Suit Advice/Professional Image

Hey guys, was hoping for some insight and advice on suits as I am looking into new jobs at the moment. I don't believe a $1000 suit vs a $300 suit itself will either make or break a potential candidate as there are a lot of factors that come into play however I want to make sure that I am not crippling my chances at any shot of success right off the bat. I am not currently in finance however assume a polished conservative professional environment based in a mid sized US city
-Was bought a charcoal suit ($500) Corbin? years before going off to school by my father and assumed he knew what he was buying and because of the price and quality of material was a good buy. The lapels are enormous and the top button of the suit sits at my belly button and the lapels flair up (peak?).
-There's a banner on the site of a suited monkey and my lapels on the suit look exactly like this. When I look for suits on line I can't find any suit that even resembles what I currently own.
-Any advice on what I should be looking for would be appreciated. Would plan on wearing charcoal or navy, plain white dress shirt and simple patterned ties. A lot of defense contracting in my area and will avoid any blue/red ties as was not aware how political this was viewed til it was made apparent at a job fair by a Congressman.
-I don't need to look very fashion forward but don't want to look like a clueless idiot.

On another note can younger guys wear wing tips or is this frowned upon?
-Any advice would be appreciated

 

I've known about wingtips for a while however am not versed in the details of lapels. Was not sure if "peak" referred solely to the point of the lapel or other factors. Starting at my midsection the lapel gradually widens to a ridiculous width to right above my chest. Was not sure if this is considered a "Peak" as the lapel basically is in the shape of a very wide "V" or if it just considered a thick notch lapel. Either way it appears that I need lapels that are far slimmer.

 
Liar'sPoker:
"You call those doodads lapels? Those tany thangs?" he says in a broad Lone Star accent. "Lapels ain' t lapels unless you can see them from the back." Then he turns around, and sure enough, the lapels jut like wings from his shoulders.

For real though, get a couple of nice but conservative suits from Brooks Brothers and let your work speak for itself instead of trying to look like someone you're not (... yet).

 

Thanks for the advice. Just wasn't sure if I had a suit that was in bad taste from the get go and didn't know the difference because my father bought it for me when I was 17 years old and essentially I figured he had some clue about these types of things. But as far as the Liar's Poker quote these certainly do look like wings on my chest and I'm a shorter guy so they are probably ten times more ridiculous looking on my frame.

 
Best Response
va16:
Thanks for the advice. Just wasn't sure if I had a suit that was in bad taste from the get go and didn't know the difference because my father bought it for me when I was 17 years old and essentially I figured he had some clue about these types of things. But as far as the Liar's Poker quote these certainly do look like wings on my chest and I'm a shorter guy so they are probably ten times more ridiculous looking on my frame.

This is true, alot of style concepts are based on proportions. Certain builds, heights, etc should stick to certain parameters when choosing clothing. To make yourself more proportionate, consider not wearing a belt as well. And this is irrelevant, but for god's sake, invest in a decent pair of shoes, i.e. no square toe shoes.

"History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme."
 

Widest point is 3 3/4 inches. Result of a clueless guy thinking there isn't any sort of difference. He bought me a nice pair of black wingtips with this as well. FML

 

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