Just One Suit: Solid Navy Blue

If you can have just one suit, make it a solid, navy blue suit with notched lapels and two or three buttons, like the gentleman to the right.

The solid navy suit offers you tremendous versatility. You can dress it up and wear it very formally with:

• A solid white shirt
• A solid blue or pewter necktie
• Black captoe balmoral shoes

Or you can dress it down and wear it more causally with:

• A yellow butcher's block checked shirt
• No necktie
• Brown monkstrap shoes

It's a suit you can wear to oral argument before the US Supreme court in the morning, change your shirt and shoes, lose your necktie, and wear out in Georgetown later that evening. It's also ideal for:

• Job interviews
• Client meetings
• Speeches and presentations
• Weddings
• Other occasions that don't require formal wear

And if you don't have a black suit, it'll work at a funeral too.

If you're willing to spend more time shopping, or wait for a made to measure or bespoke suit, you can add refinement with two vents along the side of your jacket, instead of one vent in the center of the back. But keep in mind side vents will usually cost you more too.

Other virtues of the solid navy blue suit:

• They're easy to find. Just about any menswear store you go into will offer solid navy suits. Great when an airline loses your bags
• The dark blue color conceals dirt and stains
• It's a timeless classic that won't go out of style. As long as you don't "outgrow" or wear-out a traditional solid navy suit, you should be able to wear it at least a decade from now
• You can spend a lot or a little: several thousand dollars for a bespoke suit from Saville Row to $300-$600 from stores like:
  • Brooks Brothers (example on the gentleman above)
  • The Wizard of Aahs
  • Joseph A. Bank

There's few places or occasions that call for a suit where solid navy isn't appropriate and flattering. So if you're a lawyer with just one suit, make it solid navy.