Our floor has three tiers: $139 to $159, $259 to $299, and $300 to $500. Men compare those numbers against each other, and that’s the wrong comparison. The number that decides whether a purchase was sensible is the price divided by the number of wearings, and that second figure varies enormously between two men buying the same suit.
The four-times-a-year man
Weddings, a funeral, one work occasion. Over ten years, forty wearings. On that arithmetic the entry tier is entirely defensible, and the middle tier is a reasonable indulgence rather than something he needs.
The twice-a-week man
A hundred wearings a year, a thousand over a decade. Here the calculation inverts completely: the construction of the more expensive tiers is what survives that volume, and the cheap suit is the false economy.
Which means the honest question is about your calendar
Not your budget. Tell the consultant roughly how often the suit will be worn and the tier follows from that, which is a conversation nobody on commission has any reason to have.
Also for Sterling Heights: I-696 West, and the One Thing Worth Driving For. More on style consulting, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
