How many suits do you own?

[Hats Matter]

I am retired and thus no longer have to wear a suit or sport coat and slacks every day. I also periodically purge the wardrobe and acquire new clothes. None are vintage, all clothes are modern and made to measure from Italian designers. I have a weakness in a couple of areas and have overindulged. Keep in mind that the wardrobe was purchased over many years and the clothes are so well made that can remain fresh for a long time.

8 suits
10 sports coats
16 pair of slacks of which 8 are denim jeans
3 rain coats 1 of which is a trench coat
5 overcoats
2 car coats
3 leather coats
1 leather bomber jacket
2 casual coats
18 hats (2 Milan, 3 Panamas) the rest fedoras
15 shirts
35 pair of shoes (I counted the number of shoes because I have 2 additional pair being made and I thought I may have let this get out of control)

 

[Mathematicus]

I see that many other people are mentioning overcoats and shirts. In that respect I have to add that, plus the 10 forementioned suits, I own:
- 10 shirts (of which 6 are white with double cuffs, the only kind of shirt I wear with suits; the rest are more casual, cream, sky-blue or striped)
- 5 pairs of odd trousers (black, gray, brown, charcoal and glen-check)
- a dozen of ties, mostly vintage but nothing flashy
- 2 overcoats, a greenish grey and a black one (the latter being very very well worn)
- 1 parka-style outerwear-garment (I don't know how to call it) which I only wear when I'm on holidays and it's really cold or when it's raining exceptionally heavily
- 4 pair of shoes (2 winter, 1 lighter and 1 loafers) and a pair of black dress boots
- 5-6 pairs of chinos, mostly remaining from my high-school days, that I seldom wear
- too many sweaters. I have to get rid of most of them as I don't wear them except on weekends.

 

[KILO NOVEMBER]

Summer or Winter?

 

[Jeremy T Garner]

12 suits
18 sport coats
14 dress slacks
10 pair dress shoes (23 total with casual shoes and boots)

 

[super17]

3 suits black,navy, grey
2 shoes black and brown
2 overcoat
1 sport jacket
6 ties....

more than i actually need to be honest!

 

[HanauMan]

I own one suit which I bought as a wedding suit twenty years or so ago.

It is a blue single breasted linen suit made in Italy which I bought in Austin Reed, a British fashion chain which, I believe, no longer exists. It replaced a god-awful green nylon (or whatever man made material) double breasted suit.

It has served me well for job interviews, weddings, funerals, classical concert going and other occasional outings when I had to look smart. With it I have two ties, a yellow tie with blue accents and a blue tie with yellow accents.

 

[Jaxenro]

I am in the process of weeding out the old and in with the new so currently 4 suits and 7 or 8 blazers most being new made Brooks Brothers of course

 

[OldStrummer]

The last time I wore a suit to work I was threatened with having my tie cut off.

 

[Jaxenro]

I work from home so I don’t wear a tie

I have been upgrading my wardrobe just for my own enjoyment not any work needs

 

[Mathematicus]

The last time I wore a suit to work I was threatened with having my tie cut off.

This is what I'd call "antisocial behaviour".

 

[MondoFW]

As of now, I own only two suits, both of which were my grandfather's. One is Brooks Brothers (unknown date, likely 80s) and the other is an Anderson & Sheppard 3-piece from 1985. I have a couple nice sports coats, and have recently ordered more.

 

[Eamonsieur]

The last time I wore a suit to work I was threatened with having my tie cut off.

Do you work around lathes or heavy rotary machinery that can take your fingers off?

 

[fabiovenhorst]

I do own 10 suits, 3 dinner suits (db, sb peak lapel, sb shawl collar), 1 tailcoat, 3 overcoats, 1 trenchcoat, 22 dress shirts, four casual shirts, 2 leather jackets, 2 sport coats, 2 blazers. 10 pairs of shoes, 2 boots and 20 hats.

 

[OldStrummer]

Do you work around lathes or heavy rotary machinery that can take your fingers off?

No. The president of the company had a habit of walking around the office wearing a crewneck sweater, jeans and stocking feet. He threatened to cut off my tie if I wore one the next day...

 

[Mathematicus]

No. The president of the company had a habit of walking around the office wearing a crewneck sweater, jeans and stocking feet. He threatened to cut off my tie if I wore one the next day...

This is a behaviour that really gets on my nerves. It starts from the aim to get everyone comfortable without being judged by what they wear, but like all of this bullshit gets contradicted with itself in the moment it is applied to someone who likes to wear suits.

They will advertise "you can wear whatever you want" but as soon as they see you with a tie (legitimately applying their statement) they start moaning, say that your "formality" makes other feeling inappropriate and pretend that you are acting as arrogant and presumptuous.

Fortunately I have never been harassed in that way, but at first some people were confused why I would wear a shirt (!) every day and even suit and tie 3 days a week. Why can't I be confused about the guy wearing shorts and waking barefeet all the day (even when lecturing)?

 

[Eamonsieur]

No. The president of the company had a habit of walking around the office wearing a crewneck sweater, jeans and stocking feet. He threatened to cut off my tie if I wore one the next day...

Ohh... Threatening to cut your tie would make sense if it was an OSHA violation, but that is just plain rude.

 

[Jaxenro]

Sometimes I get some good natured teasing at church because I dress better than 95% of everyone else. The average is jeans, some of the men wear sweater vests and ties, if their teaching a class, and the pastor wears a suit. So if I show up in a blazer and maybe grey flannel pants I hear it. What I usually do when I hear it is tick it up a notch the next week. Maybe add in a French cuffed shirt and silk tie. Better shoes. A higher quality blazer. It’s all in fun though.

I’ve been holding my suits in reserve I have a couple of Brooks Brothers Golden Fleece full canvas suits with custom shirts, cufflinks, repp ties, and black leather oxfords to show them what getting dressed up really means.

The thing is my version of dress down is their version of dress up

 

[Red Leader]

Wow, I started this thread 6 years ago and here we are.

My philosophy has changed a lot in the last 6 years.

I used to be more of an opportunist, but now I am very much a pragmatist, with the occasional fleeting, yet purposeful, indulgent purchase.

I used to buy up anything vintage I saw. Then, I stopped looking for a long time (who knows how many things I missed! Ha!) and went through a bit of a minimalist phase and sold of about 80% of my collection, of which about 80% didn't really fit me very well, including some very nice items like a teal 50s suit, a nice 30s black beltback jacket, etc. Looking back, no regrets - the stuff didn't fit and I'm happy to see someone else enjoying it.

I've started to get re-interested in vintage wear, although my work does not require it. It was fun - and I loved the hunt. I'm trying to be much more purposeful in what I acquire. In the last couple of weeks, I found a very nice mid-1960s 2 piece dark gray suit which fits me extremely well and has that very nice 60s flair, with slim pants and slightly boxy (but still great fitting) jacket with the thin lapels, in great condition (with one very tiny moth nip). Then a few days ago I decided to stop at a local goodwill and found a 1937-Harris Tweed tagged tan tweed patch pocket sportcoat (probably mid to late 1940s). It has a date in it, but is illegible. I'm guessing 1948. My size, so arms, shoulders, etc were good. It was a little roomy in the waist area, so I took those seams in and now it fits killer. Re-sewed the middle button and now we're good to go. A $3 purchase that most would have considered a throwaway. Its a gem.

Right now, my current wardrobe consists of:

1x white dress shirt (ill fitting, too big)
1x black dress shirt
1950s grey pinstripe pants (German)
2x prewar blue pinstripe SB notch lapel 3-piece suits (one with a date of Sept 1941)
1x 1960s 2-piece gray SB notch lapel suit
3 pairs of shoes (2 black, goodyear welt), and one pair of spectators
1x 1940s overcoat (probably the finest bit of menswear I've ever handled!)
1x Navy issued peacoat
4x fedoras (1 grey, 1 tan, 2 brown, all but 1 is vintage)
1x panama hat
about 6-8 ties
1 brown leather belt (will need a black one soon)

I am slowly trying to replace the ill fitting items with better ones that come up. Regarding dress shirts, I probably just need to spend the coin and find a really nice modern interpretation of a vintage style. I fear that if I wear only a vintage dress shirt for more than formal occasions, I'll eventually wear it out or ruin it. For that reason, I also have some 'down and dirty' modern dress slacks, for putting more wear and tear on them than the vintage items. I like wearing vintage for special occasions or when I know the work duties will be light and I have access to a spare set of clothes (to wear if I need to get under the vehicle, etc).

I'm having too much fun to stop the hunt cold, but I'm being more honest with myself about what is realistic now. I won't touch any 50s-60s suit jackets by themselves unless it is just a unique, killer item. I collected far too many of those in the past. I also won't pickup anything that is not in my size unless it is a very, very special, rare, unique item (like an NRA label, or anything 1930s) - I know that if can't use it, rather save it and pass it on to someone who can. If it is something for me...arms have to be the right length, because those are too costly to alter. If it has a few moth nips (like the tweed I just pick up), I look at that now more as part of its story. How cool to give these 70+ year old clothes a 2nd lease on life, imperfections and all? Adds to the character. If it is glaring, I'll consider a repair before wearing.

Its fun being back in the game, and saving old vintage clothes from the 'glue-sequins-on-for-Halloween-costumes' fate