Best Place to buy suits for IBD Analysts?

Hey all,
I will be working as Investment Banking Summer Analyst at a BB in the NYC office. I was wondering where some good places to buy reasonable priced, slim fitted suits are (think $600-900 range). I bought a suit from brooks brothers last year but thought the fit was too bulky. Any suggestions?

 
Teller:

Suitsupply makes some pretty nice slim fitted suits. I think most people on WSO generally recommend something like this.

Yep yep, but I wouldn't go over $650 for any off the rack suit. If you're gonna spend $650 plus get one tailored.

'77 CB 750 '69 Cortina GT
 
Best Response

I have posted this several times before, but go to a high-end department store (Barneys, Saks, Neiman Marcus, etc.) and try on a few suits. Remember your size. Then, go to eBay and look up whichever brand fit you the best. Some brands to keep an eye on are Brioni, Canali, Zegna, Oxxford, and Hickey Freeman. You should be able to get a suit that costs $1,000+ new for a few hundred dollars slightly used. You can use this method for sports coats and blazers too.

 

Same vein, but looking for a few more pair of shoes. On suit supply those shoes are like $250, I'm guessing they're making all their profit on the ancillary items margins

"I did it for me...I liked it...I was good at it. And I was really... I was alive."
 

Take a Vacation to Asia:

  1. Hong Kong or Thailand.
  2. Off the shelf in Japan fits well and is cheap. Japanese are fashion snobs.
  3. Singapore is probably good but expensive, Malaysia, Indonesia, or even PI can do the same for cheaper.

Get your measurements and do tailored. Don't get upsold on bespoke (at this stage, $50K is steep for third world threads). Good trailored suit beats okay bespoke any day of the week. You've got to be a real GQ fashion stud to notice the fine differences between great tailored and great bespoke.

With measurements, you can try ordering from a reputable online tailored suits company as well. My $150 and under Japanese off the shelf suits fit just as well as my more expensive garments from Hong Kong. Folks over at Tom James want to upsell you on bespoke. Run away. That translates into a service where they pick your fashion for you and you pay them their salary for doing it which is the premium they charge onto third world fabrics that gets sewn here.

Japanese consider wearing a suit as you would wear T-shirts and Jeans. You can get very competitive threads in Japan for cheap due to an efficient market in that business and healthy competition that keeps prices low. More's City Mall (by the Yokosuka train station) over in Yokosuka, Japan has a store called Orihica. It's a good starting point if you are in that neck of the woods.

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Spot on about Japan. Just bought 2 perfectly fitting suits with a pair of pants each for $700 (tax-free, btw) in The Suit Company in Ginza (and they were among the most expensive there).

 

For a SA, Macy's honestly works fine. Go during a big sales event and keep an eye out for coupons (they can usually be added on top of the current sales price). They sell a lot of decent slim cut 100% wool suits for IB at most BBs your daily attire will be a dress shirt and suit pants/slacks. I only wore a jacket and tie during meetings. The best full time analyst in my group doesn't wear the most expensive stuff either, so don't overthink it or feel like you need to spend a lot on clothes in order to do well. Just get a suit that is slim cut, fits properly and is made of 100% wool (so it'll be durable).

A piece of advice I got was to just buy durable and decently fashionable (but well fitting) clothes for your first two analyst years and then buy a nicer suit once you're on the buyside or an associate. Wearing a suit 15+ hours a day will do a number on it, so imo it's better to wait to spend a lot on clothes. But that's just my opinion.

 
monkeyz12345:

For a SA, Macy's honestly works fine. Go during a big sales event and keep an eye out for coupons (they can usually be added on top of the current sales price). They sell a lot of decent slim cut 100% wool suits for <$250 there, In IB at most BBs your daily attire will be a dress shirt and suit pants/slacks. I only wore a jacket and tie during meetings. The best full time analyst in my group doesn't wear the most expensive stuff either, so don't overthink it or feel like you need to spend a lot on clothes in order to do well. Just get a suit that is slim cut, fits properly and is made of 100% wool (so it'll be durable).

A piece of advice I got was to just buy durable and decently fashionable (but well fitting) clothes for your first two analyst years and then buy a nicer suit once you're on the buyside or an associate. Wearing a suit 15+ hours a day will do a number on it, so imo it's better to wait to spend a lot on clothes. But that's just my opinion.

Suit separates ftw. Buy two pairs of slacks with the jacket. It's like buy one suit for $179, get the 2nd $59.

The front pocket area of the slacks is always the first place to tear.

 
IlliniProgrammer:
monkeyz12345:

For a SA, Macy's honestly works fine. Go during a big sales event and keep an eye out for coupons (they can usually be added on top of the current sales price). They sell a lot of decent slim cut 100% wool suits for <$250 there, In IB at most BBs your daily attire will be a dress shirt and suit pants/slacks. I only wore a jacket and tie during meetings. The best full time analyst in my group doesn't wear the most expensive stuff either, so don't overthink it or feel like you need to spend a lot on clothes in order to do well. Just get a suit that is slim cut, fits properly and is made of 100% wool (so it'll be durable).

A piece of advice I got was to just buy durable and decently fashionable (but well fitting) clothes for your first two analyst years and then buy a nicer suit once you're on the buyside or an associate. Wearing a suit 15+ hours a day will do a number on it, so imo it's better to wait to spend a lot on clothes. But that's just my opinion.

Suit separates ftw. Buy two pairs of slacks with the jacket. It's like buy one suit for $179, get the 2nd $59.

The front pocket area of the slacks is always the first place to tear.

Take it to a tailor for an extra $50, and as long as it is a wool suit, people won't really notice.

'77 CB 750 '69 Cortina GT
 

I have same issue with fit, the Brooks Bros Fitzgerald cut is their slim fit and works well for me... not sure which cut you got but if other than fitzgerald, id look into it... also they have a 2 for 599 deal going on now with some of last yrs suits

 
RS39:

I have same issue with fit, the Brooks Bros Fitzgerald cut is their slim fit and works well for me... not sure which cut you got but if other than fitzgerald, id look into it... also they have a 2 for 599 deal going on now with some of last yrs suits

Yup, same. Fairly slim and slightly below average height so it's worth grabbing last year's if the prices are right.
'77 CB 750 '69 Cortina GT
 

I can see validity to the points about Jos A Bank, but they have a half off sale on everything besides shoes right before Christmas... If you need some shirts and ties I would hit that up... goes for suits too... And to be honest at the junior level having 2 suits for the price of one isn't a bad scenario... The quality is comparable to Macys or other dept stores... Definitely agree with the guys about Charcoal or Navy though... Go conservative and you'll be fine bud!

 

If you go with a friend, you can get two Hart-Schaffner-Marx suits from Men's Wearhouse right now for about $700. They're hand-made in Chicago and look pretty darned nice- Obama usually wears them. They should also last for a long time.

If you're feeling poor, you can get a second suit at JCP for sub-$200. Don't forget the 15% off coupons they usually publish.

 
Big4please:

A pawn shop and goodwill. At the former you can also get yourself a boatload of jewelry from someone's dead relative or from the latest burglary at a bargain.

Thrift shops on upper east side and upper west side- or any thrift shops in affluent areas of the burbs- people donate stuff with the tags still on it.

'77 CB 750 '69 Cortina GT
 

http://nypost.com/2014/02/17/the-new-caste-of-wall-street-bankers-under…

Summer Analyst: Stafford suit jacket, $200; Izod shirt, $50, all at jcpenney.com ◆ Brooks Brothers tie, $79.50 at brooksbrothers.com. Location: Jimmy’s Corner, 140 W. 44th St.

Analyst: Suit, $1,198 at brooksbrothers.com ◆ Shirt, $185, and tie, $135, both at thomaspink.com. Location: Aspen Social Club, 157 W. 47th St.

All in doubts, go with Brooks Brothers - might have to take it to the tailors to make minor adjustments.

 

I'd probably go shopping during sales seasons. Lots of relatively high-quality stuff can be found at 50%-90% discount during the sales.

At 40% - 50% you should be able to find Canali, Corneliani, Caruso, Pal Zileri and such brands. At 70%, same as above, but throw in some Zegna, Isaia, Sartorio, Ralph Lauren Purple Label At 90%, if you can find, you'll be able to buy pretty much any brand out there. But don't count on normal sizes or fabrics.

But outside sales, you have Suitsupply, Polo Ralph Lauren, Lardini, Brooks Brothers, Hickey Freeman, and other brands. Probably half-canvassed, in decent fabrics, and modern cuts.

If you know your size and the models, you can check out some ebay stores. They sell brand new stuff, and usually don't go above 1000 bucks, unless it's some really nice Brioni, Kiton, Attolini, etc.

I'm a big fan of the brands Belvest and D'Avenza. Very high quality, fits me nicely, and you can find them on both American and Italian webshops for $300-$500.

 

This is what I've seen from the Analysts over the past 2 years.

Low budget - Express (surprisingly nice, wait for a sale) Mid-budget - Charles Tyrwhitt, Indochino (sales constantly) Upper mid-budget: Brooks Brother Higher-end: Suitsupply (their top-quality line, if you go mid-quality you're really just getting off going Indochino).

 

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