You’re probably not going to see a Suitsupply suit on the Met Gala red carpet. You will, however, probably see it on a fresh college graduate, the guy shopping for his very first suit and, perhaps most prominently, New York City’s 111th mayor, Zohran Mamdani.
The city’s newly sworn-in mayor wore the brand’s everyman suits throughout his campaign, drawing commentary from the style desks of Bloomberg (calling him “style icon”), the New York Times (calling his style “millennial”) and GQ (calling it “Uniqlo uncle”). What they all agreed on: somehow, Mamdani pulled off wearing $500 suits on a national stage.
Once upon a time, a very nice suit was a marker of wealth and status. Perhaps not quite in the same sentence as a Rolex, but certainly not something the everyday worker would own. It was mostly reserved for high-rolling business executives, the fashionable culture vultures and, well, politicians. And it still is to a certain extent. But, with the rise of e-commerce brands like Suitsupply and the internet un-gatekeeping the nuances of menswear, today’s average buyer can easily find an attainable but well-made option for this signifier of prestige and polish.
“If you know how to shop for clothes, you can get a better suit at $300 than some guy who has no idea what he’s doing [and] is spending $10,000,” says Derek Guy, a menswear writer better known to some as the viral “menswear guy” on social media. You just need to know what to shop for.
Light Grey Perennial Tailored Fit Havana Suit
$499 at SuitsupplyFor Mamdani, that’s his suitwear’s distinct construction qualities – the soft shoulders, small lapels, the slim cut that blew into style with the millennial generation around the same time avocado toast did. “[That style’s] going to err on the side of more modern, as opposed to more conservative,” explains Patrick Kenger, a personal stylist who’s worked with politicians and entrepreneurs through his company Pivot.
This especially contrasts with other, more traditional brands, like the Obama-favored Brooks Brothers, which sells suits that typically start around $1,000. More than that, it contrasts from the stronger-shouldered suits you’d see on some of Mamdani’s political peers, including those in his own party. The choice in suitwear presents a style detail that speaks to his generation and age. “If you have a tighter-fitted suit, it’s going to feel more youthful,” Kenger continues.
The best affordable men’s suits at a glance
Suitsupply Light Grey Perennial Tailored Fit Havana Suit
Spier & Mackay Navy Hopsack Suit
How does Suitsupply make luxury suits under $500?
Suitsupply is sort of the Brooklinen of suits. The brand offers stylish silhouettes, modest quality and good fabrics, all at a fraction of the price some of its competitors do, making it a darling among millennials and gen Zers shopping for their first suit. “It’s the kind of suit you’d wear if you read GQ in 2005 and you memorized a bunch of rules and you kept with them for the rest of your life,” says Guy. “For guys who are not looking to drop thousands of dollars on a suit, I think they’re a pretty good option.”
Mid Blue Perennial Tailored Fit Havana Suit
$599 at Suitsupply“Suitsupply kind of pioneered this idea of a lower quality construction, but with more luxury fabrics,” says Mitchell Moss, a creator in the menswear space. Suitsupply sources its fabrics from Italian mills, using the kinds of textiles buyers would normally only find from more expensive brands. It balances those high-quality fabrics out with a half-canvas construction, which it manufactures in China. (A suit with half-canvas construction has less shape and typically costs less than one with full-canvas.)
Dark Grey Perennial Tailored Fit Havana Suit
$598 at SuitsupplyThat secret sauce of decent quality at an affordable price, combined with Suitsupply’s evocative, at-times controversy-stirring advertising, makes the retailer the exact place first-suit buyers can turn to. Kenger explains that the average first suit needs to be something that can “stretch across a lot of different situations and functions”. The kind of thing you can wear to a wedding or a job interview, with pieces you can wear separately on their own.
What are the best affordable suits, according to stylists?
While Suitsupply pioneered a certain level of accessibility, the landscape’s only grown in recent years – becoming saturated with options available for average buyers. Fifteen years ago, “this cornucopia – this variety of good, well-designed, reasonably well-fitting, reasonably good quality tailoring companies did not exist,” Moss says. “You had to spend a lot more money or get some tailoring. It was not easy to find.”
Spier & Mackay Navy Hopsack Suit
$448 at Spier & MackaySpier & Mackay Charcoal Ellis Suit
$448 at Spier & MackayWhen asked where else to find affordable suits, just about everyone in the menswear realm pointed to Canadian brand Spier & Mackay. Its half-canvas and full-canvas suits offer a super classic silhouette that fit a wide range of sizes, all at a similar price point to Suitsupply. Moss and Guy both nodded to London-based Natalino for its Southern-Italian influences. Moss also mentioned Nordic retailer Grand Lè Mar and New York City-based Proper Cloth, while Guy recommended higher-end brands like Cavour and Besnard.
What should you consider when buying an affordable suit?
Perhaps most importantly, the suit needs to fit well. “Then you’re going to be ahead of the game,” says Moss.
Some tailoring will likely be required, but Kenger generally recommends paying special attention to how it feels and lays in the shoulder area. “It’s much better to have a jacket that might be a little bit too baggy in the midsection, because we can tailor that,” Kenger says. “But the shoulders are really the start and the backbone of the jacket.”
Guy also lists off a few of his musts. The collar of the jacket should hug your neck, and the waist shouldn’t pull when you button the jacket. No divots, or folds, in the fabric of the sleeves. (If it does, that means the jacket’s too tight.) Make sure the coat hem is balanced, or lands in a straight line, when you turn to the side. (It’s alright if the front part of the hem is higher than the back, Guy says, but the reverse looks off.) And the jacket should bisect halfway from your collar to the floor when you’re wearing shoes. If it’s too short, it’ll throw off the proportions.
Oh, and don’t forget that half-canvas construction – meaning the canvas is stitched into the upper chest and lapel areas of the suit to give it shape and drape, while the bottom half is fused with glue. A full-canvas suit is fully stitched and more expensive. An entirely fused suit is significantly cheaper, but likely won’t last as long.
In fact, Guy adds, “I don’t think it matters where you get your suit from. It just matters if it fits. You can do that on a budget of $300; you can do that on a budget of $10,000.”
