How to Find the Perfect Suit

The epitome of the perfect suit is a bespoke suit from London’s Saville Row, a type of suit that has added style to spies like James Bond and Kingsmen for decades.

If you find yourself wondering how to find the perfect suit, you are at the right place! With Suit Up! Tailors, you don’t have to spend thousands of dollars on a custom-made suit to get something stylish and comfortable. Let’s look at how buying custom suits online in Canada can get you a great-looking, great-fitting suit.

How to Find the Perfect Suit?

Choose the Right Color!

One of the most fundamental decisions you need to make when buying men’s suits is the color. Suits come in various colors, from conservative grays and navy blues to more overstated options.

Which color to choose depends partly on where you’re going to be wearing the suit and partly on how many suits you own. If you only own one or two suits, you’re better off sticking with more timeless colors and designs, especially if you wear suits regularly.

If you choose a more memorable color or design, people will notice if you wear the same suit very often. That’s not the case with more understated options.

If you’re just starting to build your wardrobe, we suggest picking up suits in the following order:

1. Charcoal gray
2. Navy blue
3. Pinstriped or plaid
4. Black
5. Anything else

Charcoal and navy suits pair well with lots of colors so you can mix things up with your choice of tie, shirt, pocket square, and socks. They not too memorable though which lets you wear them often without people noticing.

Patterned suits add some flair to your look but they’re more memorable to people around you so they’re not a good choice if you have a limited wardrobe and wear a suit regularly.

Black suits don’t look good in the light of day so they’re best kept to nighttime and appropriate events like a funeral. Pair them with a white shirt and tie for a more somber look or go with a black or patterned shirt collar for something more stylish.

Once you have the foundational suits looked after, the sky’s the limit. Seersucker, cotton, linen, and tweed are all on the table at this point.

Single-Breasted or Double-Breasted?

If you are wondering how to find the perfect suit, the first choice you’ll have to make when choosing a suit is whether to go with a single- or double-breasted design. If this is your first or second suit, you’re best to go with a single-breasted design. This is a timeless style that will look current for years to come, regardless of what styles are in fashion at the time.

Double-breasted suits tend to get caught up in the current styles a bit more so they can end up looking out-of-date. For example, the padded shoulders and baggy fits of the 1980s double-breasted designs look completely out of place today.

If you’ve already got a couple of suits in your closet and you’re looking for something a bit different, double-breasted can be a good choice but make sure you go with a slim-fitting suit with no shoulder pads.

How a Suit Should Fit

The secret to how to find the perfect suit lies in its fit. It doesn’t matter how stylish a suit is if it doesn’t fit you well. A well-fitting $500 suit will look better than a poorly-fitted $5000 suit on most guys.

Getting a proper fit from the jacket is more challenging than the pants since there are more things to consider.

First, the shoulders and jacket sleeves should fit like a glove. The suit’s shoulder seam should extend right to the outside of your shoulder but no further. Otherwise, the shoulders will sag and a tailor can’t fix this easily.

The sleeve length is important as well. When your hands are at your sides, you should be able to cup your fingers over the bottom hem of the sleeves. The sleeves should follow the lines of your arms and show about a half-inch of shirt cuff. A tailor can shorten the sleeves so don’t worry if they’re a little longer than necessary.

A lot of guys overestimate their jacket size and end up with a suit that’s too big. You don’t want it to be skin-tight but being too big is almost as bad. When trying on suit jackets, try a size or two below what you think you wear until you get to one that’s clearly too small. At that point, one size up is likely the right fit.

With the jacket buttoned, slip your thumb between the button and your stomach. It should be snug. If it’s too tight to slide your thumb in between, try the next size up. If it’s a loose fit, it might be too big but your tailor might also be able to make adjustments if the rest of the jacket fits well.

Choices to Make in Jacket Styles

It’s not only the fit of the jacket, but also some styling options. The most obvious is the number of buttons. You can choose from either 2 or 3 button designs but in most cases, 2 is the best.

More than 3 buttons isn’t a good idea as it can look awkward and will likely go out of style quickly. Even 3 buttons is pushing it, especially if you’re buying your first or second suit. Stick with something more timeless and go for a 2-button suit style.

How to find the perfect suit? Lapels are another way to mix things up a bit. You can choose from peak lapels or notch lapels. Peak lapels point up and out toward your shoulder while notch lapels are what they sound like – a simple notch.

Peak lapels are a bit flashier than notch lapels but this is something that comes down to your personal preference in most cases.

Look for moderately narrow lapels either way. Wide lapels give you a more aggressive look and skinny lapels don’t look good on most guys’ frames. Stick with something in between if you want your suit to look stylish for years to come.

Off-the-Rack vs Custom Made Suits in Ottawa

You’ll rarely, if ever, find a perfect fit with an off-the-rack suit. They’re made to fit a range of people who fall into a particular size range so you can get close but not exactly the right fit.

If you decide to buy a suit off the rack, expect to need some tailoring to make it fit well. Don’t cut corners here though. The difference between a suit that fits well and a suit that almost fits is immediately obvious to everyone around you.

If you want the answer to how to find the perfect suit, your best choice is a custom-made suit. You’ll get a suit that’s made to your measurements plus you can customize things like the fabric, lining, color, and various other features.

Where to Buy Custom Suits Online in Canada

How to find the perfect suit? Get it custom tailored! Suit Up! offers custom suits online in Canada so you can get a great-fitting suit designed exactly the way you want.

Book your appointment today to get started.

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