Novi is where companies keep their headquarters; ITC Holdings is one of them. A man who’s just started at one has a suit problem the interview didn’t have. The interview was one day. The first ninety days are sixty-odd mornings in a suit, and one suit worn sixty times in a quarter tells everyone exactly how many suits he owns.
Two suits, not one better one
The instinct is to buy one good suit. The better move at ninety days is two: a navy and a charcoal, alternated, so each one rests a day and neither one gets the bagged knees of a suit worn on consecutive mornings. Two Signature Wools, $259 to $299 each, cover a quarter. One half-canvassed suit at $500 worn every day doesn’t.
What the office actually reads
Not the label. The collar, the sleeve length, and whether the trousers break clean on the shoe. Those three are fit. The consultant checks them at the mirror and Roman, master tailor at Lincoln Tailor, on site in our store, sets the two that need a needle, and together they’re the difference between a suit that reads as his and one that reads as issued.
Day ninety-one
By then he knows the building, the dress of the floor above him, and whether the job is one he’s keeping. That’s the day for the third suit, and that’s the one worth spending on.
Also for Novi: Twelve Oaks Has Over 185 Stores, and One Size of You. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
