Author: Dustin

I’ve recently lost about 20lbs. As I was getting dressed for a meeting last week, my wife said I looked like a little kid wearing his dad’s suit. So, for a combined Father’s Day/Anniversary gift, she wanted to get me a new suit.

I remember one time on a home teaching visit my companion was going off on how great Men’s Warehouse was. He said they treat you like a king there. Buying a suit at Men’s Warehouse was obviously one of his favorite things to do. So that is where I first suggested we go. I hate to say this, but I was really dissappointed. Maybe it was the Salesperson, maybe it was the store, maybe it was the selection… I don’t know. I think more than anything though it was the Salesperson that bugged me. It was a girl wearing a mini skirt and big hoop earings – just not what I expected. I bought a sports jacket there that cost $160, plus $15 for alterations in the sleaves. I left feeling sick to my stomach, because I didn’t really like the jacket and I had just spent close to $200 on it. The next day I went back during lunch and got a refund. I have to commend them for that. It was very easy and no questions asked – litterally. They simply issued me a refund and said “Sorry it didn’t work out for you.”

I told my wife that I really wanted a suit rather than a sports jacket. Also, I had read recently that most millionaires buy their suits at JC Penny due to the price and quality of the suits. So last night we started there. I was please to find that they had a lot larger selection that I was led to believe by looking on their website. I was also please to see they were having a sale and many suits were 25-50% off. I could have bought a Dockers brand suit for as low as $100 for the jacket and pants, or other suits for $150. There were no sales people though. This was a good and a bad thing – good in the sense that I didn’t feel pressured in any way, bad in a sense that I’m no expert in picking out suits ;). We found a few we liked, but I wanted to check out Mr. Mac’s before making a purchase.

I bought my missionary suits at Mr. Mac’s. In fact, I bought most everything for my mission at Mr. Mac’s. I was pleased with everything I purchase there. Suits were durable and lasted my whole mission and them some. My white shirts were durable and ramained white beyond my mission as well, and that is saying something for some of the areas I served in.

So we drove to Mr. Mac’s. The salesman who helped us was an older gentleman. We told him what we were looking for and my size and he showed us our selection. I found a suit that my wife and I really liked for $300. But I remembered him telling us they had some suits that were 2 for $300. Being the budget concious man that I am, I could clearly see the value of getting two for the price of one ;). We found two suits that we liked and actually got them both for $275. Then we threw in some nice ties that they gave us a 50% discount on, and some socks.

One thing I really liked about Mr. Mac’s was that all the alterations are free for the life of the suit. At Men’s Warehouse they had different fees for all types of alterations. This means that if I happen to lose any more weight, or (heaven forbid) gain some weight, I can go back in and get free alterations again.

All in all, I spend $365 last night. But this time I didn’t feel that sick sense of spending money for something I didn’t want.

So, where do you prefer to get your suits?

This is an interesting topic to find on Wikipedia. Apparently I’m living in the “Jello Belt”. It’s funny though because it does bring back memories of eating my grandma’s green jell-o with shredded carrots in it… very interesting combination. I exhort all to try it at least once.