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My summer program is 10+ weeks long. I only have three suits: two navy, one charcoal, none of them are pinstriped. All are quality (tailored) suits. Need more to get through the summer?

Get two more - 1 per workday. You'll need them next year, and wearing a suit more than once per week will shorten its life considerably.

Three suits are enough. Just make sure you have enough shirts/ties to switch it up from day to day.

You can make it on three, provided you have a good variety of shirts/ties to mix up. But, it's sort of the bare minimum, so once you have a little summer pay in your pocket you may want another, just in case of a terrible wardrobe meltdown (like spills on two consecutive days that cause your suits to be gone to the cleaner for three days each).

Why are we (2/3 previous responders) assuming that OP is a male?

omg wrote:Why are we (2/3 previous responders) assuming that OP is a male?

Because there are like 4 women on the whole internet.

.

If OP is male:

I agree, 3 is the bare minimum. You'll probably want to go up to 5 because of dry cleaning. People won't really notice/care if they SEE you wearing the same 3 suits all summer (switched up with different ties and shirts), but they will care if your suits get dingy/smelly. And while a dab of cologne is great (imo), it should never be used to mask another smell.


If OP is female:

Ideally 5 suits with both pants and skirts (so essentially 10 suits but only 5 suit jackets), but again you can get away with 3/6 if you stick to blacks and greys. Women's suits are more easily recognizable because of the cut and color. I'd also recommend 10 blouses. Sleeveless blouses with modest necklines are great for the day-to-evening wardrobe changes you'll likely need to make as a summer.

Does this apply to 1L summers as well?

glewz wrote:Does this apply to 1L summers as well?

This discussion has nothing to do with class year, rather, whether or not your workplace is business formal.

Three suits is totally fine -- especially over the summer where most firms have relaxed policies on dress. Have enough shirts and tie combos and you're in good shape.

For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

pasteurizedmilk wrote:For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

You should not be dry cleaning your suits after every wear, mang.

PKSebben wrote:

pasteurizedmilk wrote:For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

You should not be dry cleaning your suits after every wear, mang.

Yeah I get mine pressed pretty regularly though. I dry clean VERY rarely....not that my suits are high enough quality to do much damage to them anyway.

pasteurizedmilk wrote:For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

LOL yeah i hear the summers there are the worst

/1L SA job in Texas

DoubleChecks wrote:

pasteurizedmilk wrote:For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

LOL yeah i hear the summers there are the worst

/1L SA job in Texas

Yeah but you don't get much humidity do you? It's humidity that kills me.

pasteurizedmilk wrote:

PKSebben wrote:

pasteurizedmilk wrote:For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

You should not be dry cleaning your suits after every wear, mang.

Yeah I get mine pressed pretty regularly though. I dry clean VERY rarely....not that my suits are high enough quality to do much damage to them anyway.

Actually low quality suits get trashed dry cleaning, but yes -- pressed is the way to go.

I might make a new thread but this seems active -- I'm looking for a NYC tailor -- I'd like to pay less than $100 a shirt. Anyone got suggestions?

OP here. I'm a guy.

I'm in a city that is at least as hot as DC/NY (it might even be DC/NY). (This is the summer, though - is there any American city outside of CA/PNW that's NOT hot as crap in the summer???) Don't want to out myself because there are so few business formal firms (I'm sure everyone is already guessing Cravath or Jones Day ).

I plan on getting my suits pressed every weekend, but only dry cleaned maybe once about halfway through. Should I get two more suits just so I don't have to worry about them getting too wrinkled throughout the week?

PK - I believe my firm is biz formal all the time. ALL the time.

pasteurizedmilk wrote:

DoubleChecks wrote:

pasteurizedmilk wrote:For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

LOL yeah i hear the summers there are the worst

/1L SA job in Texas

Yeah but you don't get much humidity do you? It's humidity that kills me.

lol dude im from Houston. humidity is like 90%

this thread has made me decide that i need to get more suits haha

DoubleChecks wrote:

pasteurizedmilk wrote:

DoubleChecks wrote:

pasteurizedmilk wrote:For your sake I hope you're not in NY/DC. Summer in business formal would be hell.

As others said, 3 is probably fine.....but I'd grab two more if I were you. Makes dry-cleaning rotations a lot easier.

LOL yeah i hear the summers there are the worst

/1L SA job in Texas

Yeah but you don't get much humidity do you? It's humidity that kills me.

lol dude im from Houston. humidity is like 90%

i would die.

Nevermind.. found it on NALP

Anonymous User wrote:OP here. I'm a guy.

I'm in a city that is at least as hot as DC/NY (it might even be DC/NY). (This is the summer, though - is there any American city outside of CA/PNW that's NOT hot as crap in the summer???) Don't want to out myself because there are so few business formal firms (I'm sure everyone is already guessing Cravath or Jones Day ).

I plan on getting my suits pressed every weekend, but only dry cleaned maybe once about halfway through. Should I get two more suits just so I don't have to worry about them getting too wrinkled throughout the week?

PK - I believe my firm is biz formal all the time. ALL the time.

You don't need to have suits pressed every weekend, even if you are wearing them every day. Get a handheld steamer or hang them in the bathroom when you shower.

I'll try not to poke too much fun of my NY friends when I am in jeans on Friday.

If you did poke, it would fall on deaf ears. Only one, maybe two, firms in NYC require business formal, as far as I know.

Stanislaw Carter wrote:

I'll try not to poke too much fun of my NY friends when I am in jeans on Friday.

If you did poke, it would fall on deaf ears. Only one, maybe two, firms in NYC require business formal, as far as I know.

You're nuts. I can name like 20 firms off the top of my head, including mine, that requires business formal at least 4 days a week for most of the year. The three firms in my ELEVATOR SHAFT require suits until at least Mid-May.

PKSebben wrote:

Stanislaw Carter wrote:

I'll try not to poke too much fun of my NY friends when I am in jeans on Friday.

If you did poke, it would fall on deaf ears. Only one, maybe two, firms in NYC require business formal, as far as I know.

You're nuts. I can name like 20 firms off the top of my head, including mine, that requires business formal at least 4 days a week for most of the year. The three firms in my ELEVATOR SHAFT require suits until at least Mid-May.

I didn't know it was so common in NYC. My bad. I thought it was just Cravath and possibly Jones Day.