How to make a high street suit look a million dollars

Sartorially inclined and well dressed doesn’t have to mean destitute or poor. A bespoke suit may look second to none, but living beyond your means is never a great look. Unfortunately, the majority of us can’t frequent Savile Row on the regular and high street tailoring is as far as the budget will stretch. Off-the-rack however, doesn’t have to equate to oversized, cumbersome, shiny suits; it’s entirely possible to pull together a look that is easy on the wallet and even easier on the eye.

The saving grace of any good suit, or damning tether of any abhorrent one, is the material. If it’s shiny there’s just no recovery, the unmistakable appearance of polyester a swift sartorial sinker. Shop shrewd in every way, check the labels, look for something that has a degree of natural fibres – wool or cotton depending on the season – and opt for something as natural looking as possible, just nothing shiny.

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There are certain aspects of a suit that any remotely knowledgable tailor or seamstress can rectify in terms of fit, the simplest being the chest and trouser hems. The key is to get the right fit in the shoulders in the jacket and the waist on the trousers, with these two in place everything else can be moulded separately, although at a cost. If you need to buy a bigger chest size to get the perfect fit in the shoulders. That perfect fit entails the shoulders laying flat with the seam ending at your natural shoulder.

Finding a tailor you trust wholeheartedly can be the tricky part. Go by recommendation if possible and once you’ve found a good one, never let them go. They’ll easily become the second most important person in your life, behind your barber that is.

Consider every single detail. Accessories, ticket pockets, the half inch of shirt cuff that should be peaking out from your sleeve. Everything. If the buttons are cheap looking, prepared to have them replaced, if it has elbow patches sewn in, as has been a recent trend, look for something that comes with natural elbows intact. The more you obsess about getting the little things right, the better the bigger picture will look in the end.

Following on from that, ensure you yourself are in good nick when the time comes to suit up. Hair perfectly coiffed, tie knot proportioned to shirt collar and lapel, shirt ironed, shoes polished – all of these things will make a difference to how the suit looks. Very often it’s not just about the suit, but the gentleman wearing it. Come correct in every department and the fact your tailoring cost potentially 10% of the man next to you won’t figure in the minds of everyone around.

Finally, learn how to wear a suit. It’s a fine art that unfortunately isn’t as simple as pulling on a jacket and trousers over a shirt and a pair of pants – if only. Stop buttoning up every single button on your jacket or mismatching your leather accessories. For a full catalogue of catastrophes, read our article on the most common mistakes men make when wearing a suit for a full primer.

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