21 Mistakes Men Make Wearing Suits

So in this video I'll be looking at all the mistakes I see when men wear suits and how to avoid them. So let's start with proportions. To look polished and well-dressed it's really important that your shirt and tie and accessories are in proportion with your suit. Now we are seeing in the current fashion lapels and jacket lengths returning to a more classical width. If you happen to have a suit with very slim lapels make sure your tie is equally of a slim aesthetic. It looks far more put together. Also avoid very large tie knots. So if you have a very slim lapel suit, complement it with a smaller collar, a smaller tie knot and a relatively slim tie. There is a rule of thumb out there that your blade of your tie should match your lapel width and I've probably said that in previous videos. That obviously only refers to single breasted. Double-breasted lapels are very very wide and you have a massive tie. But it is a good rule of thumb if your lapel width of your jacket is significantly wider or narrower than your blade of your tie it looks out of proportion and it just looks much nicer to keep things balanced. When picking a shirt and tie to go with your suit your shirt should be certainly lighter than your suit. It's always a classic combination. It's more flattering and then to finish it off make sure your tie is darker. Lighter coloured ties on darker shirts looks a little bit andram gangster. So make sure to keep a darker tie. This combination here is perfect. If anything I like the tie even darker than the suit. It looks very sophisticated. Now apologies to all the regular subscribers to Rampian Co. because you already know this but never ever wear a matching tie and pocket square. It looks contrived. It looks like a gift set. It lacks imagination. So always make sure your pocket square compliments your outfit but never matches your tie. I'm still seeing the over tailored look. The idea that a suit has to fit like a second skin in order to be fitted or tailored. That's not true. A suit should have ample room for you to keep your wallet, your phone and your personal effects inside it in the pockets. What you don't want to see is when the jacket is so so tight you get these pulls at the front and you'll see the lapel starts to bow. That's a sign that the jacket is too small in the waist and chest. When wearing a tie it doesn't take much longer to tie with a bit of care and a bit of purpose. So make sure your tie has a nice dimple and it sits into the collar and it's up to the neck. A loose tie looks slovenly. You're better off not wearing a tie. Once you've established a good knot you want the blades to be a sensible length. Now I know there's some information out there saying it should always meet your trousers perfectly or your belt buckle if you're wearing a belt. I'm not too upset about that. I think as long as it's within it's not comically long or comically short it's okay but get that dimple just right. Now this is a look I see almost exclusively at airports. The guy in his suit jacket with jeans. Now I think a suit jacket and jeans can look very chic very elegant and I love high-low dressing as there's numerous videos from us where we've talked about high-low dressing. But look I'm specifically talking about is that business suit in like the super 100s often like a herringbone often with a self-pattern that just doesn't work with jeans. I would always say if you want to travel and wear the jacket with jeans because you don't want to pack too much pick a jacket that works as a blazer. Pick a linen, pick a cotton, pick some sort of frescoes even some flannels can work but avoid the super 100s herringbone type suits that just look mismatched. It doesn't take a lot of effort just to shorten or lengthen the sleeve just so you're showing a nice finger's width of cuff. It just looks more polished and looks a bit cleaner and better presented. I always find when I see a suit and the jackets are too long or too short it throws the whole balance of the outfit out and suddenly I start seeing folks elsewhere. As I've said before in this video getting your shoulders right on the jacket or suit jacket is the most important aspect. I'd always pick shoulder fit over waist fit for example or even a sleeve because it's a hard thing to alter. What you're looking for is for the sleeve to fall and drape perfectly without your arm breaking up that line at all so it should be wide enough to cover that but not so wide that the shoulder breaks. If you happen to have a jacket which is too wide for you do consider taking it to a very good alteration tailor who can actually narrow the width a little bit and it'll be significantly improved so I'd highly recommend that alteration. I am a big fan of layering knitwear with tailoring. I think it's practical, I think it's comfortable and I think it's done properly it's very elegant but the look I really can't stand is when you see the high v-neck sweater worn with a shirt and tie and a suit because to me it throws the balance out. You're seeing this very high v in a lower buttoning jacket and you're seeing too much jumper. If you can find a lower v, a more traditional lower v sweater that's a good look or better still like a knitted cardigan. A knitted cardigan just has a little bit of texture a bit of warmth looks lovely with a suit but that high v it's a bit like a supply teacher. Socks shouldn't be an afterthought. To give a really smart appearance they should be good quality and most importantly they should cover your leg. When you sit down if you're exposing any ankle they're too short. Have you ever heard the expression do as I say not as I do? Well this might come back at me. Don't wear a smart watch with a suit. I had a smart watch for a few years now. I like it because it manages my steps but actually when I see photographs of me on previous rampi videos I'm wearing a smart watch with a tailored outfit. It's not a good look and I much prefer the look of a classic watch with a suit or a smart outfit. Smart watches it's a bit spy kids. So with apologies to regularly rampi subscribers and if you're not a subscriber I really think you should be this next point might seem quite basic but I'm still seeing it. On a new suit usually off the peg often off the peg you may have a brand label on the sleeve. This is there purely for identification purposes in department stores. You shouldn't wear it. If your salesman hasn't removed it for you you need to get a sharp knife or an unpicker and remove it and the stitching. Similarly your vents on the jacket may be basted closed. By basting they're usually white sometimes red stitches to keep it in place. You often see it on the shoulder. This is only to maintain the shape of the garment in transit. It's only to make the suit look better than it probably really is and it should not be worn. So make sure you remove your base stitching. You have my full permission to call anybody out you see wearing base stitching and say that's wrong. You don't need to do all your buttons up. On a two button suit you do the top button up never the bottom button which will get the comment but why do you have a bottom button? Just trust me just do the top button up. Double breasted is a bit more complicated. On a four button double breasted I would leave the bottom button undone. On a six button I would tend to only do the middle. Now the coat I'm wearing actually fastens at the top so I could decide to do the top but I would never do the bottom button. And when wearing double breasted they look a lot smarter buttoned up than unbuttoned. When the weather dictates you will need to wear an overcoat or a raincoat over your suit. It's absolutely important this is long enough to cover the length of the jacket. When you see a bit of the jacket poking out at the bottom it looks unfinished and cheapens your overall look. I personally like long raincoats. No down to the knee or longer. Same for overcoats. At the very least it should be long enough to cover your jacket sleeves and the jacket body. This is a very small attention to detail but once you notice it you can't unnotice it. When you're perhaps in the office and you're working and you've taken your jacket off because you're working it's so important if your trousers have hip pockets with buttons on you leave them buttoned up. Seeing them left unbuttoned looks really really slovenly so and it's and it's less secure. So always make sure you have buttons on your hip pockets your trousers button them up. Every pocket has a particular use and if you use it properly you will not ruin the silhouette of the suit. If by using your pockets you'll ruin the silhouette of your suit I would suggest your suit doesn't fit you. A classic mistake I see is the side pockets of trousers being used to store things which are too heavy. Your mobile phone looks terrible in your front pocket it should be in your coat pocket. I only use my side pockets for my hands or things which are very thin. Perhaps one credit card perhaps a few notes but I never keep a wallet in my front pocket. I occasionally put something in my hip pocket particularly in the summer when I'm not wearing a jacket and in my suit jacket I will make sure I distribute things evenly. I never carry a heavy wallet but I tend to keep things split so I wouldn't keep my cash in my wallet I keep a small card case in one pocket I keep my cash in another pocket I keep my keys in a third pocket. So by distributing things evenly around your suit and your trousers you're not causing any bulges and a well-cut suit does allow you to keep things in your pockets. Accessories with your suit should be discreet and elegant and complimentary. The tie bar isn't quite as fashionable as a few years ago but if you happen to like them you happen to find it practical please make sure you wear it in the proper place water rules your waist and not under your chin and make sure it's the appropriate width your tie bar should really cover approximately two-thirds of the tie if it goes beyond the tie it looks too wide. Not all creases on suits are bad one crease you absolutely must have is a front and back trouser crease. Now this will be maintained by regular pressing but in between wearing it's so important you hang your trousers up correctly either folded over a hanger carefully or better still held by clamps from the cuff and let them fall back into shape. Not having a front crease looks sloppy it looks cheap it's not polished it doesn't cost much to maintain a good sharp crease in your trousers. Something I'm still seeing far too often it's a one color shoe with a suit. As a rule of thumb pick a shoe which is darker than your suit Blacks, dark browns, tobaccos usually look darker and better than light colored shoes. There's still a popularity in that sort of slightly too orangey tan color that draws your eye to it straight away and takes away from otherwise quite nice blue and grey suits. And if there's anything worse than the wrong color shoes perhaps it's dirty shoes polish your shoes. I don't mean necessarily an artisan polish I don't necessarily mean spending hours getting a military shine although love that but just get a brush clean the welts brush them over keep them clean keep the salt stains off them and you will look so much smarter. It ruins a suit dirty shoes kill the suit. In the modern world a rucksack is a really practical way of carrying your kit but if you're wearing proper tailoring avoid carrying it over your shoulders because the shoulder straps really do damage to the shoulder pads of the suit so make sure you carry it and wear it as a rucksack when you're dressed informally. Well did you agree with my points? I'd love to hear your comments below also did I leave anything out? What really annoys you? Again put it in the comments below and don't forget to subscribe.