How Many Suits Does a Man Actually Need?

The honest answer is fewer than most men think, and better made than most men buy. Three suits that fit is a larger wardrobe than six that do not, because the six that do not stay on the rail.

We have been asked this in Playa del Rey for sixteen years. What changes is never the answer, only the order you build in.

One done properly beats three done badly

A man who spreads his budget across three suits off the peg owns three compromises. The shoulders sit wide, the collars stand off the neck, and he reaches for whichever feels least wrong. The same money spent on one suit cut from his own pattern buys one he reaches for every time.

A good first suit resets the standard, and the badly made ones quietly stop being worn. Every garment we make is full canvas and fully bespoke, sewn by hand in our atelier in Southern Brittany. A two-piece starts at $1,795.

Number one: a navy two-piece

Navy, mid weight, plain or a cloth that reads plain across a room. It goes to a client meeting, a funeral, a wedding where the couple have asked for nothing in particular, and a flight. In grey light it looks sober, and in Los Angeles sun it keeps its depth, which black does not.

Weight matters more than shade. Nine to eleven ounces hangs properly, creases less and holds a press, so it survives being worn twice a week. Very light cloths photograph well and tire quickly.

Number two: mid grey

Mid grey does the jobs navy does not. It takes a wider range of shirts and ties, and it stops the first suit being recognised as the suit. Two suits in rotation also last far longer than one worn daily, which is the quiet financial argument for the second.

Charcoal is a third suit pretending to be a second: darker, more formal, less useful in daylight. Each shade is set out in suit colors.

Number three: the one you choose for yourself

By the third commission the staples are covered and the choice is yours. Two sensible directions.

If black tie comes round even once a year, make it a tuxedo. A dinner jacket cut for you ends the annual rental, and ours starts at $1,795, the same as a two-piece. What black tie asks for is on custom tuxedo Los Angeles.

If it never comes round, make the third a cloth with something in it: a Prince of Wales check, a chalk stripe flannel, a birdseye. Pattern costs nothing extra, because price is set by the cloth and not the design woven into it.

Two cheap ways to make a wardrobe much larger

A second pair of trousers to a suit you already own. Trousers wear roughly twice as fast as a jacket, because they take the seat of every chair and the inside of every leg, and when they go the suit goes with them. Order a second pair in the same cloth at the start, rotate the two, and the suit lasts close to twice as long. Priced as a trouser, from $450, against $1,795 to replace the whole thing.

Odd trousers. Grey flannels, or a cotton drill in stone, turn your navy jacket into a different outfit for a quarter of the price of a suit. Two suits and two pairs of odd trousers dress more days than four suits do. We have written at length on odd trousers, and the cloths are on custom trousers Los Angeles.

A shirt does similar work for less again, at $295. Nobody remembers a suit seen under a different collar.

Rotation, and why cloth needs a day off

Wool recovers. Worn, it holds moisture and the fibres sit compressed. Given a day on a broad hanger in open air, it returns most of the way to where it started. Worn again the next morning, it does not, and the knees and elbows keep the shape they were left in.

So a day between wears, every time. That one habit sets the floor: your week decides how many suits you need. Brushing, pressing and when not to dry clean are in how to care for a bespoke suit.

Twice a week, or twice a year

Work the number out from how often you actually put one on.

• Twice a year. A wedding and a funeral. One suit, navy, mid weight, cut properly.
• Once a week. Two. Navy and mid grey, each resting six days, which is as gentle a life as a suit can have.
• Two or three times a week. Three, and a second pair of trousers to whichever one you reach for most.
• Five days a week, in the same room, in front of the same people. Four or five, shade and pattern varied so nobody is counting. Lawyers sit here.
• Black tie more than once a year. Add the tuxedo on top of whatever the rest of the number is.

What the order costs

In our house cloths a two-piece starts at $1,795, a three-piece at $2,045, a tuxedo at $1,795, trousers at $450, a shirt at $295 and an overcoat at $1,200. For a named mill, Drago starts at $2,995, Zegna and Holland and Sherry at $3,495, Loro Piana at $3,995. The making is identical at every one of those figures. Only the cloth changes.

Unlimited fittings and a year of complimentary alterations come with every commission. Domestic cloth takes four to six weeks, imported Italian or English six to eight. The full picture is on bespoke suit cost Los Angeles, and the work itself on custom suits Los Angeles.

Questions we are often asked

How many suits does a man really need?

One if he wears a suit twice a year, two if once a week, three or four if most days, and a tuxedo on top if black tie comes round. Underneath those numbers is one rule: every suit wants a day of rest between wears, so your week sets the floor.

Is it better to buy one good suit or three cheap ones?

One, almost always. Three suits that fit badly give you three garments you avoid. One cut from your own pattern gets worn, and can be altered free for a year.

What colour should my first suit be?

Navy, mid weight, plain or close to it. It covers more occasions than any other suit and does not announce itself. Mid grey second, charcoal third.

Do I need a three-piece?

Not for a first suit. A waistcoat makes the suit more formal, which means fewer occasions rather than more. A good second or third commission, and adds $250.

Why order two pairs of trousers with one suit?

Because trousers wear out long before the jacket, and when they go the suit goes with them. A second pair rotated from the start nearly doubles the life of the suit, for $450.

How long should a bespoke suit last?

Far longer than one off the peg, and most of the difference is in how it is treated. Rest it a day between wears, brush it, and press rather than clean it. We keep your pattern, so a trouser can be replaced later.

Come and be measured

Twenty minutes with the cloth open tells you more about which suit to order first than any amount of reading. The consultation runs an hour and costs nothing, with Robb or with Ben, at 221 Culver Blvd in Playa del Rey. Nothing is ordered on the day unless you want it to be.

You can book a fitting, choose an appointment time, or call 310-503-3592. How the process runs is on bespoke suits Los Angeles.