Suit buying advice sought (boring thread)

I’ve been very lucky for the last 9 years to work in a school that quite happily lets me very away with being pretty damn scruffy by teacher standards (I put a tie on when I have meetings with the Head).

After half term I have an interview in a different school and I’m going to have to look SMART and wear a proper SUIT like a grown up.

Where should I start looking ( @aggpass recommends m+sand John Lewis)?

How much should I expect to have to pay for a decent suit?

Is there a style or something I should go for or avoid?

Any other tips welcomed.

If it’s just a stock suit then get a standard colour (black, grey, blue) regular cut so you can use it for multiple engagements (interviews and weddings basically). Can get decent stuff for under £300 all in

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Go for navy.

Always had most success off-the-rack at TM Lewin.

House of Fraser are good

Next suits are perfectly decent. Or M&S as mentioned. Dark charcoal will cover all options, and dark navy as a second suit is a good shout

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Thanks everyone this is all useful stuff

I would also consider pseudo-suits. Separate jackets and trousers that look like a suit. I have a few black jackets that go well with black work trousers. Gives you the flexibility of replacing trousers on their own or buying machine washable trousers from M&S or Uniqlo.

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I would go to john lewis
got my last suit there & whilst I wanted to get a paul smith or something your man in the shop pointed me in the direction of a british designer who cut suits that would better fit my shape

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I also walked out of there with a couple of new shirts

take a shirt you are going to wear with it with you when you try them on

I’ve got a nice range of separates, including some properly tragic teacher jackets, but I think now is the time to commit to something smarter for the interview.

Yes I tend to buy two pairs of trousers when buying work suits just because they wear out so much quicker than the jackets.

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I do a lot of crouching down next to students to help them with their work which is murder on the trousers.

All of the information in this thread is good advice.

To add my tuppence, Red Herring at Debenhams often have very nice suits on offer at good value.

Yeah blue suits brown shoes. Everywhere. It’s BORING.

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have heard people being snobby about black suits (other than in east asian context) too

I also don’t like blue suits

That only leaves grey, in my opinion (personally like brown and some greens, but again its an opportunity for idiots to look down on you)

Ignore them. I’ve got a couple of incredible green/brown suits. Dark red too.

Gunmetal is a good compromise betwixt grey and blue.

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Haven’t seen that at weddings in a couple of years, tbh, but you do get quite a lot of people wearing them on the tube coming into the City from Essex.

I’ve always thought that it makes someone look like an estate agent spiv.

Yeah my daughter has told me to “get a red one”. Bearing in mind the fact that I’m a pasty white man with a scrubby ginger beard, I’m not convinced this is the way to go.

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