Cheapskate Fashion for Men: A Full Quality Wardrobe for Under $2,000

Even cheapskates can dress well. For less than $2,000, you can build a full quality wardrobe for all business and professional occasions. I will cover all the basics in this post: shoes, suit, shirts, ties, pants, and blazers. I also advise purchasing a copy of Color for Men before you make any of these purchases and perusing Ask Andy About Clothes, by far the most helpful source of men's fashion advice.

• Shoes -- Allen Edmonds: Shoes seem to be the one thing you should not skimp on and the first item observed as a measure of a man's outfit. Therefore, although there are some great deals on good-looking shoes out there, I choose to invest a bit more in high quality classics that look good while also lasting a long time. By far the most highly recommended shoes on Ask Andy About Clothes are Allen Edmonds. While Alden has many supporters that argue they are better than AE on the forums, a number of folks say otherwise and AE shoes are considerably more affordable. Unlike other dress shoes, every pair of AEs I've bought has felt instantly comfortable on the first wear. You can get a brand new pair on eBay for less than $150, or $1.25 per month if you believe they will truly last 10 years like many say they do. I do have a pair of extremely comfortable Ecco loafers that I got for about as much as a pair of eBay-bought AEs, but it definitely does not look as good. 3 pairs Allen Edmonds shoes = $450

• Suits -- Executive Lines from Jos. A. Bank & Stafford: Forums on Ask Andy About Clothes agree on two things about suits. First, canvassed suits are superior to fused suits, though many admit only the wearer and a tiny fraction of the rest of the world will notice the difference. However, since canvassed suits generally start at $1,000 and discount stores like Off 5th do not exist in New Orleans and don't carry my size anyway, they are generally out of my reach. Second, a well-tailored cheap suit that fits you properly looks much better than an expensive one that does not quite fit. Beyond that, folks can argue about cut, material, color, etc. all they want, but for a basic wardrobe, it seems like getting an affordable suit and having it tailored seems like the best way to get the most bang for your buck. Once you get past the condescending comments toward cheap suits that all the snobbery about $2500 Oxxford suits entails, you will find some quality commentary about the Stafford line from JC Penney (link to forum) as well as Jos. A. Bank suits on clearance (link to forum) (not just on "sale"!), and posters seem to agree these options are better than the Men's Wearhouse and low-end designer labels. The Jos. A. Bank Executive (link to store) line is 100% wool, and the Stafford Executive line (link to store) is 95% wool and 5% cashmere. Both offer a decent array of basic colors and fits online and can be had for under $200. eBay also offers suits in this price range but they are generally not wool and/or are used. 3 suits (gray, navy, charcoal/black) = $600

• Shirts -- Stafford from JC Penney: I do not have the time to press all of my shirts, nor do I want to pay to have them pressed professionally. Therefore, I do not care one lick about wrinkle-free shirts' lack of "breathability"; I'll take the extra few beads of sweat any day. Moreover, the bigger culprit in diminished "breathability" seems to be the material, not the finish, so as long as I stick with 100% cotton, I've gone most of the way to maximizing my comfort. I have never worn an expensive designer shirt, so I am not sure what I am missing, but I'm hard pressed to find much reason to spend more than $25 on a shirt when for that price I can choose from an absurd variety of wrinkle-free Stafford shirts online from JC Penney. Unlike cheap options from Wal-Mart, these shirts are durable (buttons don't break after the third wash), are 100% cotton (avoiding the plastic trash-bag look of polyester), and can be ordered in exactly my size, which I have yet to find in any store anywhere. 10 Stafford shirts x $25 each = $250

• Ties -- Charvet on eBay: Ties are where an individual's personal style can really come into play. For some people, sifting through the ties at a local department store might turn up some hidden treasures, but I've always found the selection there to be dull or gaudy. The best solution for me is to fork out a similar amount of money ($25) for designer ties sold on eBay, which features just about any variety and style you could want. I personally find Charvet ties to be the most tasteful of all the designers; some people rave about Hermes, but I find their ties to be downright silly. If you save
  a search for Charvet ties and remain patient, you will be able to get a great deal. Stay away from pre-owned ties, as you can never tell what little stains or runs will show up on the real thing that you could not see in the photo, and keep in mind that most ties are of a much darker hue than what you see in the flash of a camera posted on eBay. Oh, and yes I've bought some cheapo ties at Wal-Mart. Ties are the most fickle and easily-replaceable items of clothing, and they have no impact on my overall comfort, so I do not have a problem tossing $8 at a semi-decent tie that I'll wear a few times before it falls apart. 10 Charvet ties x $30 each + 5 George ties x $10 each = $350
  
  

• Pants & Blazers: Trousers are still a bit of an enigma for me, as I do not seem to have found one single designer that I prefer over all others. However, one thing is for sure: you do not need to spend more than $40 on a pair of pants. My three most comfortable and stylish pairs of pants were all less than this: $11 Zanella bought used on eBay, $40 BIOS bought new in New York, and--probably my most comfortable and favorite pair of pants--$31 Jos. A. Bank Signature bought new on eBay. Blazers are a similar fare. I had to get a blazer in a hurry and blew $200 on a Versini at the Men's Wearhouse and then snagged a Brooks Brothers blazer two weeks later for $30 on eBay. 5 pairs of pants x $30 each + 3 blazers x $50 each = $300

So there you have it: a full professional wardrobe for under $2000. Actually, it's $1950, so you have enough to buy some socks and underwear at Wal-Mart. You can also go halfway for just over $1000 and be fine (i.e., 2 pairs of shoes, 2 suits, 5 shirts, etc.). One final note on durability... Some might disparage the selections above, arguing that the affordable options I am presenting lack in durability. That's fine. The suits and shirts for which I advocate are durable enough that you do not have to go out and replace them immediately (unlike Wal-Mart) but are affordable enough that when you do need to replace them, it's easy to do so. I'd rather rotate 3 Stafford shirts than have one "perfect" Brooks Brothers shirt, and the former would probably outlast the latter. Only for shoes does the quality over quantity argument make sense, as cheap shoes lose not only durability but also comfort. Three pairs of Payless dress shoes would be a constant rotating nightmare of pain on my feet--believe me: I've tried it before--but one pair of Allen Edmonds provides instant comfort and class.

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