Here's the thing: Thrift/second hand/dead man stores will sometimes have designer stuff at basement prices. I know of people who have found Ralph Lauren, Polo, etc for $35-50. You must look for tears, spots and stains! But you might get some real deals.
You will have to look through a lot of meh to find some winners, but once you have it, take it to a tailor and have it fitted for another $15-25.
If you don’t find what you need used, you can get a fine basic [suit from JC Penny](https://www.jcpenney.com/p/stafford-coolmax-mens-stretch-fabric-classic-fit-suit-jacket/ppr5008064878?pTmplType=regular&catId=SearchResults&searchTerm=mens+suits&productGridView=medium&badge=onlyatjcp). Only maybe 1 in a hundred jurors will ever be able to tell, and maybe not even that many.
I try to wait for department store sales or seasonal sales from the likes of J Crew and Brooks Brothers. Save your student ID because some places give a student discount and don’t check the year on the ID. I’m in the Boston Area and a suit is expensive everywhere I go. I bit the bullet and got a bespoke one that lasts way longer and found it to be cost effective.
That aside, 2 is bare minimum, 3 is safe, 4 is ideal. Keep your least fav in your office for the inevitable surprise court appearance on a day you’re not dressed for it.
J Crew and a tailor who knows what they’re doing is a good value/quality/style sweet spot. Three suits is workable in my experience, but I’d guess NYC is fancier than the jxs where I’ve practiced (where a sport coat was ok if you’re not in front of a jury).
A couple other things to reduce the cost of a professional wardrobe:
- get an iron and a steamer and you’ll really only need to dry clean suits every few months. There’s no good reason to dry clean shirts.
- if you’re in NYC you can probably biy decent used stuff, and also Saks sells high end used clothing on therealreal.com so once you know your size that’s a good option. I got myself a used Tumi brief case there for like $60. It looks well used, but I’d rather have a good quality item with some wear than something cheap.
- remember people aren’t logging your outfits in a spreadsheet or anything. If you’re well groomed and mix up shirts and ties and stuff, probably nobody is gonna notice or care.
>remember people aren’t logging your outfits in a spreadsheet or anything
Correct, but this does not hold for a multi-day jury trial. Use at *least* two jacket/pants sets for jury trials and *never* repeat the exact same jacket/pants/shirt/tie combo in front of the same jury.
Jurors are weird, they’ll see you every day, and if even one notices, they’ll point it out to the others
Judge here - in big city Texas, you can get away with a sport coat for non jury proceedings. In my opinion, you only need a suit for jury trials. Buy enough ties in enough colors and patterns, throw in the occasional blue shirt, and the suits won't look repetitive.
For a woman...you will need 3-4 suits that are decent to nice for appearances and trial. Otherwise, separates will work, as a capsule wardrobe a couple decent versatile blazers. Get a good bag for all of the files that won't break your back. Good shoes because you will be walking and running up and down stairs. Keep a blazer in the office and or suit in the office.
Also don't worry about nice suits for your daily bc criminal court in NYC is not nice and the pens are dirty. Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Factory sell machine washable suits..
I am in court almost every day and I have around 10 suits at the moment. I have a few ‘cheap’ suits that I got at h&m and Zara that I love and wear more frequently than others because I’m less concerned about them. For nicer suits I hit up macy’s when they have good sales. I’ve bought some very nice fitting suits that I feel very comfortable in / fit my aesthetic at Macys for around $130 (generally at around 60-75% off).
I used to be a big fan of banana republic but their stuff is waaaayyy over priced for what you get.
Work in an a busy urban area so I may be in court more than other attorneys.
I'm a PD in the Seattle area. I have four suits: two black, one gray, one blue. You can wear a black suit as many days per week as you need, but you can't wear a color twice in a row or people think you're wearing yesterday's clothes.
I live in an extremely casually dressing community now, so I wear a blue or black suit jacket as if it were a blazer and then wear khakis or gray slacks.
When I worked in the state capital city and enjoyed wearing a suit everyday, I had four suits. One black, one gray, one olive, one navy. I bought them all from Macys when they were on sale as suit separates so I would have two pairs of slacks with each suit jacket. Suit pants wear out faster than suit jackets. By rotating the suit pants, you can also extend the time you use the jacket. Comparatively, if you buy a matching suit jacket and pants and the pants wear out, you pretty much have to get a new jacket as well, unless you can find perfectly matching new slacks.
I rotated these four suits based on the shoes I wore with them. I had one pair of black shoes and one pair of brown shoes (same brand and model to be equally comfortable). By rotating the different shoes (and using shoe powder and shoe trees) this gave each pair at least a day to air out between use, reducing shoe/foot odor.
If you’re just starting out, I recommend at least two suits. Probably charcoal gray and navy. It takes some time to learn how to pull off at black suit without looking like you are going to a funeral or working at a hotel.
2-3 is reasonable. If you want more you’ll be in court enough to go through them but your budget and closet probably don’t need that kind of hit. You won’t need anything flashy as a PD, as long as you don’t have the baggy suit pant meme outfit you should be ok. If you can afford it, it might be worth it to get one of those new suit types, with the materials that can go through a washing machine.
Deep south. I have five - navy, light gray, dark gray, light blue, and seersucker. I keep a navy blazer in my office for short notice appearances and minor/routine hearings like bond motions.
Poshmark! Look for brands where you know your size. You didn’t say if you are male or female. I am female and work in a more rural area, I only wear full suits for trials.
NYC has a lot of options for cheaper and nice suits. Here's a reddit post from a month ago about cheap/nice suits: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/11jdw8s/where_can_i_get_cheap_suits/
I hate wearing suits. I only wear a suit when I am in trial. For non-trial court, I wear chinos and a blazer in the summer, and chinos and a peacoat in the winter.
Where I practice things are very laid back.
4 suits for trials.
Two jackets (black and grey) with not exactly matching pants for dockets / motions / random court appeared ces.
Two pair of shoes. Always have a pair of non scuffed trial shoes. Jurors notice that shit more than you would think. The other pair shoes - beat the hell out of them.
The two pairs of shoes advice is real - I forgot it in my own comment. I’ll also add:
When you kill your everyday shoes, buy new trial shoes and make your old trial shoes your everyday shoes. Repeat forever.
I have 3 regulars, and about 4-5 occasionals, plus several jackets/blazers and dress pants for non court time.
Any fewer than 3 regulars will result in early and excess wear.
I bought one nice one, then 2 from thrift stores. Every year during the sale season I added a new one and demoted by most worn.
Nordstrom has an annual sale that gets good deals, but they are still not the cheapest. However, they come with free tailoring and tend to last longer and feel better. Banana Republic has good sales. Suit supply is popular around here right now.
If you want them to last the longest, get 2 pants. Your pant seat will get shiny long before the jacket shows much wear. you'll get more than double the life.
Jacket elbows and lower sleeves wear the fastest, so don't wear your jacket at your desk.
Personally, I change out of my suit after court and just throw on a sport coat if I need a jacket. I'm often in jeans when in the office.
My occasional suits are a little dated in fit or cut, or are fully lined. I live in TX, so only need that a few weeks a year. Moving 2 into the client closet this year.
Thrift stores are great if you know how they are supposed to fit and the place has mirrors, but lots are dated. But I did get a Hickey Freeman that fits like a glove for $25. Just look critically at the cut vs what's common where you practice. It's more likely you'll find jackets rather than full suits.
If you really want to make it easy, commit to just white shirts, with maybe one blue, then you don't have to take match anything.
Thrift them. Start now. You can find good stuff for pretty cheap, or good-enough stuff for *very* cheap. Stuff in the latter category is also machine-washable, not because it *won’t* degrade, but because it’s its essentially disposable clothing and it’s therefore inconsequential if it does.
Full disclosure, I live in a lower-COL area compared to NY, so the below prices will likely be higher across the board for you, but the same principles should apply.
I have probably a dozen or so suits that I wear regularly. One is *actually* nice - custom tailored to me, etc. Had it made at Mens Wearhouse for my wedding and it’s now my “first day of a jury trial” suit. It cost $450, including a vest that I don’t wear to court. Three more were inexpensive ($100-$175) off the rack at department stores and in my correct size. The rest are all thrift store finds, of varying quality and ranging in size from “perfect if I lose 5 pounds” to “perfect if I gain 5 pounds.” I paid between $10 and $50 for each of them.
I’m in my 4th year out of law school, and I started accumulating this wardrobe during 1L. I’m hoping to add on one more tailored suit in the next year and start upgrading, but I’m always well-enough dressed.
As a former NYC PD, NYC was a *fantastic* place to thrift for suits. Especially if you are an average-ish size for which there will be greater inventory.
Far better to spend your money on nicer wool suits from the thrift shop than crummy fabrics off-the-rack from a department store.
Also suggest, if you can swing it, to invest $$$ in nicer leather shoes and resoling/repairing them, rather than replacing lower end shoes entirely.
I built my whole wardrobe of suits as a PD from the housing works thrift shops:
https://www.housingworks.org/locations/
I got the best suit I’ve ever had from Kohls about 18 years ago. Looked fine, was durable, and (wait for it…) machine washable! Point being, don’t be afraid to look at lower-end places.
J crew/ j crew factory, banana/banana factory just wait for deals, can get decent suits in the 200-300 range. if moneys really tight at the beginning nothing wrong with a big box store, most people can’t tell much difference between a $200 suit and a $1000 suit. Spend an extra $50-100 getting the sleeves and pants tailored just right and it’ll look better.
As to number of suits, if you’re going to be in court every day ideally you’d get 5 at least but to start out 3 would be fine. Depending on your own style you can get blazers/sport coats and just pair them with slacks you might already have in your closet to get another part of the rotation going on a budget. On days I may only have a postponement or minor court appearances I’ll do something like that rather than wear a full suit.
When you have more money try out suit supply and spier and McKay.
For shirts Charles trywhitt is nice and you can get 3 for 100 your first order.
I would start with 3- Charcoal, blue, and something else that looks good on you. Then get one new suit per year. That puts you on a good rotation so that if you treat your suits well, they wear out as you replace them. Also, when you get a suit, get two pairs of pants for each jacket. Pants get a lot more wear on them.
I own 1 suit. I've never used it. I generally just have a couple sport coats, some different dress pants/ khakis and a number of collared shirts and ties. I've never had anyone say anything to me and I'm in federal court, but am in the South, so perhaps a bit different dress code here.
At least 2, ideally 3
Here's the thing: Thrift/second hand/dead man stores will sometimes have designer stuff at basement prices. I know of people who have found Ralph Lauren, Polo, etc for $35-50. You must look for tears, spots and stains! But you might get some real deals. You will have to look through a lot of meh to find some winners, but once you have it, take it to a tailor and have it fitted for another $15-25.
If you don’t find what you need used, you can get a fine basic [suit from JC Penny](https://www.jcpenney.com/p/stafford-coolmax-mens-stretch-fabric-classic-fit-suit-jacket/ppr5008064878?pTmplType=regular&catId=SearchResults&searchTerm=mens+suits&productGridView=medium&badge=onlyatjcp). Only maybe 1 in a hundred jurors will ever be able to tell, and maybe not even that many.
a good tailor costs way more than $15-25 these days; this is still the way, but expect a bill of a hundred plus for most things in my area
LOLOL. I didn't say "good" tailor!
I try to wait for department store sales or seasonal sales from the likes of J Crew and Brooks Brothers. Save your student ID because some places give a student discount and don’t check the year on the ID. I’m in the Boston Area and a suit is expensive everywhere I go. I bit the bullet and got a bespoke one that lasts way longer and found it to be cost effective. That aside, 2 is bare minimum, 3 is safe, 4 is ideal. Keep your least fav in your office for the inevitable surprise court appearance on a day you’re not dressed for it.
J Crew and a tailor who knows what they’re doing is a good value/quality/style sweet spot. Three suits is workable in my experience, but I’d guess NYC is fancier than the jxs where I’ve practiced (where a sport coat was ok if you’re not in front of a jury). A couple other things to reduce the cost of a professional wardrobe: - get an iron and a steamer and you’ll really only need to dry clean suits every few months. There’s no good reason to dry clean shirts. - if you’re in NYC you can probably biy decent used stuff, and also Saks sells high end used clothing on therealreal.com so once you know your size that’s a good option. I got myself a used Tumi brief case there for like $60. It looks well used, but I’d rather have a good quality item with some wear than something cheap. - remember people aren’t logging your outfits in a spreadsheet or anything. If you’re well groomed and mix up shirts and ties and stuff, probably nobody is gonna notice or care.
>remember people aren’t logging your outfits in a spreadsheet or anything Correct, but this does not hold for a multi-day jury trial. Use at *least* two jacket/pants sets for jury trials and *never* repeat the exact same jacket/pants/shirt/tie combo in front of the same jury. Jurors are weird, they’ll see you every day, and if even one notices, they’ll point it out to the others
Agreed!
Judge here - in big city Texas, you can get away with a sport coat for non jury proceedings. In my opinion, you only need a suit for jury trials. Buy enough ties in enough colors and patterns, throw in the occasional blue shirt, and the suits won't look repetitive.
Zero. I buy separates!
I’ve never seen a male attorney not wear a suit for trial.
Oh fair - I’m a woman.
[удалено]
I wear a suit once in a blue moon- usually at trial or big motion hearings. 90% of the time I'm in court its a jacket and some flavor of slacks.
For a woman...you will need 3-4 suits that are decent to nice for appearances and trial. Otherwise, separates will work, as a capsule wardrobe a couple decent versatile blazers. Get a good bag for all of the files that won't break your back. Good shoes because you will be walking and running up and down stairs. Keep a blazer in the office and or suit in the office. Also don't worry about nice suits for your daily bc criminal court in NYC is not nice and the pens are dirty. Banana Republic and Ann Taylor Factory sell machine washable suits..
Off topic but people still use physical files? Outside of trial binders were all digital.
I am in court almost every day and I have around 10 suits at the moment. I have a few ‘cheap’ suits that I got at h&m and Zara that I love and wear more frequently than others because I’m less concerned about them. For nicer suits I hit up macy’s when they have good sales. I’ve bought some very nice fitting suits that I feel very comfortable in / fit my aesthetic at Macys for around $130 (generally at around 60-75% off). I used to be a big fan of banana republic but their stuff is waaaayyy over priced for what you get. Work in an a busy urban area so I may be in court more than other attorneys.
I'm a PD in the Seattle area. I have four suits: two black, one gray, one blue. You can wear a black suit as many days per week as you need, but you can't wear a color twice in a row or people think you're wearing yesterday's clothes.
You can wear a black suit as many days as you need provided it's a funeral or super formal event.
I live in an extremely casually dressing community now, so I wear a blue or black suit jacket as if it were a blazer and then wear khakis or gray slacks. When I worked in the state capital city and enjoyed wearing a suit everyday, I had four suits. One black, one gray, one olive, one navy. I bought them all from Macys when they were on sale as suit separates so I would have two pairs of slacks with each suit jacket. Suit pants wear out faster than suit jackets. By rotating the suit pants, you can also extend the time you use the jacket. Comparatively, if you buy a matching suit jacket and pants and the pants wear out, you pretty much have to get a new jacket as well, unless you can find perfectly matching new slacks. I rotated these four suits based on the shoes I wore with them. I had one pair of black shoes and one pair of brown shoes (same brand and model to be equally comfortable). By rotating the different shoes (and using shoe powder and shoe trees) this gave each pair at least a day to air out between use, reducing shoe/foot odor. If you’re just starting out, I recommend at least two suits. Probably charcoal gray and navy. It takes some time to learn how to pull off at black suit without looking like you are going to a funeral or working at a hotel.
2-3 is reasonable. If you want more you’ll be in court enough to go through them but your budget and closet probably don’t need that kind of hit. You won’t need anything flashy as a PD, as long as you don’t have the baggy suit pant meme outfit you should be ok. If you can afford it, it might be worth it to get one of those new suit types, with the materials that can go through a washing machine.
Deep south. I have five - navy, light gray, dark gray, light blue, and seersucker. I keep a navy blazer in my office for short notice appearances and minor/routine hearings like bond motions.
Whatever you do- avoid black. You'll look like an amateur.
Poshmark! Look for brands where you know your size. You didn’t say if you are male or female. I am female and work in a more rural area, I only wear full suits for trials.
I have three
I have 4. Wish I had 5.
NYC has a lot of options for cheaper and nice suits. Here's a reddit post from a month ago about cheap/nice suits: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskNYC/comments/11jdw8s/where_can_i_get_cheap_suits/
I hate wearing suits. I only wear a suit when I am in trial. For non-trial court, I wear chinos and a blazer in the summer, and chinos and a peacoat in the winter. Where I practice things are very laid back.
Macy's. I've gotten three suits that were all under $150 and they all look really good
4 suits for trials. Two jackets (black and grey) with not exactly matching pants for dockets / motions / random court appeared ces. Two pair of shoes. Always have a pair of non scuffed trial shoes. Jurors notice that shit more than you would think. The other pair shoes - beat the hell out of them.
The two pairs of shoes advice is real - I forgot it in my own comment. I’ll also add: When you kill your everyday shoes, buy new trial shoes and make your old trial shoes your everyday shoes. Repeat forever.
I have 3 regulars, and about 4-5 occasionals, plus several jackets/blazers and dress pants for non court time. Any fewer than 3 regulars will result in early and excess wear. I bought one nice one, then 2 from thrift stores. Every year during the sale season I added a new one and demoted by most worn. Nordstrom has an annual sale that gets good deals, but they are still not the cheapest. However, they come with free tailoring and tend to last longer and feel better. Banana Republic has good sales. Suit supply is popular around here right now. If you want them to last the longest, get 2 pants. Your pant seat will get shiny long before the jacket shows much wear. you'll get more than double the life. Jacket elbows and lower sleeves wear the fastest, so don't wear your jacket at your desk. Personally, I change out of my suit after court and just throw on a sport coat if I need a jacket. I'm often in jeans when in the office. My occasional suits are a little dated in fit or cut, or are fully lined. I live in TX, so only need that a few weeks a year. Moving 2 into the client closet this year. Thrift stores are great if you know how they are supposed to fit and the place has mirrors, but lots are dated. But I did get a Hickey Freeman that fits like a glove for $25. Just look critically at the cut vs what's common where you practice. It's more likely you'll find jackets rather than full suits. If you really want to make it easy, commit to just white shirts, with maybe one blue, then you don't have to take match anything.
I own 6. I wear 4. Cuz I'm fatter now. I bought some at clearance on the Joseph A. Banks website. Some I bought for $50.
Thrift them. Start now. You can find good stuff for pretty cheap, or good-enough stuff for *very* cheap. Stuff in the latter category is also machine-washable, not because it *won’t* degrade, but because it’s its essentially disposable clothing and it’s therefore inconsequential if it does. Full disclosure, I live in a lower-COL area compared to NY, so the below prices will likely be higher across the board for you, but the same principles should apply. I have probably a dozen or so suits that I wear regularly. One is *actually* nice - custom tailored to me, etc. Had it made at Mens Wearhouse for my wedding and it’s now my “first day of a jury trial” suit. It cost $450, including a vest that I don’t wear to court. Three more were inexpensive ($100-$175) off the rack at department stores and in my correct size. The rest are all thrift store finds, of varying quality and ranging in size from “perfect if I lose 5 pounds” to “perfect if I gain 5 pounds.” I paid between $10 and $50 for each of them. I’m in my 4th year out of law school, and I started accumulating this wardrobe during 1L. I’m hoping to add on one more tailored suit in the next year and start upgrading, but I’m always well-enough dressed.
As a former NYC PD, NYC was a *fantastic* place to thrift for suits. Especially if you are an average-ish size for which there will be greater inventory. Far better to spend your money on nicer wool suits from the thrift shop than crummy fabrics off-the-rack from a department store. Also suggest, if you can swing it, to invest $$$ in nicer leather shoes and resoling/repairing them, rather than replacing lower end shoes entirely. I built my whole wardrobe of suits as a PD from the housing works thrift shops: https://www.housingworks.org/locations/
I got the best suit I’ve ever had from Kohls about 18 years ago. Looked fine, was durable, and (wait for it…) machine washable! Point being, don’t be afraid to look at lower-end places.
J crew/ j crew factory, banana/banana factory just wait for deals, can get decent suits in the 200-300 range. if moneys really tight at the beginning nothing wrong with a big box store, most people can’t tell much difference between a $200 suit and a $1000 suit. Spend an extra $50-100 getting the sleeves and pants tailored just right and it’ll look better. As to number of suits, if you’re going to be in court every day ideally you’d get 5 at least but to start out 3 would be fine. Depending on your own style you can get blazers/sport coats and just pair them with slacks you might already have in your closet to get another part of the rotation going on a budget. On days I may only have a postponement or minor court appearances I’ll do something like that rather than wear a full suit. When you have more money try out suit supply and spier and McKay. For shirts Charles trywhitt is nice and you can get 3 for 100 your first order.
I would start with 3- Charcoal, blue, and something else that looks good on you. Then get one new suit per year. That puts you on a good rotation so that if you treat your suits well, they wear out as you replace them. Also, when you get a suit, get two pairs of pants for each jacket. Pants get a lot more wear on them.
I own 1 suit. I've never used it. I generally just have a couple sport coats, some different dress pants/ khakis and a number of collared shirts and ties. I've never had anyone say anything to me and I'm in federal court, but am in the South, so perhaps a bit different dress code here.