The suit has always been a sharp and essential item in a man’s work attire, but with so many updates in what constitutes appropriate and attractive fashion, every gentleman could use a refresher on the when, what and hows of a suit in the workplace.

Modern day has broken down nearly every fashion rule and norm from the past. In the 1950’s men would wear a suit to work, church, and dates with the ladies. Even in the 80’s, my father would put on a suit every morning before going in to his office at IBM. Today, still at work in the technology industry, he presently sports a polo and some chinos.

Work appropriate clothing became so relaxed, the term ‘business casual’ was coined and is now the most common form of dress in the work force. However, its popularity does not mean the suit is outdated, just infrequent in its appearance.

A suit is most appropriate on CEOs of sizable companies, lawyers, bankers, city officials, and directors that deal with large groups of people or clients on a day-to-day basis. Most with the modern touch of no tie.

The tie comes into play when a businessman needs to impress. This could be for a job interview, a meeting with a new client, a conservative work event, a lecture to a cluster of employees, when making a public appearance, or perhaps the quarterly update with investors. The goal of the suit and tie is seriousness. Particularly in this day and age when casual attire is widely accepted, the addition of the tie means business.

The appropriate shirt to go with a suit, whether you have a tie or not, is still a long sleeve, collared button front. That means no polo or t-shirt. Although it has become quite fashion forward to wear a t-shirt with a blazer and jeans on the weekends, wearing a t-shirt with a suit during the work week looks like you have walked off the set of Miami Vice, therefore inappropriate for job wear.

When a man walks into a room his appearance will speak before he does. In business a chap’s exterior needs to say four keys things about him: confident, intelligent, efficient and trustworthy. An ill-fitting suit can ruin this all. A sloppy suit will distract every audience and slaughter a first impression.

When picking out a jacket a single breasted, two-button look is the most modern. Three button also works, especially with taller men, but in general steer clear of the double-breasted. To check the fit of the suit’s chest, button the jacket fully and see if your fist fits inside. If it doesn’t the jacket is too small. If your fist has a lot of legroom, it is too big. As for the length of the jacket it should hit a bit below your crotch.

The shoulders of the jacket should have light padding that ends when the natural shoulder begins to slope to the arm. Then the sleeves should end about an inch past the wrist and allow the shirt cuff to show about a half inch.

The fit of the trousers can be some work. When buying a suit the ratio between the chest size of the jacket and the waist of the pant is normally six inches. For the many that don’t reside in the average size of clothes, you may need to see a talented tailor to get the fit you desire.

When wearing your pants you should be able to fit two fingers in your waist. Pay attention to the seat (crotch) of the pants and the amount of the fabric around the thighs. You want a smooth fit. You don’t want a low crotch and spacey pants, nor do you want a noticeable tight fit. On the topic of pleats, none is most modern, but still popular in older or conservative crowds.

The length of the pants in the back should rest a half-inch above the ground while wearing your dress shoes. This will create a smooth and single break in the front of your pants. Once again no cuff is modern, but most conservative or older folk will sport the cuff with no shame.

The overall fit can be easily tested by seeing if you can you move your arms freely, bend over and sit down. You need to be able to go about your day with ease without swimming in the folds of that fine suit.

When talking about the color of your suit you can always fall back on the basic black. For a little edge try looking for black on black stripe. You can also go a little more fashionable with some thin, dotted colored stripes on your black suit. Think red, blue or green pinstripes. Charcoal grey and light grey are other gorgeous choices for a suit. To add a modern touch, pick up a suit that has some texture to it.

Keep in mind though, no matter the style, no matter the color, even though it is true that the “suit makes the man,” it is the man that makes the choice of suit and hires the tailor.

by Vanessa Valiente

Vanessa Valiente is a noted costume designer for cinema,television, and stage.

Her credits include the series, “FashionHouse”.She has been a personal stylist for many Hollywood celebrities and currently a costumer for the CBS series,”EX-List”.

Her fashion blog for men and women is www.v-style.typepad.com.Her website is http://www.vanessavaliente.com/home.html

See her movie credits on the internet movie database at
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2378827/