You can just buy a suit and wear it, or you can look good in it for the same cost. If price is the primary focus, look for second-hand, or used materials. If

You can just buy a suit and wear it, or you can look good in it for the same cost. If price is the primary focus, look for second-hand, or used materials. If that's a bust, know that JC Penney makes the suit most worn by millionaires (according to a book I read that I'm having a hard time remembering -- something something habits of millionaires), and are generally a good bang for the buck. They aren't high fashion, but they're a suit, which fits the bill. Now, an aside... when I got my first job that needed suits, I did kind of the same thing. I went out in search of the most cost-efficient suits that didn't look ugly. I stumbled across a sale at Macy's and ended up buying a couple of suits, and a couple of pant / sportcoat combos for approximately $150-200 a set. Then I started going to meetings, only to realize that while I 'met the grade', I was judged on the quality of my suits by some of the higher ups. It wasn't like the business card scene in 'American Psycho' or anything, but I'd be asked "Who are you wearing?", and other 'rich people questions' I didn't think people ever actually asked. The worst answer I found was "I dunno", but an only slightly better is answering with the name of a poor quality manufacturer. Subsequent advice takes that into consideration, if you'd like to avoid being singled out. Please note that the advice works well for 'government-quality' attire, and would likely not pass as 'wall-street-quality' attire or "big-law-quality" attire. Jos. A. Bank is a respected name in suits, mostly because the average suit cost is about triple ($600-750) the minimum suit cost you can get, but they run sales approximately once a month with buy-one-get-one or buy-one-get-two specials and the like that can knock the effective cost down to $200 or less (which is about the most I'll pay for a suit.) You can buy the pants unhemmed and take them to a local drycleaner to have them tailored for a nominal fee which helps avoid the 'off-the-rack' fit. If you are like me, I often admire bold color choices on others that I would never pick out for myself, or that I don't think would look good on me. A good place to go for fashion advice is Men's Wearhouse. I'm sure mileage varies, but I've been to a few locations in different locales, and I've always gotten great accessory suggestions for ties, shirts, etc., that I would have never picked. It isn't pushy, and you can 'suggest-down' to whatever level you're comfortable wearing (for when they suggest a hot pink tie or whatever) and a good rep will get your tastes and start suggesting accordingly. You'll pay more generally, but they have pretty aggressive sales on occasion too.