What Every Man Needs to Know Before Purchasing a Suit

by Lisa Lozano

We can all agree that Tim Gunn always looks fabulous and impeccably dressed. Now he’s sharing tips that will help you or the man in your life find the perfect suit. Tim illustrates his advice by helping suit novice Cody find an amazing suit, and you’ll never believe the transformation! As Rach says, Cody ends up looking like a movie star!

Rule 1: Make sure the suit shoulder ends at your natural shoulder. No fabric should jut out past your shoulder.

Rule 2: Make sure the sleeves of your suit don’t go all the way to your palm. Tim explains, “Your shirt should go to your palm, but your jacket should be above it. And there’s a reason for that – you can wash the shirt, [but] you don’t wash the jacket.” If your jacket sleeve goes too low, it will get dirty, because as Tim says, “Our hands, quite frankly, aren’t the cleanest things.”

Rule 3: The bottom of your suit jacket (the jacket, not the sleeve) should hang right at your thumb joint.

Rule 4: Your pants should not “puddle” at your shoes and should only “break” once.

Rule 5: In a two-button suit, the top button should be just above your belly button.

Rule 6: Don’t shy away from a form-fitting suit – no matter what your size. “Your clothes should skim you,” Tim advises.

Watch below to see Cody in his perfect-fit suit!