Jian DeLeon writes about men’s clothing and wears men’s clothing, and he recently put together an INTERACTIVE GUIDE for Complex explaining how to  buy a suit—how it should fit, what to get tailored, what kind to buy.  SUITS. MEN IN SUITS. LOVE A MAN IN A SUIT. (I asked Jian some questions about suits, and he answered them.)

LS: How many suits do you own? JIAN DELEON: I own two suits and a tux. And a lot more blazers/sportcoats.

LS: What are they? How much did they cost? JD: One is a charcoal grey J. Crew Ludlow Suit I got on sale for around $400. The other is a navy cotton Club Monaco suit I got for $300, also on sale. I spent about a hundred or so more getting them tailored to my liking—which any guy is going to need to do. The tux is this really crazy tweed tuxedo from this now-defunct label called “hickey.” One of the designers behind it, Aaron Levine, now does the men’s stuff for Club Monaco. I got it from Filene’s Basement of all places for a little over $300. 

I’ve been writing about expensive clothes for about five years. No, that doesn’t mean it takes a lot to impress me these days, but I have learned a lot about the retail, fashion, and apparel industries, especially when it comes to what you’re paying for. This has totally put my priorities out of whack. Why? Because to a normal guy, a $150 dollar button-down shirt would not only raise some serious eyebrows—it would also make him feel poorer after simply having touched it. But for me, that’s considered “reasonable.”

Last year, Andy Selsberg wrote an article in The Believer about justifying the costs of “ethical fashion,” and he posited that a well-made, sustainably-manufactured men’s button-down shirt should ideally cost $60. And when you think about popular brands like J. Crew and Club Monaco, that’s usually their price of admission for a decent woven shirt.