New Job - New Wardrobe - Help!

[Guy]

Don't wear a watch. You will look like an idiot. No one wears watches anymor,e everyone has phones

Yes because there's nothing more professional than seeing people have to fumble around for a phone to check the time...

I've got a few nothing too fancy, certainly not in the BSOD Mike range!

Certainly plenty of watches on the vast number of sites and places I'm in and out of.

Suit wise I've tried a few and never been that happy with the end results, either the fit isn't as good as I'd hoped or they wear out far too quickly.
Currently giving SuitSupply a go, and first impressions are good. A little pricier than off the shelf Moss/Debenhams/Slatters but not quite the full £££ that fully tailored costs. A happy medium! The alteration prices aren't too steep either and with both an online and physical retail presence quite easy to get hold of.

Shirts are another matter. TM Lewin always seem to be doing a 4 or 5 for £100 offer which would sort you out for a working week.

[Brian224]

If you fancy something "techie" watch-wise, why not go vintage? Nothing says futuristic like an Accutron Spaceview, and if anybody notices you could let them listen to the hum.

[TheAnimus]

I'm always concerned with places that do tailored mail order or similar thing. The fitting is the most important part, the difference between an off the peg, and made to measure without fittings is nill, in fact having a choice of sizes on the peg can lead to better results.

My record number of fittings for a suit is 7, the minimum with a tailor who's been making for me for 5 years, is two. If you are paying tailored money, you should get the result, the quality of the fit and how it hangs of you, is the premium in tailoring, not the materials.

Most of the fabrics are a con anyway, the markup is huge, and you don't really want a 100% cashmere suit as the damned thing will loose it's shape after little more than a gust of wind, regardless of how good the lining is, or whatever they named the weave.

For every day you want to get a good fabric, which probably has a fairly high synthetic component, however, if done well you won't tell it by feeling it alone, hell you'd have to burn a scrap of it to really see how it's blended.

Dry cleaning or Machine washing kills suits. They never look as good after having such harsh things. The best thing is to gently sponge them, let them air dry gently. However, shape will always change after many of these. So a couple of good tips, #1 don't be a smoker. #2 buy two trousers for every jacket. #3 have a range of suits.

The last one is important, I had "Thursday" suits as that appeared to be the traditional pissup day. No point wearing a good suit for such a thing, a more synthetic type will fair better. If you wear a jacket to work, you probably won't wear it at the desk. Hanging it properly will determine how well it holds it's shape.

Overcoats are great. Overcoats can often substitute the Jacket for most "smart" office environments. Every overcoat I've ever had appears to have the ability to harbour a tramp, bodily fluids and all without showing any sign of this on the outside!

Shirts are a bit different. Good quality Egyptian cotton makes a world of difference, a nice weave is far more noticeable than just a dye pattern, even at a distance, more so when next to someone with a good quality cotton weave shirt. Shirts that are non-iron normally look a bit ****. A good washing machine and drying process (ie on hangers!) will help reduce the ironing. If the job you are doing pays enough to easily afford a cleaner, or your aspirational job does, then damned well don't wear them. Besides, it's only like 20 min of watching TV to iron and starch 5 shirts to military standard. For me the biggest annoyance is the collar bones, the little bit of plastic (or fancy stuff if you are fancy) that help give the collar it's straight edge. Keeping those matched to the right shirt is a loosing battle for me.

Cuff links, this is normally a personal preference thing, myself I much prefer double cuffed (the ones that need cuff links) shirts when typing. This is no doubt due to my preference of keyboard rests and position. I think I've only ever bought one pair of cuff-links myself, the others have all been gifts!

Shoes... This is a hard one, because all of us are different when it comes to that, but when dealing with women the first thing they look at appears to be shoes. Whilst obviously you will want more than one pair, you have to remember that then carries through to belt, wallet and if being smart watch too. One of the advantages of stainless steel watches is they go with both. I'd recommend Echo as brand for commuting in, they are robust, un-assuming, and last a bloody long time. However they certainly aren't very smart. But like everything else, it's better to have grades, some very smart, some every-day smart, some were-all-going-to-the-pub smart.

[Top_gun]

Tailored suits are good for those who have a flabby body or oddly shaped as the Tailor main aim is all about disguising these imperfections. Most people who are physically fit could get away with an off the peg suit and then taking it to a tailor for customisation, ie shortening sleeve or trousers.

[OilSheikh]

You're welcome to an opinion but don't call me an idiot for wearing a watch.

I apologize, my remarks were certainty not directed at you and in fact, I made the remark even before I read your post.

[OilSheikh]

better not tell that to BSODMike

And turning your back on the original, most iconic items of wearable technology? Ludditeism!

Reminds me of "The internship" movie , which was based in Google. Owen Wilson and another guy were watch sellers and they got fired as the market had dried up.

Come to think of it, I have 2 x Casios
> used to wear it in primary school



and for my wedding, I got a Tissot gold plated watch
and for my birthday, Mrs. gave me a Turkish Armani watch

and they are all gathering dust

[Moby-Dick]

Shirt wise I've become a bit of a fan of the Charles Tyrwhitt shirts - they fit well and if you catch one of their ( very frequent ) sales , they are pretty well priced.
Trouser wise , there is a bit of logic in getting something machine washable , or it'll mean a lot of dry cleaning visits.

Watch wise, I personally keep it subtle with a Skagen rather than something that makes me look like Ben10

[GoNz0]

I apologize, my remarks were certainty not directed at you and in fact, I made the remark even before I read your post.

I know they were not directed at me, just the entire watch wearing population