Men's Warehouse

Mark and I are not fancy people.  Mark's experience with suits and suit shopping is akin to my experience with hair salons.  As long as I've known Mark, he has purchased two suits.  I can no longer recall where we purchased Mark's first suit, which was bought for his initial interview to join the Sam's Club management program; he wasn't accepted.  His second suit was bought at Macy's a couple years ago for his grandmother's funeral.  Really, his suit experiences are pretty marred.  His only positive suit experience, our wedding, was in a tuxedo he borrowed from my brother.*

Well, it was high time to change all that.  Mark has an interview this weekend for a position that is a step up in many ways.  It was time to pimp out my man.  We initially popped into JC Penney to see what they offered for suits.  A very nice lady measured Mark, and he tried on some suits.  What we realized was that none of the off the rack suits were going to fit.  What we needed....were alterations!

In the past, all alterations have been handled by my mother.  With the exception of one time**, they've always been awesome.  Unfortunately, Mark needed his suit tailored by Sunday.  Since I didn't think my mother was going to make it down in the next few days, we decided to shop around.  We remembered our good friend Rick speaking pretty highly of Men's Warehouse, so off we went!

Arriving about an hour prior to close, we were warmly greeted by the young man at the front.  We explained what we needed, and another gentleman from the back came forward to assist.  It would be my assumption that he was more of the help you find a fit type.

The man helping to fit Mark was incredibly knowledgeable, unafraid to school us in what is usual interview attire, as well as the different jacket cuts and what would flatter Mark most.  He didn't make us feel silly when we didn't like certain things, but he was honest about why he was pointing us towards certain colors or cuts.  It was actually quite refreshing.

When we finally picked two jackets we liked,*** Mark and the gentleman went back to take care of the pants.  By the way, super surprise to find out the one jacket actually came with two pair of pants.  We were told this was because the pants are the quickest thing to wear out on a suit.  I, of course, made jokes about this.  I won't repeat them, as I'm not sure they were actually funny.  Either way, I was entertaining myself while some man talked to Mark about his "seat" needing taken in.  Yeah....

Anyway, while Mark was being fitted, the other young man was putting together a collection of shirts and ties for Mark to choose from.  It was actually a genius sales strategy.  By the time Mark was done having the suits marked for their alterations, there were about eight different looks put together for him to peruse.  By putting them with-in the jackets Mark was going to be purchasing, it was easy to visualize just how they would look.  We picked the ones we liked, made some suggestions for the ones that weren't bad, and listened to what the young man had to say.  We ended up with four shirts and four ties, much more than we planned on buying, but we were happy about that.  Mark hasn't had a phenomenal wardrobe, and this definitely felt like step in the right direction.

While checking out, they asked when he needed which suit, so he could be good to go for his interview.  They scheduled it to be ready two days beforehand, which is nice in case he needs additional changes.  It was an exciting experience for Mark, even though he spent the whole time asking me if it was okay.  We dropped quite a bit that night, but it was worth it.

Whether or not Mark gets the promotion isn't all that important.  What's important is that he feels good going to his interview, and I would like him to have a more positive association with suits than he has had in the past.  Of all places, Men's Warehouse was able to provide us that.  Both of the guys working were wonderful.  They could have rushed us out, botching the process, but they were happy to help us.  As a matter of fact, we ended up not getting out of there until about ten minutes after closing.  I hated being those people, but I like to think they didn't mind too much.  We had a lot of fun chatting with them, and that attitude is why I would suggest that if you need a suit, you visit the Men's Warehouse.

*How weird is that?!?

**Admittedly, that dress had layers, and they were a pain.

***They were buy one, get one free!  I know that's how they get you, but still...awesome!