The Well Dressed Coder (opens in new tab)

I think the focus on suits does a huge disservice to menswear and this is coming from someone who is something of a menswear fanatic. Suits are uncomfortable and expensive. They are difficult to size correctly. They have some weird connotations. Avoid them unless the dress code requires it. I moderated a men's fashion community for a while and a lot of men would approach the idea, get super psyched, go out and buy a suit (without bothering to size it correctly), wear it in an environment where it was entirely inappropriate, and burn out and go back to cargo shorts and never dress up again.

Men, you can be well dressed without wearing a suit. A nice pair of fitted dark jeans with a nice pair of brown dress shoes or loafers and an white or light blue dress shirt looks really good in a lot of situations, can be surprisingly comfortable, and can be dressed up with a jacket if necessary. You don't have to go full suit, you don't have to wear a tie, and you don't have to become an insufferable "sartorialist".

Its not hard either. Pile of white shirts and three pairs of jeans vs pile of t shirts and three pairs of cargo shorts. not much of a difference.

Some random pointers from a guy who had a rough transition into needing to wear a tie every day:

1. Leave money in your clothing budget for alteration. A nice pair of pants with a bunch of fabric balled up around your ankles does not look like a nice pair of pants. Get something less expensive and alter it.

2. Grey pants match damn near anything. If you ask the cleaners, they'll press out the crease that runs down the legs and look a lot less "fussy."

3. Gross generalization, but $150 shoes last more than twice as long as $75 shoes. Hit up somewhere like Nordstrom Rack for good shoes. Same principal applies to belts.

4. If you buy a suit, avoid the current style of really skinny lapels and too-short sleeves and pants because it's going to look dated fast. Get a grey or blue two button suit, which is pretty versatile. Avoid big or padded shoulders, giant arm holes. Consider vents on each side ("double vented") rather than one vent in back which apparntly was designed for sitting in a saddle. And for god's sake don't buy a jacket you can't button comfortably. Then get it altered.

5. Don't feel compelled to use those little plastic collar points.

6. Plain shirt? Patterned tie. Or vice versa. Of you need to mix patterns, mix a large one with a different small one, but avoid this unless/until you know what you are doing. If you wear a tie, strongly consider a jacket.

You _don't_ need to wear a suit to be well dressed. A nice, properly fitting shirt (find a store that fits you best, or try online made-to-measure) and fitting jeans (I love Levi's, personally) can go a really long way. Get a blazer or two, a couple of cool ties if you really want, and you'll be miles ahead than the rest.

(disclaimer: co-founder of Dolbeau, Canadian mens accessory maker)

What about shirts?

I've been having a really hard time finding french cuffs on shirts locally. It would be nice to be able to find great shirts online.

How is this different from indochino.com ?

Having looked at their site (http://7regentlane.com) and indochino (http://indochino.com), I'm a big fan of what these businesses are doing, namely making tailor-made clothing more accessible to those who might otherwise be intimidated by the process. But I'd like to see the business model extended beyond suits and shirts.

What I really want is perfectly fitted jeans, casual shirts, t-shirts, casual coats etc. As much as I'd like to dress smart all the time, the extra time involved in caring for the clothes isn't appealing, nor is the idea of always being overdressed.

An actual tailor is a great idea ! Regardless of where you source your clothes, your views on ties, matching trousers, leather vs rubber soles, etc. Things that fundamentally fit are key.

A tailored suit is like the ferrari as opposed to getting a honda at what would be a Men's Warehouse.

I like the idea and would love to look at the prices but it seems that the site is down. hackernews effect?

I think that's some of the best ad copy I've ever read. It's actually getting me to consider buying one of their suits! (If you knew me, you would know this is an astounding accomplishment. I don't think I've put a suit on in a decade.) Really shows how the low-key approach can work, and the value of knowing your audience.

> They’re comfortable. Compared to my other suits, the custom fitted one isn’t too tight or loose in the wrong areas so I don’t feel awkward and geeky in it.

I can't agree. They're always oppressively hot for me. All those layers! The tie always gets too tight. All this ritual just for appearances when I'm supposed to build for a living.

We've come a long ways since the days of east-coast IBM doing spot checks to make sure that men were wearing garter socks. I'm not doing anything that takes us back to some barbaric past where I get judged solely on looks.

If you want to be a suit, fine. Some people really do look great in them; I'm not one of them. Just don't push it on the rest of us.

I'd say it's always better to be a little over dressed than a little under dressed.

Awesome; nothing like a well dressed man. Being well dressed should never be seen negatively and if you're going to pay more than peanuts for a suit, it should fit well.

Good luck with the venture!

Getting your suits tailored is essential, but please never do it with jeans. The key to jeans it to get them a bit smaller than is comfortable as they will loosen over time. As GQ (or esquire?) said about John Kerry's style choices during the 2004 presidential election season: never trust a man with tailored jeans.

I like wearing suits. But I don't like the effort involved. I may be a slob, but the ease of shorts and a tshirt outweighs almost all benefits of looking good most of the time.