Suits me

Unlike my Dad and 2 brothers, I was never big on suits. When we were young, we'd troop to Prince Albert to have our school pants made, and Dad would have his coat and pants set made the same time. My brothers had their first suits made during their High School proms, and have been enamoured by it ever since.

My first encounter with a suit as a lucid adult was during Emin's 18th birthday party, which means I was also 18 that time. For the cotillion de honore, we were required to wear suits. Actually, they were tuxedos, complete with the lilac colored cummerbund and bow tie (faux, of course. We were just 18.) While I thought it looked dapper on me, the "suit bug" never bit me. So after that party, I didn't don that tux again.

It took me over a decade to wear a suit again. When I went to Mexico as part of our exchange program, we were asked to bring 2 different suits since we were going to meet dignitaries, governors and other heavyweights. Because of my apathy to suits, I suggested that we wear Barong Tagalogs since that was our national costume. So in the end, we brought 2 different barongs AND 2 different suits! (More luggage!) I had 2 new suits made, one in classic black and the other in gray pinstripes.

When I fit my suit in front of my sister, she said: "I know that you're my brother so I shouldn't say nice things about you, but you really look handsome in a suit." That got me a-runnin' to a mirror and check. Chucking modesty for a bit, I thought she was right. I did look nice in that suit. So for a few months, the suit became part of my sartorial repertoire. Before, i'd only go to weddings wearing a barong. That year, 2003, I started appearing in some wearing my nice, gray pinstripe suit.

In 2004, after my European trip that led me to eschew meat, my body shape started to whittle down. The 2 suits suddenly became too big for me. Initially, I was thinking of having the suits tailored again to fit me, then I found out that it'll cost the same as making a new one. Ergo, my decision was to have a new one made. A year after making that decision, I still haven't had a suit made.

Today, Gigi and I went to Causeway Bay to shop for jeans. She was a big fan of Antik Denim, so we decided to check out my favorite haunt where there were a lot of uber cool designs. Before we could even go there, she saw a G2000 store and insisted that we stop by. Gigi is a big suit fan, and with the words 70% OFF festooned all over the display window, she couldn't help but go in. While Gigi was going gaga over the nice suits in spring colors, I was sitting in one corner, sulking.

After 20 minutes, she looked like she was still on a roll. This made me decide to get off my flat butt and look around the store. A rack of coats were in front of me, and I started browsing. One coat caught my attention. It was a charcoal gray coat with fine burgundy stripes. It was so fine, you have to be a few inches in front of the fabric to see it. Off the cuff, it looked like a very "English" suit. Since I was wearing my gray green pullover, I decided to see how it fit me. And once the coat was worn: VOILA! It was a perfect fit, and it was begging me to buy it.

Then I thought, why don't I really go the deep end and try on the matching pants. The one on display was size 29, and so I asked if they had one in 31. (I like my slacks big and low slung). Unfortunately, they only had a size 30, which looked small. But what the hey, let me fit it anyway.

There I was, trying on a suit after 2 years of not wearing one. I felt the pants were a bit too tight (although Peter says that suit pants are supposed to fit snugly. Even if it's too snug that you can see the... uhm... package you're carrying.) So I took it as a sign that I shouldn't buy this suit. Then Gigi arrived and shouted: "My Gosh! That suit looks perfect on you! The spring colors, the cut, the fit! It was made for you!" Skeptically, I asked: "Is it really?" To which she replied: "yes, knowing suits very well, that suit is just perfect for you."

So today, January 21, is a red letter day in my Sartorial life. I've hated suits, then liked suits, then outgrew suits. All this time, I've had suits tailor made for me. But today, all that has changed.

Today, I buy my first off-the rack suit. And yes, I think it suits me quite well.