[MrXY]

On your budget, the best places to go would be thrift stores and Ebay. I have a great wardrobe with lots of high end designer stuff I bought mostly from those two sources at a tiny fraction of the retail price. ( I hate paying retail)

You can make up for a lack of money by effort and knowledge. This will take some time but will pay big dividends if you are willing to work for it

I bet your area is good for thrifting-I have done well in towns that are much smaller and less wealthy than yours.

The keys to thrifting are knowing what is good and what works for you, and being persistent. While you certainly might find some good stuff on your first thrifting foray, putting together a good collection requires going back over and over again. The turnover in thrift stores is high and you never know what may have just been put on the racks. There is a real art to thrifting you can delve into-just search around the web for tips and then go get some experience.

If you want a suit, first learn what constitutes a good fit and what your measurements are. The most important fits are the shoulders and jacket length, they should be correct off the rack-the other fits can be adjusted to some degree.

Find a good tailor -they are indispensable.

Ebay is more expensive(but still cheap if items are used), but its advantage is that you can search for what you want and often find it and it is much quicker to build a collection through Ebay than thrifting.

[Lothario]

Must haves IMHO to OP :

1. Nice Pair of Shoes.( $ 50 like the ones you liked)

2. Solid colored Jeans. $ 50-100 (Some one earlier posted good suggestions)

3. Sports Coat. $ 50 - 100 (This is going to take some finesse hunting )

I would let go of a Suit at this point but if you can come up with some money a new one can be obntained from Zara under $ 200 or go the thrift suit route.

Shoes , Jeans and Sports Coat are your best bang for the buck for under $ 200, A colorful pocket square $ 8 , can make a lot of difference.

Seems like you have a lot of footwork to do..... TJ MAXX, MARSHALLS, Thrift stores and just like others mentioned and G would recommend, Have a tailor on the Lockdown, Seriously, Get a grey/charcoal/Navy Blue suit from Marchalls that fits you the best and have it altered , you will never go back to off the rack.

Happy Hunting.

[I'mWaitingForTheMan]

Haven't had time to digest some of the later posts, and I will tonight. Gracias everyone for chiming in.

[Blackhawk]

Poke around http://www.tweedmansvintage.co.uk/ they're pretty good with their sizing and ship to US.

Watch the member sales forums at http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/index.html

[YoungGunner]

Also if you do end up buying trousers make sure they mold to you legs well. Don't want them to be baggy around your legs, or have the crotch hang too low, lest you suffer the fate of looking like a best buy employee.



At your height straight fit or slightly tapered will probably look better than skinny or very tapered. If you try them on and think your legs look too weak or skinny compared to your torso, you're probably right. This is what I would shoot for if I were you in terms of trousers:



Further, your shirt should tuck nicely into your waistband without spilling over; no "hourglass" silhouette

[tstyle]

These guys are right that a suit isn't worth it when you factor in your budget. This is even more true because it's not going to be as versatile as the jeans/jacket look. If you don't want to go with jeans, a good pair of slim khaki's is ideal as they look a bit more dressed up. Try something like these.

http://us.dockers.com/product/index.jsp?...fam_030112

A jacket or blazer is good because you can dress it up or down depending on the situation. I did a post on this on my site a couple months ago.

http://masculinestyle.wordpress.com/2012...vy-jacket/

And believe it or not, shoes are going to be king. They will make and average outfit look great and will take a great outfit to hell if you don't have the right ones. Go to Nordstrom Rack and look for a pair of dessert boots or suede bucks. Again they can look dressy or casual depending on how you pair them and they'll stand out from what other men are wearing.

[Rurik]

this thread would be better if the budget was 1500 - 2000 dollars.

200 bucks is not much of a budget. That's like a few decent items.

[themaxx]

(06-09-2012 11:23 PM)YoungGunner Wrote:  

As for shoes, check out these two links:
http://dappered.com/2012/05/the-10-best-...under-100/
http://dappered.com/2012/05/the-best-loo...der-200-2/

Wow dappered.com is awesome - thank you.

[MrXY]

(06-13-2012 09:34 PM)tstyle Wrote:  

These guys are right that a suit isn't worth it when you factor in your budget. This is even more true because it's not going to be as versatile as the jeans/jacket look. If you don't want to go with jeans, a good pair of slim khaki's is ideal as they look a bit more dressed up. Try something like these.

http://us.dockers.com/product/index.jsp?...fam_030112

A jacket or blazer is good because you can dress it up or down depending on the situation. I did a post on this on my site a couple months ago.

http://masculinestyle.wordpress.com/2012...vy-jacket/

And believe it or not, shoes are going to be king. They will make and average outfit look great and will take a great outfit to hell if you don't have the right ones. Go to Nordstrom Rack and look for a pair of dessert boots or suede bucks. Again they can look dressy or casual depending on how you pair them and they'll stand out from what other men are wearing.

So true. I have 30+ pairs and feel like I need twice that many to have a full,versatile wardrobe. Still need some brown double monkstraps, black Nasons, white moccasins, etc.

But its not quantity that matters-it's quality. Much better to have a few high end pairs that look great and are versatile than a lot of schlubby looking crap.

Girls absolutely notice your footwear and you get major points with them if it is better than other guys. I think of my shoes as a silent DHV- I believe that if you have great shoes girls assume that you have your shit together in other areas of your life.

This study indicates that girls are correct in their assumption that someones personality can be read by their shoes http://www.cbc.ca/news/yourcommunity/201...finds.html I chuckled at the statement that "Aggressive personalities prefer ankle boots." Ankle boots are my preferred footwear- I have them in dress style, zippered, chelsea, smooth leather, suede, variety of colors- and almost always wear them when I'm on the hunt

[reaper23]

with a $200 budget - save $100 more and get a nice pair of shoes/boots

http://www.thefryecompany.com/

with something from there you could wear shitty jeans and a white tshirt and have a great look.