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One really good suit

A A A Comments By VICKIE CHANG Thursday, Oct 26 2006

All mod cons. Photo by Vickie Chang

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God bless the skinny suit. It's the reason Karl Lagerfeld went on a diet (losing 92 pounds in 13 months just to fit Hedi Slimane's delicious, sleek, sleek designs); it's the suit of choice for everyone from corporate monkeys to Pete Doherty and Justin Timberlake; and, most importantly, it makes the ladies (read: me) swoooon.

There comes a time in every boy's life when he needs to invest in (just one) really, really good suit. That's right, guys—stop shopping at the Men's Wearhouse, in your dads' closets (yes, we cantell), the Salvation Army (that thrifted vintage look is really cute, but that's just it: cute) or—even worse—Express.

Just. One. Well-fitted. Tailored. Suit.

One.

And this guy here knows his really, really well-fitted suits. Sure, the re-emergence of the mod skinny suit thing isn't the most unique look in the world—Helmut Lang has been kicking that bit around since 1989—but it looks fantastic on just about any (tall, skinny) guy. Dior Homme, Jil Sander and Prada are a few of many design houses in on the game—but places like H&M (now gracing Southern California's presence!) and Zara even make decent suits for reasonable prices. (Plus there are always tailors. Many, many tailors.)

Okay, so with the mod chauffeur's cap, he kind of looks like he might drive an old lady named Agatha around all day in an antique Rolls Royce, but I'd more compare his look to Ringo's duds in the snow scene in Help!

Either way, his tapered pants, rumpled and loosened skinny black tie over a medium spread collared dress shirt—and thin grey V-neck sweater under a single breasted jacket with narrow lapels—had everyone in the place turning their heads. Including me.

But that's also when I noticed the X's on his hands. Never too early to start dressing well, I suppose.

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