dakatz wrote:alumniguy wrote:dakatz wrote:I was curious about this issue, so I asked a family friend who works in a large law firm. He said that in his experience (working for 2 different law firms), no one cares about brands. All that matters is that it fits well and looks neat. He said this is particularly true with shirts (since the times in which your appearance is particularly key, you will be wearing your suit jacket over it anyway). He says he never spent much on shirts. He did say he has 2 particularly nice suits for important meetings, as well as one particularly nice pair of shoes, but most certainly not the $360 shoes some people on here seem to mention.
Curious if your family friend works in NYC? My experience is that NYC firms tend to be a little more into "looking the part." then else where. When you're making $250k a year (as a mid-level), you can afford to spend 3 bills on a pair of shoes that is going to last you 5 -10 years. Do all guys do this? Absolutely not. But when you look at what the partners and counsel are wearing, I can tell you that for the most part they are wearing quality, expensive shoes every day of the week.
The fact of the matter is that in NYC, $300 is NOT a lot of money for a good pair of quality leather shoes. I mean you can go to Bloomingdales and see dress shoes costing upwards of $1k (and I don't even know how much shoes run at Saks, Barneys and Bergdorf). In my opinion, as junior/midlevel anything over $350/$400 is overkill. But, in my experience, you're going to notice a distinct difference in leather quality when you get over the $200 price threshold
My shoes: collection of Saks branded shoes (got these at the outlet mall); Testoni; and a few off-brands from the DSW in Union Square (but I wouldn't advocate DSW in smaller markets because they carry different stuff).
No, he is in Philly, not NYC. I can certainly see how such expensive shirts and shoes become affordable once your salary goes up high enough (and he admits that he will treat himself to a pretty high end suit and pair of shoes every once in awhile). But this guy comes from a blue collar area, sort of like me, and that never really leaves you, and keeps you grounded in functionality, rather than style. Perhaps my philosophy will change if I get a job working in a large law firm. The idea of spending $250 on a pair of shoes sounds insane to me now, but perhaps thats a product of the fact that I have no job and no income, and I debate whether to spend $10 to get Thai food, or to just make myself Easy Mac. I'm honestly very curious to see how myself in 5 years will compare.
The difference her is that Thai take out and easy mac both nourish you equally well. crappy shoes look like crap and will wear out, while quality shoes will look nice and will last. i would think that your blue collar background (which I share) would make you steer toward value. You definitely do not need to spend $1k. Cole Haan makes insanely comfortable, high quality shoes for no more than $250-$300, and they have a refurbishment program, so if they start to look ragged you just send them back and they get restored for next to nothing.
LettuceBeefRealTea wrote:a good tailor is the most important part of your wardrobe. if you find a good one and give him constant business, he will do it for you at a discount. unless you can find a brand of slim fit shirts that fit you just right, you should include tailoring costs for all of your shirts as well as suits and pants.
every example posted in this thread looks like crap, except maybe the pink one. as much as i hate the company, rugby has some good stuff. several of my rugby teammates applied to work for their stores over the past two years since no one was hiring. they didn't get hired because their faces were all messed up with broken noses and cauliflower ear from rugby. very athletic looking and hardworking guys. just some hate for a&f wanna be practices.
BB is made for fatties. if you go this route, it would be best to get as many shirts as cheaply as you can and take them all to a tailor and try to get a deal. The guy that I go to back home, in la, started at $35 but now charges me $15/shirt. from what i have seen for first time visits, low end is $15ish up to $40/shirt depending on the quality of the tailor. if you bring a large order all at once, he should drop the price. smaller cities will adjust by cost of living.
btw that's for the body to be taken in. if you have small arms/shoulders it should be another ~$5-10 to get those made smaller.
Unless you have a really unusual body shape, everyone should be able to find a shirt that fits properly. maybe not perfectly, but properly.
I don't think I get what you're saying about Rugby....you look down on a company for wanting to have attractive sales staff, when what they are selling is basically good looks? I get that you said these were actual rugby players applying for a job at a place called "rugby" but you do understand that the people designing, selling, buying, and wearing these clothese don't know the first thing about rugby, right?
I had 1 black label RL shirt that fit really well but 300 bucks for 1 shirt is insane.
No question. the price is outrageous, but fits are absolutely spot on, and truthfully, you could wear the same navy suit and white shirt with a really nice pair of shoes, every single day, and if the quality is beautiful, and the fits are impeccable, no one will think a thing of it.