Fail-Safe Outfits : * Suitmasters is designed for men on a budget and for those who hate to shop.
How about a men’s store for men who hate to shop? Or how about a men’s store where the least fashion- conscious guy can put together fail-safe outfits? Put this same fellow on a rigid budget and you can still send him to this store.
Suitmasters is definitely for men who are on a budget and who hate to shop, but it’s also for those who love to shop. Anyone would have to go out of his way to make a serious fashion or color mistake here.
I have never seen a store so perfectly organized, and it’s all based on color coordination. There is one section for blues, another for shades of gray, an area for tans and browns, and a department for black and white. Each piece of apparel, whether suit, sport coat or slacks, is displayed from deepest shade to palest. When you select a gray sport coat, slacks in shades of gray are at hand. The tie display is the focal point of each color section, and an array of color-coordinated shirts, socks and belts is nearby. It’s difficult to make a mistake with detailed planning like this.
The basic style is the classic corporate look, with a little European and some Eastern Seaboard, and the sizes range from 36 short to 60 extra long. Prices run from budget to medium-priced, and the quality from good to excellent.
When I visited, manager Jim Devlin put together three outfits in record time. The suits start at $99 and, for the money, the quality is surprising. An outfit of a nice blend-fabric suit, well-tailored and in a deep blue--with a $17 shirt, a $14 leather belt, socks at $3.75 and topped off with a silk square for the pocket--totaled $150.75.
At the high end, a deep teal suit of 9% micro-fiber and 91% fine wool was $229. The 9% micro-fiber gives this fabric a resistance to wrinkles. A pale teal shirt that Devlin selected from the nearby stack was $29. A silk print tie and leather belt with burnished buckle were $24 each. With coordinated socks and a silk square handkerchief, the total came to $315.75.
In the formal wear department, a complete wardrobe can be assembled for about $450.
Suitmasters has only one store, but several more are in the works.
WHERE TO SHOP
What: Suitmasters.
Location: 225 S. Brand Blvd., Glendale.
Hours: 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Mondays to Fridays, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturdays, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sundays.
Cards: American Express, Discover, MasterCard, Visa.
Call: (818) 552-6150.
