Mustachian White Collar Workers--Where Do You Buy Your Clothes?

[Scandium]

Thanks for starting this post.  I've been wanting to figure out a good business wardrobe strategy for some time.  Mostly just posting to follow this.  I'm interested in hearing from more people who have tried clothing from combatant gentlemen.

I got a shirt (in 3 sizes) from combatant gentleman this week. I don't like them all will be returning. Shirt felt cheap, kinda stiff and unpleasant. The fit was awkward and baggy, even with a slim model. Can post link to the model later, but was a plain blue dress shirt. FYI I'm 6ft, 170 lb, pretty skinny.

For $35 I guess that's what you'd expect. But I just ordered several shirts from jcrew outlet for less. And have lots of shirts from sales at jcrew or express, paid no more than $50 each and they fit much better and I actually feel good wearing them. Combatant gentleman doesn't seem worth it to me.

Also spent an hour at jos a bank trying shirt and boy are their slim shirts terrible! They are all absurdly baggy around the waist. Don't understand how these are supposed to fit normal, slim/fit guys! I'd have to be at least 230 lb to fit that "slim" shirt. The quality seemed really good though.

In the end, I'm sticking to sales at jcrew, express and banana Republic. May cost a tad more (but not always) but at least I get shirts in comfortable in and  not embarrassed to be seen in.

Ps: combatant gentleman ties were nice.

[clumlee]

Don't lynch me! I buy all my clothes at Wal-Mart. Shirts, pants, underwear, socks, and shoes. I pretty much wear my entire work attire wardrobe every week.

[Schaefer Light]

I'm glad my workplace is business casual.  I wear a golf shirt and a pair of casual pants just about every day.  I'll occasionally wear a button-down shirt if it's cold outside.  I buy most of my golf shirts online from Uniqlo now.  They seem to go on sale for $20 per shirt at least a couple of times a year.  Pants are harder for me to find.  I have a 32" waist, but for some reason that equates to a 30" waist size these days and most stores just don't stock a lot of 30" waist size pants.

[Case]

I'm an attorney that has to wear dress pants and a shirt and tie every day to work. Right now my wardrobe looks like this:

-4 suits (two gray, two navy)
-12 dress shirts (6 white, 6 patterned)
-About 20-25 ties.
-1 pair of black dress shoes
-1 black belt

All of my suits, dress shirts, and ties are from the Brooks Brothers Outlet Store. The suits are especially good quality, and I've heard from almost everybody that it's better to buy four good suits rather than ten cheap ones.

Having owned both my dress shoes and white shirts for about four years now, though, I'm in need of getting more shirts and shoes soon. But it's almost impossible to keep my white shirts looking new and I might only get a couple of those and get more patterned shirts.

I'm a bit nervous about buying new shoes, though, because my current ones cost $175 (Johnston and Murphy). Mine are still in decent shape but I'd like to add brown shoes and belt to my collection.

So, any tips on the amount of clothes you should keep "in stock" and where to get great quality for good value? The Brooks Brothers semi-annual sale is great, I think, but I'm wondering if there's any alternatives.

Key tip here:
Buy only non-iron shirt/pants, and then wash them minimally.  This is easier with pants.  For shirts, it's easier in the winter when I can wear an undershirt (to absorb sweat/etc...).  I have some banana republic non-iron shirts (purchased at an outlet store, on sale) which look brand new, though I've been wearing for 4+ years.  They get a little yellow on the inner collar, but no one can see there (and I might be able to get rid of it if i cared); the undershirt takes care of most of the other sweat/stink that would get transferred to the shirt.  Also, only buy stuff that is on sale ~20% off or more.  These stores are always having sales and if you aren't buying it on sale or with coupons (or a combo) then you are paying way more than you need to.

For shoes, I think they can last a very very long time as long as you give them proper maintenance; occasionally polish with shoe way and work in some saddle soap (assuming leather shoes).

With these tips the clothes should last you until they break down from general movement, which is hard to avoid.  At this point you can either replace or sew/stitch/etc...

In the summer I wear poloshirts as it is too hot for long sleeves and especially undershirts.  I simply burn through the polos; maybe 1-2 years before they look like shit.  Lately I've been wearing for 2 days until washing, and there are no odor issues (assuming typical non-physically exerting work day).  I may try 3 days; we'll see.

I have tried the same approach with socks; in particular, Darn Tough socks.  I invested in about 10 pairs (they are ~$15 each) and wear nothing but them.  The are super comfortable and stylish, though maybe not the best for a formal business environment.  I have burned through a number of these and unfortunately cannot say they are as indestructible as everyone else says.  However this may be partly because of my foot pronation which puts more pressure on the socks edge.  Anyways, they have a life time warrantee; i haven't used it yet but will be at some point.  I wear them 2-3 times before washing.  In my experience, they get stinky after 3+ days.  Aside from the wear/holes on the bottom which eventually develop, they stay very comfortable forever.

I own ~20 ties, and I have worn one maybe 5 times in the past 5 years (e.g. only for weddings or job interviews).  IMHO, ties are a worthless contribution to society that only benefits the tie manufacturers, and should be done away with.

[tomatops]

Banana republic, never full price though for obvious reasons.

The sizing is easy and off the rack for me. I typically get 2 years out of a pair of pants. I have lots of shirts I acquired over the past few years on sale, also at B&R and while traveling, so won't need to buy any for at least a few years.

[Goldielocks]

Okay,  I am assuming you are an attorney or banking professional...

Thrift stores are not great for mens business suitable clothes.  About once every four trips, I can find ONE shirt of high quality for my XL-Tall DH.  I also keep looking for quality outerwear there (it does appear).   If you are more of a standard size (not tall), then you may have more luck.  No pants, suits, belts, or shoes, however.  Instead, use thrift / goodwill for the occasional dress shirt, and your casual clothes to save money.

Buy expensive, long lasting shoes.   2-3 pair, rotate, resole.   Same idea with belts and suits - buy one new suit each year, and rotate out the oldest ones.

I think you just need to budget for this expense, and not have too many multiples of things, and save in other areas.

I also use on-line shopping, when I know a specific brand and size fits and is quality. Ebay works great for this.  (try it for the shoes, for example, very good results in value for a specific item).

[ysette9]

If there are any women on this thread, I'd like to give a shout out to ThredUp, which is an online consignment website. They do women's, maternity, and kid's clothes, but unfortunately no men's stuff yet.

My husband doesn't have to dress up for work (thank god), but he has struggled to find dress up stuff that looks good for those rare occasions since he apparently isn't a standard size (slim with a big neck). I can't talk up enough how great it was for him to spend the money to get custom-made shirts. Yes, he got them in Asia (mostly Taiwan but a few in China) while there on travel so the cost was less, but I suspect that even if he had paid full-price here in the states it would have been worth it. My father got a custom-made suit in China and it looks fantastic on his slightly-odd frame. :) Quality is very important for looking good and lasting, but fit is super important as well.

Morale of the story: pay the $ and get something custom-made or tailored to fit because it will make a big difference.

[crimwell]

I've bought 3 pairs of pants and 2 matching suit jackets for two them from Factory J. Crew. They are pretty decent. The regular 100% wool pants are much nicer than the "flex" one that has spandex or something mixed in

I also have one pair of Amazon Goodthreads slim fit chinos ($30). I wear one of these 4 pairs of pants to work every day with a dress shirt. I have 6 shirts, 4 of which are cheapish slim fit no iron shirts from Men's Wearhouse  (not necessarily recommending)

I rarely wash or dry clean pants. shirts I wash, dryer, and immediately hang up. I only iron them if I'm on travel or have a really specific occasion. Essentially never wear a tie. I have a lot of ties from previous jobs. Target has pretty nice ties. I'm a lawyer but in house with a government agency in a field office, so it's pretty casual. I'm not as sharp as I could be, but it's good enough, hehe

[BJC]

I am 6'5"... I get all my work clothes from JCPenny...  They are amazing! There is nowhere else to get 100% cotton, 38/39 sleeves for $30 (often even less with coupon code and ebates).
For dress shoes,  two thought...
I swear by Rockport black Friday sale...  I only buy on that sale and it is always 40% off.
I then buy laces, insoles and taps from eBay to extend their lives a very long time.
I do have my shoes professionally polished 1 or two times per year for each pair. I could save a few dollars a year doing it myself,  but it's not worth it to me,  and they do a much better job