suit
I took the big plunge and finally bought a suit. It cost a pretty penny, but this is supposed to last forever, right? My parents got me a Men's Warehouse gift card for my birthday, so that helped defray the cost a little. I have to admit, I can't put my finger on why exactly, but the suit looked really good on me. The last time I did this was my senior year of high school, and that one isn't nearly as nice and doesn't fit anymore (and not just because I'm no longer a rail-thin stick).
I compiled all the tips I got from friends along with this page on the Men's Warehouse website (which I wish I had read months ago when I started this adventure) and ended up with a navy blue pinstripe single-breasted suit with 2 buttons. I also got some very comfortable black all-leather dress shoes, but didn't let the guy talk me into getting one of their expensive shirt & tie combos. They did have some nice shirts, but very pricey. Lifetime free tailoring and free pressings (you're only supposed to dry clean if it's dirty, and merely press it if it's wrinkled).
Ugh, I feel like such an adult. :) But that's fine, because I'm wearing my Pac-Man ghost shirt and I'm going to Cedar Point tonight.
Here's a quasi-amusing story: I was in the waiting room at the Strongsville Cleveland Clinic yesterday when a woman turned to me and exclaimed, "OH MY GOD!! Where did you get that shirt?!" I said I got it at Target and it was only ten bucks. She said her daughter would love it. After my CAT scan, I had lunch at the Panera across the street, and I saw her again. She said she just went to the Target down the street and bought two of the shirts.
In the Small World Department, after I was done eating, I saw a woman reading a Schoolhouse Rock script. I went up and asked her if she was doing that show. She said yes, at the Tri-C Performing Arts Camp this summer, and she's a music instructor at Tri-C West. I told her I played for that show two years ago out at Workshop Players. We exchanged business cards and a few quick empathetic theatre stories. I didn't quite catch her name when she introduced herself, but later, I saw her name was Kira Seaton. It turns out that two of my friends (Beck and Rat) know her and have worked with her. So we may be working together in the future.
Also, the Tuscan Chicken sandwich was awesome. Elyria needs more Paneras (like, say, one) and fewer Wal*Marts. I mentioned we're getting a second Wal*Mart, right? Because Elyria needs one Wal*Mart per 27,000 residents. And because the traffic along SR 57 isn't already atrocious enough. But as the owners of Twist 'n' Shake once said, "We're Elyria, not Middleburg Heights."
You got that right.
9 Comments:
yay for suits, but boo on adulthood!
My dad is going to visit Matt sometime in the next week to get a new suit for my brother's wedding. But, as Matt so rightly pointed out, my Dad "is a really good guy, and I'll be happy to help him out, but what sucks is that your Mom is the kind of wife who will want to come with him and butt her nose into it and act like she knows how to put together a suit better than I do."
dude, seriously, black shoes with a blue suit???
Yeah, it's a shame they don't make navy blue shoes, eh? :) Comebine it with a navy blue belt, and you could look like a guy from the Blue Man Group who stayed out in the sun too long.
Traditionally, I think burgundy (not brown) shoes are supposed to go with a navy suit. :<}
I have seen black shoes with a navy suit, though, and I think for modern dress I think that's considered OK.
Umm... the shoes are supposed to match the belt. Are you saying I should wear a burgundy belt (if such a thing exists) as well? As an artist, the very idea of attempting to match burgundy with navy blue offends me. :D But then, I got an art degree in college, not a business degree, so I never learned these things. In any case, the shoes are really comfortable, so I'll wear them more than just with this suit.
And also, if you're saying blue really doesn't match black, take it up with the salesguy at Men's Warehouse. :)
Clothing rules don't make sense; they exist specifically and solely to give society the opportunity to humiliate Bryan Q. Bird on a regular basis.
Bryan: I KNEW IT!!!
No, not a regular basis. That's exactly the problem. If you buy a bad t-shirt, it's no big deal; it's a casual situation and a friend call tell you of your social ineptitude quietly, and you're only out $3-10 and don't feel bad about not wearing it again.
A suit, on the other head, costs 20-30 times as much as a t-shirt and is worn for much more important occasions where you often can't afford to screw up in the fashion department. And unless you're a businessman, you only wear them a few times a year, so you feel even more stupid if you've bought the wrong clothing item.
But just so we're clear:
Men's Warehouse says:
Black or burgundy shoes can be worn with navy blue or gray suits for a professional image.
Another site says:
Q. I've always been told never to wear black and navy blue together but I've seen a lot of men wearing black shoes with their dark navy blue pants. Is that acceptable dress or a fashion mistake?
A. Black and blue are perfectly OK to wear together, and actually the preferred combo. I'm not sure exactly when the aesthetic changed, but I do remember when cordovan or brown were acceptable choices for navy.
And one more:
Q. Is their a standard on what color of shoe you should wear with a particular color suit? I know black is the most widely worn color shoe, but what color suit goes with a burgundy shoe? With what color suit would you not wear a black shoe?
A. Black shoes go suits that are black, blue, taupe, and colors (burgundy, etc.)
Cordovan (burgundy leather shoes) goes with blue, khaki, some brown tones.
Brown shoes go with tan, khaki, light green.
No black shoes with white, off-white, etc. or pastels.
It is hard to have a standard. So many times the tones and shades in a suit/sport coat/slacks can dictate color of shoes. Also, the highlighting through shirt/tie selection will change shoe selection.
So I guess burgundy, or "codovan," is acceptable for navy blue. I still can't picture it though, unless the blue has some red in it (i.e. a more purplish blue) or you're wearing a red tie. Obviously there's black in navy blue, and the shoes will pick up on that.
And lest anyone question me while I'm wearing said suit and shoes combo, maybe I should print out those web pages and carry them in my suit pocket. :D
BTW, I didn't intend this to be an assy debunking or anything. :) I do appreciate input in areas of which I know very little. But I did research this stuff before I made this purchase, so the don't-wear-black-with-blue thing did strike me as a surprise, hence the swift googling.
Didn't mean to piss you off, but yeah, I have always been told that black does not go with blue pants/suits. At the bank (granted, 3-4 years ago) I heard this regularly, and when I bought my two suits (at Men's Warehouse) they were the ones who told me that.
My brother claims that in the mid-west, this is still more the case than on the coasts, so if anybody gives you crap, tell them you are just ahead of the times and/or following the east coast trends?
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