Dos and Don'ts of second hand suits?
Looking for my first suit, looking to spend 300$.
Looking a previous discussions second hand suits is probably the way to go.
What should I be looking out for when buying second hand? Brands?
What sites should I be on? I've looked on eBay and Poshmark so far.
Need it in about 4 weeks.
6 Replies
You can get a new spier one at that price point and get in in about 2 weeks
And not potentially waste money and time on something that might be garbo if youre not skilled at secondhand shopping
I think their cheapest line is like sub $200? Which leaves you money for alterations
I think Spier and Mackay red label is $300, not $200. And you will need to pay for alterations on top of that.
4 weeks is not a lot of time to find a suit on a budget. Secondhand will be hard if you don't already have experience with it.
It's a lot easier to buy a secondhand suit if you already have a suit (or at least a blazer) that fits that you can take measurements from.
Ah damn yeah my bad. Looks like there's $50 off sale on them now though
But ya, second everything ferrell says.
Probably best to just walk into a menswearhouse and see what they have at this point
Third hail mary option would be to spend an entire day hitting as many goodwills and second hand stores as possible to try things on in person
You best bet would be looking for suits that need only minor alterations like sleeves shortened, pants hemmed, waist let in/out
That's probably ball park $75 of alterations if you had to do all three
@Turlbot @jfarrell468 thanks for the info.
I was looking into spier but the only issue is red label suits are tailored fit? I've seen a few times on here that the fit was too slim, and recommended contemporary?
I'm not sure on that label. There is contemporary on others. The jackets, IMO, fit great but the trousers are too slim- for me. They may work for some folks but it's generally agreed that even the contemporary trousers are too tapered.
Spier has pretty detailed measurements. I've found that the waist size can be a bit off sometimes, but that's a pretty easy fix if you're taking it to a tailor anyway. Take a peek at the measurement charts and see if it makes sense for you.
If you just need the pants hemmed and potentially waist enlarged/reduced slightly, and maybe the jacket sleeves shortened — that's pretty quick. Most tailors can turn that around within a day or two if you ask nicely or pay a rush fee.