Help anyone! (clothing question)

Next week we are going to go shopping for interview clothes for DH. I expect to have to buy two suits, but what colors? How many shirts and shoes, ties.. Bugger that mens clothing is expensive.. We went shopping this summer to get DH his first tie for his application pic, it costs $25, I almost fell over.. a tie??. I'm the hippo-crit though cuz I pay $25 + for lots of small items and don't think twice.. but when it is for DH

Anyways if anyone has any suggestions about this I'd be grateful.. Basically his dress-up wear so -far is a white shirt (long sleeved) and a red tie. :

Thanks!
Kristen

[PrincessFiona]

Kristen

We just did the standard blue suit. My dh bought two identical white shirts for underneath..and 2 professional looking ties. Also..one pair of shoes.

In his everyday life, he wears dresspants and shirts with fun/funky ties (elmo, spongebob, bacteria, etc). He collects them and has more ties than you would believe...seriously, he has over 50 ties...and they all "have" to be the silk $25 kind....

We really didn't invest in two suits just because they are so expensive and you only wear them for the interviews. I'd suggest investing in the shoes and making them comfy...that way he can wear them when he goes to work too.

kris

[Flynn]

From where I sit, 25$ for a tie is MORE than reasonable!!!!!!

I come from the idea that you try and get the best deal possible, but if you buy quality you can never go wrong. Case in point, when my DH started residency he had one suit that was not fitted correctly but looked "fine." It was a decent suit. Since that one, we have bought one every year at the Men's sale (Xmas time) at Nordstroms and now has three we bought from Nordstroms and the one he had for residency interviews. He will be able to wear the Nordstrom ones for at least 5 more years. They are in excellent shape AND were fitted correctly. Crucial for my DH with a 6'5" frame. The other one has seen better days and while it's newer -- I honestly think we will get rid of it soon. He never wears it anyway because it looks so bad next to the other suits. The Nordstrom suits were probably 100$ more but we get twice the wear out of them. A much better investment.

Affordability is important but not the only issue. You can find some great shirts online at Lands End (ties too) or sometimes LLBean but bite the bullet, spend the money on one GOOD suit if you can't get anymore than that. One good suit is MUCH MUCH better than two poor quality ones.

Doctors are fickle creatures and first impressions are very important. Looking the part is crucial in an interview.

As far as colors go -- go conservative. Navy of course is the obvious choice and there are many varieties in this color. Charcoal is probably the next place I would go but in a good store, they can help you buy for the purpose you are looking for. Look for salespeople who are grown men or women and not pimple popping college students wtih crew socks on under their pants and/or bad makeup.

I can't say enough about the suit department at Nordstroms. Hopefully you have one near you. We've tried other places and NOTHING compares.

[Flynn]

From where I sit, 25$ for a tie is MORE than reasonable!!!!!!

I come from the idea that you try and get the best deal possible, but if you buy quality you can never go wrong. Case in point, when my DH started residency he had one suit that was not fitted correctly but looked "fine." It was a decent suit. Since that one, we have bought one every year at the Men's sale (Xmas time) at Nordstroms and now has three we bought from Nordstroms and the one he had for residency interviews. He will be able to wear the Nordstrom ones for at least 5 more years. They are in excellent shape AND were fitted correctly. Crucial for my DH with a 6'5" frame. The other one has seen better days and while it's newer -- I honestly think we will get rid of it soon. He never wears it anyway because it looks so bad next to the other suits. The Nordstrom suits were probably 100$ more but we get twice the wear out of them. A much better investment.

Affordability is important but not the only issue. You can find some great shirts online at Lands End (ties too) or sometimes LLBean but bite the bullet, spend the money on one GOOD suit if you can't get anymore than that. One good suit is MUCH MUCH better than two poor quality ones.

Doctors are fickle creatures and first impressions are very important. Looking the part is crucial in an interview.

As far as colors go -- go conservative. Navy of course is the obvious choice and there are many varieties in this color. Charcoal is probably the next place I would go but in a good store, they can help you buy for the purpose you are looking for. Look for salespeople who are grown men or women and not pimple popping college students wtih crew socks on under their pants and/or bad makeup.

I can't say enough about the suit department at Nordstroms. Hopefully you have one near you. We've tried other places and NOTHING compares.

Thanks for the help, I think we will go with one in navy and one in blue.. now what color shoes, ugh.. no Nordstroms here so I'll have to make due with another dept. store.

Since that one, we have bought one every year at the Men's sale (Xmas time) at Nordstroms and now has three we bought from Nordstroms and the one he had for residency interviews. He will be able to wear the Nordstrom ones for at least 5 more years.

Same here! The Nordstroms men's sale is *fabulous*. I usually hate shopping for men's clothing (how do you match a shirt and tie??) but somehow can be up for the task at that sale. We bought DH's interview suit that way -- beautiful Italian wool suit, perfect alterations, half off -- not too much more than a men's warehouse sort of deal. Bought my dad a suit there too at the sale and it also a well tailored timeless style.

I agree with conservative color for suit and tie. Two shirts is crucial so you can get one cleaned while wearing the other if need be. Don't forget a dress belt and socks![/u]

[Vishenka69]

I'd go with black shoes, they look great with everything. If the interivews include dinner and there are at least two in the same week, I'd buy two of everything (suit, shirt, tie) just in case one set is at the cleaners.

can you wear black shoes and a blue suit though? I think black shoes are good because they are versatile but the black/blue thing?? Maybe I'm just being dumb... what about dress shirts, do they have to wear a undershirt thingy?

[migirl]

Black shoes with a blue suit is fine (IMO, of course; I'm no fashionista though, so somebody correct me if this is a faux pas!). I would recommend that he wear an undershirt under the dress shirts, to reduce the sheerness factor and staining if he perspires a lot.

[Vishenka69]

Since the suit will be very dark, the black shoes shouldn't be a problem. Some men wear brown shoes with navy suits but I don't think that looks very concervative or interview'y.

For shoes, I would put in a vote for cordovan. Cordovan shoes will go very well with navy and charcoal suits. Plus, when your husband isn't wearing navy or charcoal, the cordovan will look better with khaki or olive pants than black would. Also, I think cordovan would fly with a black suit if necessary, but I prefer navy and charcoal to a black suit. Just my two cents.

Ha I've gotta google Cordovan, cuz I have no idea what color that is... Sad I know..

Here's a link of a picture of cordovan shoes. Note, I'm not suggesting he buy penny loafers, just use the link to get an idea of the color. Hope this helps.

http://www.zappos.com/n/p/dp/458506/c/6703.html

[DCJenn]

sadly, this is something we will never know, as the Army owns us. However, my husband has had to develop a "dressy" wardrobe of a few essential items over the last four years. He has the basic blue blazer, grey dress pants, white button down (spend the few $ to have the shirts tailored, too- it makes all the difference in the fit, especially if, like my husband, he had a big neck and broad shoulders- and the shirts are measured to fit the necks and sleeves- if we didn't get the shirts tailored, even with the athletic cut, they look like Omar the tentmaker shirts). He has one casual silk blazer, several pairs of dressier slacks, several nice button downs. He forgot his shoes in NYC once so off we went to the Kenneth Cole store- so he has those (black) and one pair of brown lace up dress shoes, too. Ties (like Kris' husband) are his downfall- but ladies, go eBay! He had found fabulous silk ties fun, funky and dressy for no more than $10 bucks a tie!

We bought the blue blazer, grey slacks and the tailored shirt at a mens store in San Antonio- the kind where 100 year old men who know exactly what they are doing, and have worked there for 50 years, wander around with tape measures. Totally worth every penny. Once in a while, splurge. Besides, the mens' suit will outlast any woman's suit anyday.

Thanks for the shoe link... those look like the perfect option.. dh just told me that he thinks it is important to shine his shoes between his interviews.. I don't know much about shining shoes, anyone?


I know we will have the suits tailored but the shirts I never thought that could be done.. when I bought the white shirt for him, I was talking to the girl and I was like his waist is a 31 so this says 31 and she said no that is arm length, hmm... I got the neck right though, dh is a dainty fellow so I just went with what the sales girl said was normal neck???

We are going on our shopping date next week, not really excited though..