Every man should own at least one great suit. That sartorial commandment has been passed down for generations, but many of us have never had a custom suit made, and may wonder what to keep in mind when investing in a bespoke suit or tuxedo. Enter Alan David Custom. The family-run suitmaker has been creating fine American-made suits, tuxes and shirts since 1913. Located on Madison Avenue in midtown Manhattan, the dapper outfitters craft each individual piece with meticulous attention to detail, creating bespoke garments designed to fit flawlessly and enhance your silhouette with elegance and comfort. Here, ten essential suit-buying tips from ADC owner Alan Horowitz and his team of expert stylists.

 1. Never Get Measured By Your Salesperson

“Measuring and selling are two completely different skills, so always get measured by a tailor. You wouldn’t let the person giving you a test drive also run your credit score. It’s the same idea here.”

2. Ask For A Basted Fitting

“A basted fitting is what really differentiates a true bespoke from made-to-measure or made-to-order. Without a basted fitting, a suit can’t really be called a full custom. After a client’s measurements have been taken, a unique paper pattern is created. It’s from this pattern that the garment is carefully hand cut, assembled and temporarily hand stitched with white basting thread. At this point, the basted garment is ready for fitting.”

3. Buy From Well-Reviewed Suitmakers With Experience

“Do some research and look at online reviews before making a decision. Track record definitely matters, whether it’s years of experience or praised reviews. “

4. Your Suit Should Both Fit And Flatter You

“A custom garment shouldn’t just be about measurements, it should also enhance your body. Even if a suit technically fits, a trim cut on a heavyset build or a loose cut on a slimmer man won’t be flattering.”

5. Get A Second Pair Of Trousers

“Jackets last much longer than trousers as they wear much quicker. So a second pair of trousers can ensure your suit lasts much longer.”

6. Be Aware Of Button Stance

“If the top button is too high, it can accentuate the belly, and if it’s too low it can tend to look rather old-fashioned and unflattering. It should sit at the fullest part of the stomach.”

7. Sleeve Pitch Matters

“Everyone’s arm position is going to be slightly different so if the sleeve pitch doesn’t match, it’ll cause wrinkles near the bicep. If you’re looking at it from the side view, the sleeve line should fall cleanly from the shoulder to the cuff.”

8. Choose Tuxedo Fabric Wisely

“A tuxedo should never use the same cloth as a basic black suit, so you want to look for barathea weaves or blends with mohair for more structure, drape, and reduced wrinkling. Fabrics with mohair are great for tuxedos, they give a bit of a sheen but really hold the crease very well. But no more than 20% mohair, otherwise it’s too shiny.”

9. Consider Fabric Durability

“Not all fabrics that are good for trousers are also good for jackets. For example, faile cloth lacks body and volume for a jacket, but holds up well to the rigors of the trousers.”

10. Match Your Suit To The Occasion

“Your suit needs to match its purpose—whether it’s work, a wedding, or another special occasion.”

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In the late 1950s, word started to spread amongst American style cognoscenti: “Visitors new to Rome should do two things: first go see the Vatican, and then go to Brioni.”

The now-legendary Italian tailoring house, whose motto is “For a man’s wardrobe, elegance consists in discretion,” had gained a cult following since it was first established in the late 1940s, having come to invent “an international style that was less stiff and starchy than its British counterpart, with a colorful Italian flair.”

This according to a definitive new book on the luxury brand, Brioni: Tailoring Legends, by Olivier Saillard, recently published by Assouline and fully as beautiful one of the firm’s bespoke creations.

“Brioni’s vision for menswear was a correction to an overly casual vision of American menswear, offering a wardrobe that, by combining the precision of haute couture skills with a new awareness of the masculine physique, was free from the bondage of the stiff and heavy suit without sacrificing elegance or appropriateness,” Saillard writes.

That’s a vision  they’ve maintained to the present day, when as Saillard notes, “Anywhere that worldly men need to make an impression with their style, Brioni can be found, from sidelines of basketball courts to Silicon Valley and the halls of academia, worn by Nobel Prize winners, rap stars and heads of state.”

In its formative years, the likes of Clark Gable, Gary Cooper and John Wayne among others all made pilgrimages to Brioni to have suits made when traveling to Italy. The firm remained a favorite of stylish leading men well into the mid-’90s, when Brioni was commissioned to make Pierce Brosnan’s suits for GoldenEye, the first modern reboot of the James Bond franchise. By 2006, Daniel Craig had inherited the role along with a Brioni cashmere tuxedo that he wore in Casino Royale.

These days, “the list of exceptional actors, across generations, who choose Brioni for appearances is long, and includes the biggest stars of our era,” Saillard writes, from Tom Cruise to Matthew McConaughey, Christian Bale, Samuel L. Jackson, Jeremy Irons, Anthony Hopkins, Brad Pitt, and Jude Law, star of Brioni’s latest ad campaign. And we expect there are many more to come.

As Saillard puts it, courtesy of Assouline, “Just as great monuments are built by architects and stonemasons working together, in the world of [men’s] fashion, scientists, technicians and craftspeople all strive together to build cathedrals of taste”—and who wouldn’t want to worship at the altar of Brioni?

“Creative black tie” has been around for a while now, but lately the creativity is morphing into insanity. Brightly colored and patterned tuxedos and dinner jackets are popping up on red carpets with increasingly frequency, and the effect isn’t always pleasing to the eye. 

Here are some recent spottings from the Cannes Film Festival, along with a few rules to follow if you’re even thinking of trying this increasingly trendy look:

It helps to be a Formula 1 world champion. In fact, it’s pretty much a license to wear whatever the fuck you want. We’re not saying Lewis Hamilton always looks fantastic but the crazy evening wear suits his personal style. And that’s rule #1: it should suit yours.

Another rule of thumb Hamilton is wisely adhering to: always be photographed with a beautiful woman on your arm. It definitely shows that you know what you’re doing dinner-jacket wise. Because if the ladies dig it, it has to be right. And that’s rule #2.

Foppish Fiat heir Lapo Elkann is one of the few men on the planet who could pull off this massive-lapeled forest green number. But the fact is he can and he knows it. The man has so much confidence he unwisely kissed Uma Thurman while wearing this thing and smoking a cigarette all at the same time. Rule #3 is if you’re not Lapo, forget forest green.

While not quite in Lapo’s league Jude Law also has the chops to pull a few wild moves. His all-grey tux manages to stay classic, and the fact that it has a grey lapel as well means the white bow tie, usually a big no-no unless you’re wearing tails, actually sort of works. Rule #4: Don’t get to thinking you’re Jude Law, a black bow tie is much safer.

Which brings us to Orlando Bloom here. We’re all for dark blue dinner jackets as an alternative to black, but the tone-on-tone lapel here doesn’t quite work with the white bowtie as well as it did for Law. He’s also wearing matching blue trousers when black would have been a better call there too. 

Close but no cigar. Rule #5: Don’t try to break too many rules at once. If you go for a colored jacket, keep the tie black ’till you get to the next level.