Here’s why buying your first suit isn’t at hard as you think

Suit buying is a lot easier than it used to be.Getty/Andreas Rentz

Many men put off buying their first suit.

They often do this out of fear. Fear of not knowing where to go to buy it, of not knowing what to buy, and of not knowing how to get it tailored.

I, myself, at the tender age of 25, just bought my first real suit. I put it off for years because of that same fear, and because I was able to get away with it in today’s more casual environments.

But I couldn’t get away with it any longer. It was time to grow up and face my fears.

To my surprise, there wasn’t any pain in the process. Truly, the expedience of buying the garment – a navy blue number from Suitsupply — was probably one of the easiest larger purchases I’ve made.

Suiting startups like Suitsupply, Indochino, and countless others have brought to the masses the expertise and quality usually reserved for the pricier places, fully changing the suit-buying game. While on first glance this seems to be filled with gimmicks (do you really need to be offered a latte while you shop?), it actually completely changes the buying experience in subtle ways so that it’s easier to look your best.

The biggest difference is that the salespeople actually know suits. It’s all they do. This isn’t the suit section of your local department store trying to move as much stodgy product as possible. These are knowledgeable salespeople hawking high-quality, modern-styled merchandise.

Getty Images/Mark Davis

Guys are often anxious because they don’t know much about suits before buying their first one. This expertise will put your mind at ease.

Don’t know your suit size? Don’t stress — they can eyeball it for you, and have you try on two sizes for comparison. Don’t know what kind of suit to buy? Explain where you’ll be wearing it, and they’ll put forth multiple options in a budget you give them. Don’t know what kind of tailoring needs to be done? After you purchase the suit, they’ll typically suggest some alterations that can be done in a few days (or while you wait) by in-house staff for a small fee.

It helps that the suits themselves are foolproof. There’s no garment you could pull or stumble across that isn’t modern and on-trend. The selection is carefully curated with an eye for what today’s guys are wearing, in cuts and fits that will be most flattering on him.

Since I researched a bit online and in-store, I knew exactly what I wanted when it came time to purchase. I was in and out in less than 30 minutes, including sitting for extensive alterations. If I had know it was as easy as that, I would have done it a long time ago.