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As a Men's Wearhouse "color and style expert" (ie glorified sales associate), I feel I should respond.
Starting with the suit. The most versatile suits are definitely navy, and charcoal. Stick with a solid, patterns (pinstripes, window pane, etc) only complicate things for a first suit. Most people would recommend navy, particularly because you can then pair your suit coat with a pair of khaki or tan slacks, and have the sort of sport coat "uniform"- thus getting more versatility out of your suit. Personally I prefer charcoal (dark gray) because I think it looks classier, and I like how shirt and tie combos look on charcoal. But either color will be appropriate for job interviews, business, weddings, funerals, cruises, etc.
Word of advice- go with single breasted. Dear God please go with single breasted. Double breasted is out of style and not generally flattering. You'll find a much wider variety of single breasted styles.
Go with the best suit you can afford- make a budget as to how much you want to spend towards this investment. If, for instance, you wanted a suit, I would also consider budgeting for an extra pair of slacks or two, several dress shirts, and ties. Here's what I would present for you if you came into a Men's Wearhouse (which I highly recommend doing, because this is our whole job):
-Charcoal single breasted suit ($200-$500, depending on brand name and quality)
-Slacks: black, olive, navy ($30-$50 each)
-Dress shirts: non irons (nice because you can literally pull them out of the dryer wrinkle free, and wear them all day. I swear they work!) are $40 each at my work. Otherwise the shirts are $20-$40 in price range.
----Definitely get a white shirt. Get two if you can. As for collar style, the button down (a button at the bottom point of each side of the collar, thus keeping it down) and tab collar (a loop of fabric that hooks on a button at the top middle of the collar) are more casual then regular collars. You can get plain textured or herringbone, twill, or other textures.
---Also go with an ecru/ivory/off white shirt. Equally versatile as the white shirt, but a bit warmer look. Gray is a good call also. French blue and Oxford blue (a bright blue and a powder blue, respectively) are considered business staples. For more fun occasions, a black, gray, and/or burgandy shirt is a good call. Burgandy is our top selling shirt color, I think mostly because wives and girlfriends like it.
What you could do with these items so far:
Job interview: pair the suit with the white shirt, and put a more conservatove tie with it. Something with burgandy or red in it is always good, as those are considered the power tie colors (and thus are supposed to project an image of confidence). Make sure the tie has complementary colors to both the shirt and suit- and for an interview, go with simple stripes, or a small geometric pattern.
Second interview: same suit, with the ecru shirt. This time, you can warm it up with a blue tie, and it can have a bit more personality than your first interview conservative tie. Screen print ties and bigger prints are fine here, but nothing out of control.
On the job: mix and match the slacks, all the shirt colors except the burgandy and black, and different ties to have a variety of outfits that don't make you look like you're wearing the same thing every day.
Evening wedding: burgandy or black shirt, with a festive or dramtic tie that brings it all together. The suit would work best here, or else maybe the black slacks and coat.
Daytime wedding: white, ecru, or perhaps an earth tone You can have a bit more variety with pants, depending on how casual/formal the wedding is. The more "fashion forward" colors (ie black and burgandy) can also work, but tend to be considered more formal than the others.
Banquet/dance/quincenera (I don't think I spelled that right)/etc:
Mix and match away!
Things to keep in mind:
-Your belt should match your shoes. (Belts range from $25-$50ish, shoes from $40-$125 at my work). Black is generally most useful. Squared toe shoes are more contemporary, and favored by younger (ie under 35ish) guys.
-Socks should be considered an extension of your pants. So get some in the same colors as the pants and you'll be good to go.
-If you're taller than 6'1, or have a long torso, or a big belly, consider extra long ties.
-Make sure your shirts aren't French cuff, unless you want to use cuff links with them. Most guys don't, for a starting piece.
-If you want even more versatility, you could go with a navy blazer to further your mix and match options.
Alright I didn't even know I had this wealth of knowledge, I hope it wasn't horribly boring!
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