Congratulations! You’ve got a job interview, and you’re hoping this is going to be your slipway down to the seas of success. You need a suit. You’ve never bought one before- yikes! Thay range from £60 to well over £600. You don’t want to have a knowledgeable friend in tow, or even your girlfriend or wife. So you’re on your own.

Suit You Sir!

Before you set out, have a look online and see the different types and styles and colours and see what ones you think might suit you. Then make a price range for your budget- say no less than £200, no more than £500 or something like that. Remember that this suit is probably going to be worn quite a lot and therefore you’ll be getting a great deal of wear out of it for your money, so it’s worth spending as much as you can, to get the best quality and looks.

We’re going to concentrate here on the fabric, that’s the material or the cloth, call it what you will. But that is the heart of a good suit.

Touch and then squeezethe fabric — if it bounces back with little or no sign of wrinkling, that means it’s good, sturdy material. And tug the buttons gently. If they feel loose or wobbly, that means they’re probably coming off sooner rather than later. The jacket’s shoulder pads are supposed to square with your shoulders; if they droop off or leave dents in the cloth, the jacket’s too big. The jacket sleeves should never meet the wrist any lower than the base of the thumb — if they do, ask to go down a size. Always get fitted. They know what they’re doing. Good shops won’t risk their reputation by letting you walk out like a sack of potatoes!

Suits are made of wool. Mostly. At the upper end, you see wool blended with cashmere. You might even see 100 percent cashmere. For hot weather, linen and cotton and silk are available, but most suits are still made of wool. Stick with wool. It’s natural and looks natural and feels natural. Making you comfortable and smooth.

The fineness of a suit is how thick the fabric is. Thicker fabric may be cheaper but will last longer. Very fine material looks great and costs more, but will not last as long. Within a few months you could be exhibiting what they call in the trade “shiny bottom” or “bum’s rush”- when the seat of the trousers of the suit have become shiny because of the constant rubbing on seats, be they bus or train seats or chairs in the Office.

Try a little stretching of the fabric- nothing too heavy though! Does it feel like there’s something to it, some structure — what a tailor might call “guts”? That’s a good sign. It should prove durable and stay in shape.

What you will see on most store racks is plain weave or worsted (the smooth, tightly woven stuff) — basic business cloth. But there’s more to cloth than worsted. The most common alternatives are flannel (spongy, fuzzy stuff) and tweed. Flannel is a classic cool-weather cloth. And we all know what tweed is. Best to avoid for work suits.

With this information in mind talk through a suit you like and get the answers from the tailor or the salesman to the questions above.

The final thing you may need is a BS-Detector. Some sales assistants in suit shops are just that, there to assist the sales of good and will tell you anything to get a sale. try to get an older person or someone who has been in a number of positions and knows what they’re talking about. There’s nothing worse than you knowing only 10% about suit-buying, and the assistant knows 5%. Don’t be afraid to walk out if the shop or the people serving you don’t seem genuine of knowledgeable. This is your hard-earned cash you are going to part with!

Dude in a French Connection suit