SHOP $260, abercrombie.com
Welcome to The Esquire Endorsement. Heavily researched. Thoroughly vetted. These picks are the best way to spend your hard-earned cash.
Before y'all shame me, I know how crazy this sounds. Advocating for a mall brand suit in Esquire. I should be debating lapel widths, shoulder styles, and fabrics with fellow menswear guys. I should be telling every man the value befriending a tailor.
But hear me out. I'm young, broke, and have amassed a small collection of too-nice-for-my-income vintage suits at estate sales, eBay auctions, and consignment stores. But wearing those suits felt like a schtick. I always felt like a dandy cosplay or a Pitti Uomo peacock. I needed a Level One suit, something cheap that I could beat up and incorporate into my way too casual New York City wardrobe. This Collins suit from Abercrombie & Fitch is exactly what I needed.
You can wear it hard, worry free.
I felt like I needed to baby my nicer suits. Now that I've got a good dry cleaner, I know that's not true. But I really didn't want to ruin the fine wool and cotton blends. This suit? Couldn't care less about ruining it. With its polyester-viscose-elastane blend, I'd have a tough time doing so, anyway. It's pretty much stain resistant, so instead of spending time and money dry cleaning, I just spot clean it myself. I've cleaned drinks, mustard, and city grime off it in my bathroom, no worries. And since the construction is just some light structure in the chest and shoulders, I could probably throw it in the washing machine and be ok... I won't, don't worry, but just know I could. What I'm trying to say is that in 2024, this is what a lot of guys need. You've become accustomed to wearing easy clothes. Why not start to level up with an easy suit?
SHOP $260, abercrombie.com
You can get it tailored to look better.
I don't know who said it, but the old truth is still true. When buying a suit off-the-rack, buying cheap and spending money on a tailor is always better than blowing your budget on the suit itself. If you're one of those guys who only buys a suit when he's asked to attend a wedding, take that advice. All I had to do was have a tailor let the seam allowance out one inch at my ankle, so it looked right with a pair of boots. If I were mostly wearing loafers with it, I could have skipped tailoring altogether.
Abercrombie's Collins is cut with no biases across the board. It's not baggy, but it should fit most guys off-the-rack. Those that want a more tailored look can nip the waist, take in the sleeves, and all that. But, I think the beauty of this suit is it's get it and go attitude. Don't spend anymore than like $100 getting it tailored. It doesn't deserve anymore than that. Wear it and just be happy that you put on a siut.
SHOP $260, abercrombie.com
A cheap suit is American heritage.
To get philosophical, I actually think this suit is a testament to what American menswear is all about. It's the modern sack suit. You don't get the over-the-top structure and formality of a British suit. You don't get Italian sprezzatura, either. It's a fastball down the middle: some structure, some drape, and a truly American idea that dirt-cheap off-the-rack is good enough.
Sure, I would like the lapels to be wider. And I desperately wish the jacket was longer. But I've always chased a devil may care Americana style, and this suit taught me how to bring that into my more formal wardrobe. Mostly because I actually don't care what happens to it. It's the jeans and a t-shirt of all my suits. I've worn it to bars with a band tee, a baseball game, a cross-country domestic flight (economy seat), a Saturday in the park, and dinner with a tie. Somebody told me I looked good every time. It's just good enough for all occasions, and that's exactly what I needed from this cheap little mall suit.
SHOP $260, abercrombie.com
Photographs by Joe Lingeman. Prop styling by Heather Greene.
