Whether it’s for a job interview, wedding, funeral or a walk through the park, there comes a time in every man’s life when he will have to wear a suit. The suit is located at the core of men’s fashion and is a timeless staple for the well-dressed man.

Over the years, designers have made many variations of the men’s suit — some with one button, some with five. The two-button suit is the most successful of these due to the way it contours to the body and showcases the shirt, the tie and the tie bar.

A man could own the most extravagant suit on the planet, but if it didn’t fit like a glove, it would fail to look good — and so would he. Some people claim they are willing to sacrifice fit and appearance for comfort. This is a problem for many reasons. Plainly, it’s bad for your clothes. Wearing clothes that hang off of you will ruin the stitching, structure and overall craftsmanship of the garments. But more importantly, you want to flatter the clothes you’re wearing and yourself.

How do you make sure each article of clothing fits perfectly? Every suit must be taken to the tailor. A good tailor will ensure that you not only look good but feel good. So when thinking about purchasing a suit, factor in the price you will potentially need to spend on alterations. You can easily find a good tailor on Yelp.

The closest one to Biola that does a great job is John the Tailor, located off of Colima and Lambert in Whittier. A good friend of mine purchased a Calvin Klein suit for around $300 a couple years back. He’s worn it on occasion and gotten a couple compliments on it — if only for the fact that he was wearing a suit. Recently however, he spent $90 at H&M for a navy two-button suit and took it to John the Tailor. He receives compliments on it wherever he goes. Why? Because it’s no longer a generic suit; it’s his suit.

Sometimes suit alterations can cost as little as $25 and as much as $115, depending on what it will take to make you look like a million bucks. It’s worth the investment. Trust me.

As far as suit color goes many people think black is the universally-matching color. Unfortunately, they are wrong. The confusion comes from how close in color a navy-blue suit is to a black suit. Under low lighting you can’t really tell the difference. However, in the right light, or more importantly sunlight, you can definitely tell a navy-blue suit from a black one. Black suits are good for two things: night events and funerals. The problem with black suits is that the dark contrast is so stark it overshadows many other colors — which is why people normally wear a white button down with them. Navy blue on the other hand allows you to experiment with combinations of many other colors, dark and light.  Even if you only wear suits every once in a while, it’s nice to know you have a suit for every occasion.

If a man follows these few simple rules of suit etiquette, then he will wear a suit well. It is only after he masters these basic rules that he can begin to experiment and transform his attire into a work of art.