the three-piece suit look.
Well, I do love the tie…
wonderful match.
Did you check out Jos. A. Banks? They are having continual sales (due to the economy) these days, and they have a lot going on in their clearance area, in addition to these sales. I just did a quick check, and they had a vest: http://tinyurl.com/c295zs (one of several different types), but this one is on sale for less than 40.00. Jos A Banks always have sale coupons around too. Sign up for their mailing list on line and you may get notice. They are in Seattle area. Good luck!
Sorry that tinyurl link didn’t work, so I’m resorting to the longer format:
or you can go to their site & search for this item number: Item #: 10459
Business Express Vest-Charcoal Grey
Description:
Turn your business suit into a 3-piece classic by adding our traditional vest. Designed to complement our 2-and 3-Button Jackets. Dry Clean. Imported.
Sizes: Regular: 40, 42, 44, 46, 48, 50. Long: 42, 44, 46, 48, 50.
Colors: Charcoal Grey.
Item #: 10459
Size: 46 - LONG
Color: GREY
Quantity:
Orig. $150.00 SALE! $39.98
Boulder - Thank you so much. That is the one place we did not shop. The very inexpensive vest they have in stock is not the right size but I wonder if the store could get us one. We’ll report back.
Glad things worked out well! The problem with looking for a very particular style is that you can never find it when you want to. If time (and money) were not so critical, you could look into Indochino for a tailored suit for about 400 bucks. Small BC company that makes made to measure suits in great contemporary styles.
My husband bought a really nice fitting suit from H&M, with flat front pants. I’m sure the quality isn’t as nice as Banana or some other places but the suit fits better than all the others he had fitted for him.