How to Buy Nice Dress Clothes

Buying nice dress clothes as a man is both a science and an art. By "nice dress clothes", we mean suits. That often means a jacket and tie, but there is plenty of flexibility depending on the occasion. You can look like a million bucks by following a few basics about how to buy nice dress clothes.

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• Dress shirt
• Trousers (dress pants)
• Matching suit coat (if applicable)
• Matching shoes, belt and socks
• Necktie
• Vest (optional)

1. Find out whether you need to follow a "business casual" attire or traditional business attire. Business casual is a suit without the jacket and sometimes without the tie. Traditional business attire requires the jacket and tie along with the trousers, dress shirt, and dress shoes with matching belt.

2. When buying the shirt, the neck should be snug against your throat but not so much that you feel pressure on your Adam's apple. The sleeve should extend down to the base of your thumb.

3. The trousers should extend down to about an inch and a half off the floor when standing straight and still with no shoes. The waist should just cover your hip bones, but no higher. There should be no bagging or sagging in the thigh or calf areas.

4. The shoes and belt should match color. Brown and black are the usual colors for men, but there are other colors available. Just make sure you don't choose anything too flashy if the situation calls for restraint (the office, for example). As a rule, socks should match the shoe color as well.

5. If you are dressing in traditional business attire, the suit coat should exactly match the trousers. You should always buy these two items together, as each manufacturer is different from all others. The coat should fit your torso so that three fingers can be slipped in between your breastbone and the coat when buttoned. Usually, you need only button the top button to keep the jacket closed.

6. The tie should be snug against your throat but not so that you feel any pressure on your Adam's apple. The tie should extend down to cover part of the belt buckle.

7. The rules are flexible as far as pinstripes are concerned. Go with your preferred style.

8. A vest is a nice way to accent business attire. Wear one over the shirt and under the jacket. It should fit snugly but leave room for movement.

9. In some settings, such as universities, jeans are okay. The suit coat need not match the trousers or jeans in this case either, just look "pulled-together".

Tips & Warnings

• Follow the rules, but as you get a better sense of what is appropriate, you can artfully break the rules from time to time.
• Suits require dry cleaning, so take care and hang up your nice dress clothes after use.