The Clothes Make the Man

My sister is getting married in a couple of months and my wardrobe needed a makeover so it was the perfect opportunity to go clothes shopping.  First order of business was a new suit.  I was married in 2005 and that suit served me well until last fall.  I was getting ready for a wedding and the suit did not fit.  I had slowly put on about 15# over the intervening 12 years and the last 5# put me over the edge.  I ran to Goodwill and got a close enough suit for that event.  With some time to prepare, I sought out a family friend to get a custom tailored suit.  A classic charcoal grey multi-purpose suit.

I also needed a shirt and tie and headed to Nordstrom as I am not in tough with men's fashion anymore.  I opted for a David Donahue double weave white shirt and a Nordstrom tie.

Next order of business was a trendy casual outfit for the rehearsal dinner.  I was planning on wearing my Ariat jeans and Banana Republic shirt and was only planning on buying a sport coat.

Next thing I know I tried on a pair of AG (Adriano Goldschmeid) jeans.  The Everett slim straight were the most comfortable pants I had ever tried on.  Even with the 30% off Anniversary sale, they were incredibly expensive, but I had to have them.

Finally I moved on to the sport coat.  The Peter Millar classic fit suit was the best fit for me considering my new found abdominal girth.  While I only need the jacket, it was sold as a full suit and the light charcoal is apparently acceptable for trendy casual.  My sales associate Roland was on summer break for Boston College and seemed in tune with current trends and adapted them to my personal tastes.

Given my prodigious spending, I opted to open a Nordstrom account which comes with some nice perks including $100 in free tailoring annually.

All said and done, I spent a little bit more than I had planned, but am set up well with a very functional and versatile wardrobe for the next decade.