opinions and recs requested for ~$500 trim plain navy suit

Join DateDecember 1st, 2009LocationWashington, DCPosts321 opinions and recs requested for ~$500 trim plain navy suit

Gents,

I am looking for a suit for my brother's wedding in late July. I am part of the wedding party and he has requested that we wear plain navy suits. Since I have had to retire my old college suit I am looking for a new suit that will fit his requirements, fit my budget and style, and be appropriate for both social and professional settings.

I'm a mid 20s guy that tries to stay traditional but am looking for a trim fitting suit - I'm a 38S, 5'8" 155lbs, 15.5" neck, 32" sleeve with a very average build. My budget is give or take $500 and hoping for minimal alterations. The two that I've tried on so far and like in terms of fit (no major altering required) are the
JCrew Ludlow
SuitSupply's Napoli

I know this is more of a conservative forum and tends to eschew these more modern/trendy brands but I can assure you that both of these are still relatively traditional in terms of shortness and slimness
I measured the Ludlow and it is a 29" jacket and I am 59" from top of coat to floor so this fits the bill since it is proportionate (i.e. jacket length halfway between top of coat to floor)As far as slimness is concerned, I checked both and when buttoned and standing straight my belt and shirt are not visible under the top button (despite the pictures on SuitSupply). With that I can say that the button stance and pant rise are still conservative enough

The concern I have with these is that they are a tad lighter than a true navy which my brother might not be happy with considering we're trying to look consistent in the wedding party.

JCrew's navy is actually a grayish Navy and so is lighter than a true Navy.

SuitSupply's colors are inconsistent with their labeling and I've confirmed that their "Blue" in their London fit is in fact closer to a true navy (i.e. darker than) their "Navy" in their Napoli's Navy. Their Naploli Blue is even lighter than the Napoli Navy so is significantly lighter than the London Blue.

I'd go with the London Blue as far as color goes but it's looser and longer than I'd like so I would have to do major alterations.

If my brother is OK with the lighter "navy" colors, I will probably pick one of these, but if not I was hoping to get some recs from you guys on suits with similar fits and similar prices that will have a true navy color.

Many thanks.

Join DateSeptember 26th, 2011LocationJoiseyPosts1,854

Have you tried on the London? I really like the look of it -- it seems to fit how a suit should. Don't bother trying to do alterations on the body length of a suit -- it always messes with the proportions.

Join DateDecember 1st, 2009LocationWashington, DCPosts321

Yes, I tried the London. It is their roomiest cut and I am certain I would want to take it in a bit. I could easily fit a fist sideways between the jacket and my stomach. I do like the lower button stance on it though.

If I hadn't also tried the Napoli, I might have been okay with the length of the jacket but after trying the Napoli on, I decided that I liked it's length better. I'd say I would probably take 1/2" to 1" off the London. Do you think 1/2" off would mess up the proportions?

Check this video with Alan Flusser around the 9:30 mark regarding proportions.
http://putthison.com/tagged/Episode-6

I'm going to go back and measure the jacket and see how the button stance is in relation to the length of the suit and see how off it would be if I wanted to shorten it.

Join DateSeptember 26th, 2011LocationJoiseyPosts1,854

Yeah, given that the London already has a low button stance, you might not want to mess with it. An half-inch might not kill it, but it's kind of an expensive gamble. If you wear a regular, then you could try it in a short. That seems to be an inch shorter or so, based on the size charts. That might screw up the sleeve length, but then again it might not. I'm much more comfortable in a longer coat -- I don't like when the length ends above the fork of my trousers, though I don't like more than a half-inch beneath that.

It doesn't matter what you can fit in between the coat's waist and your own -- nobody's going to try that. What matters is if the silhouette works, and that you're comfortable in it. I mean, I'd be happy to wear only coats that fit like this one (http://faintyoungsunking.tumblr.com/...nubuck-chelsea), and that's not at all short or tight. It looks right to me, though -- and "looking right" is all it has to do to work. Also, I don't find tight tailoring comfortable. There's no give to it. I'm not comfortable in a very loose, '30s type of cut (it makes me feel like I've been caught in a rainstorm), but I can't stand feeling constrained by my clothes.

That's an aside. Frankly, if I were you, I'd run the navy Napoli by your brother. It's pretty likely that he'll end up with a spread of shades of blue, anyway. If your budget bumped up a notch, you might want to look at the navy birdseye Sienna, which seems to read as a dark, textured solid in the website pics. There's a chance that could be a really bad idea, though. It would be your call.

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