The Vibe Credit Union Showplace is 580,000 square feet on 55 acres off I-96, and when a show is in, the people working the booths are on that floor from open to close for three days. A suit for a desk gets judged sitting down. A suit for a show floor gets judged standing, because standing is all it’ll ever do.
Standing changes the fit
Standing all day, the trousers matter more than the jacket. A rise that sits at the waist stays put without a belt fighting it; a hem that breaks once on the shoe doesn’t drag on concrete. Tell the consultant the suit is for a show floor and he fits the trousers first.
Cloth that survives day three
An Everyday Classic, $139 to $159, holds a press through three days without a hotel iron. If the booth is the company’s face for the year, Signature Wool, $259 to $299, breathes better under show lights and still looks pressed at five. Bring two shirts a day; nobody notices the suit is the same, everyone notices a collar that isn’t.
Before the show
Come in the week before, or sooner. Roman, master tailor at Lincoln Tailor, on site in our store, can often do a hem while you wait, and he’ll say which of the rest he can’t; for those he quotes the job and confirms the completion date before he starts, and the earlier you come, the easier that date is to meet before the show opens.
Also for Novi: The First Ninety Days at a Novi Headquarters. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
