1. Fit. Fit is everything. If the suit doesn’t fit amazingly, it’s not right. Don’t buy it. Exception: there are a few alterations that can be made (see below).

   How do you know if a suit fits? In North America suits are sized based on breast and waist measurement. Most off-the-rack suits are sold as a pair of jacket and pants, and most have a 6″ difference–if you buy a 38″ jacket, you’re getting a 32″ waist pant. If you don’t know your size, start small and work your way up. You want the suit to fit you snugly, so you don’t want to risk being in a 42″ jacket when you really do fit in a 40″.

   So let’s start with the jacket. You should always try on a jacket wearing a dress shirt. Do up all buttons on the jacket except for the bottom button. You should be able to take your right hand, flat, and “sneak” it into the left side of the jacket, as if you are accessing the pocket. This should be possible without the top button being “stressed”. If you change that flat hand to a fist, the top button should be stressed. That is to say, the coat should fit with a flat hand to a fist of “give”.

   The jacket should form to your shape. Luckily, most people are shaped similarly (bigger chest, smaller waist) so most jackets fit okay. But take a look at it. Feel it. If it doesn’t look and feel amazing, this isn’t the suit for you.

   About jacket length: if you put your hands down by your sides the jacket should fall to about your knuckles. You should be able to “wrap” your fingers around the bottom of the jacket. If the jacket falls too low such that you cannot wrap your fingers around the jacket without breaking the fabric, it is too long. If the jacket does not reach to, or almost to your knuckles such that you don’t touch the fabric by wrapping your fingers up, the jacket is too short.

   Jackets are sold in various lengths, denoted by a letter after the chest size. S for short, R for regular, L for long. 38R is 38″ chest, regular length.

   Other fit tips: ideally the shoulders of the jacket extend to the edge of your shoulders–not any less, or any more. Ideally, with the jacket done up and your shirt buttoned up you will have no more than 1/2″ of collar sticking out over the jacket at the back. The jacket is snugly against the back of the collar without breaking the fabric, and without hovering behind the collar. Take a look at the vents (if any) at the back to make sure you’re comfortable with how they look, how they feel, and the number of vents. (Some people don’t like the old English-style double-vented jacket, some people don’t like the feeling of constraint without vents.)

   On pants: if you’re young and you wear your pants on your butt, don’t do that with a suit. Pants are to be worn on the waist.

   The pants should not be too baggy. Don’t buy pleated pants. If the pants look too baggy, or too wide, skip the suit. Alterations may be possible if the jacket is perfect and it’s just the legs that are too baggy, but if the pants are too wide you are probably best to just look for another suit.

   If you’ve got skinny legs, you should have a skinny pant. The pants should usually be just a bit bigger than the top half of your legs. If you are sitting and you were to flex your upper-leg they should be almost snug. I usually prefer to have boxer-briefs or briefs while wearing a suit to reduce the amount of fabric clogging up the upper leg area.

2. Alterations. Plan for them. Even the best fitting suit will need them, unless it’s made to order. Common alterations will include sleeve length, slight alterations to the jacket (bring it in a tad, or let it out a tad if possible), and definitely hemming the pants.

   For sleeve length: the key to getting the jacket sleeve length right is to wear a dress shirt. The dress shirt with a closed cuff should fall about half-way up to your thumb’s knuckle on your hand. The cuff should fall there–if it doesn’t, it’s not long enough, and if it goes past it’s too long. With your dress shirt on, your suit jacket on and done up, and your hands to your side the dress short cuff should extend about 1/4″ beyond the jacket sleeve. You will not be able to judge this yourself due to the angle when looking in the mirror–you must have your adjuster do this for you. When you look in the mirror it will appear to be a little less than 1/4″. Anything less than 1/8″ is no good, and more than 3/8″ is pushing it. That said, if you know what you’re doing and you know what looks good you can push the limits and show more cuff, but you risk shortening the sleeves to the point where the jacket no longer looks like it’s your own.

   For pant length: When standing straight up, looking forward, feet flat on the floor (no shoes) the back of the pants should come to the floor. This leaves about a 1″ break in the front of the pants, as your foot will be about 1″ high at the point where the font of the pant leg is in contact with your foot. This is perfect. As with the sleeves, if you know what you’re doing you can do things a little differently here. You would not want to have longer pants, as you then just end up with a bunch up of fabric at the bottom and that’s sloppy. You may opt to have a shorter pant leg. You can try it, but do so at the risk of looking like you’re prepared for a flood.

   On the pants: don’t put cuffs at the bottom of the pants.

3. Colour: Start with the classics before you stray out at all: black, midnight blue, grey. Solids only to start. Before you expand your suit selection you need to get the basics down. No pinstripes, no shiny patterns, no tartans or herringbone, or tweed. Once you have a suits that you can wear to any special occasions then you can start expanding. I would suggest you play with texture before patterns. Exception: if you need your first suit (or your only one that fits) and cannot find one in a classic colour that fits you should always take a good fit over a classic colour, within reason.
4. Price: Suits cost money. If you are buying a suit, plan to double your budget. You get what you pay for. Maybe you’ll find a deal, but don’t shop on price. Shop on fit, colour, fabric, and settle on price. If you need to make a concession, make a concession on fabric to bring the price down but don’t even waste your money if it doesn’t fit great, or look right for the occasion.
5. Fabric: Wool is the classic. If you only own one suit, make it a wool suit. It’s warm and comfortable in the cooler months, breathable for the warmer months when you have to wear it. If you’re wearing suits a lot in the warmer months you’ll probably want to expand your repertoire.

   If you’re buying a cheap suit, there’s going to be some polyester. Avoid entirely polyester suits if you can, but don’t shy away from a blend if you’ve found a great looking suit that fits your budget. You might see some cotton, too. That’s fine. Fabric is a point where you can make some concessions if everything else has fallen into place.

   If you’re going to be wearing the suit a lot in the summer, consider linen. Sounds beachy, but it can be really quite comfortable. It is more difficult to keep wrinkle free so you might buy a steamer.

I think that’s all I have to say about buying a suit for now. Note that this covers only the suit, not the accessories (shirt, tie, pocket square, belt, socks, shoes). In all, I don’t think it’s all that bad of a guide for an off-the-cuff Wednesday morning composition. Feel free to give me your additions and feedback in the comments.

Without argument, Starbucks has played a supporting role in my life. It is a place of warmth–literally and figuratively–warmed by coffee, friends, and love. The experience is nearly perfected, and is consistent across cities, countries, and continents. In those areas where Starbucks can improve they welcome ideas from customers and staff from around the world via mystarbucksidea.com.

The moment you walk into a Starbucks the contemporary music fills the air mixed with various conversations and the occasional sound of spray from the milk steamer. The cashiers are consistently welcoming and happy to take your order. Even when your drink has four modifiers the cashiers or expediters are happy to record and call-out your order.

This is the first step to your own hand-crafted beverage, made just the way you want. Behind the bar the magic happens as the barista mixes tea, syrup, espresso, milk, and/or spices to make exactly what you are waiting for. As the time passes you can find a seat, chat with a friend or fellow customer, or catch up on emails via your BlackBerry.

Is there a better moment then the one when the barista calls your drink to announce that it is ready at the bar? In the summer the cool feeling of a frappuccino or iced latte is refreshing; and in the winter, the warmth from a latte is overwhelmingly appreciated. A visit to the condiment station to dress up your drink a little more, or just cap it with a travel lid is the last step before you partake in the exact thing that you crave.

If you are enjoying your beverage “for here” the Starbucks experience continues, with comfortable seating and intimate table settings. You can sit alone and read the daily news, or sit comfortable as a group from 2 to 10. This is universally true, whether you’re in Ottawa, Kingston, Vancouver, Frankfurt, London, Karlsruhe, Munich, Prague, Madrid, or Zurich. Anywhere in the world you are welcome, and feel welcome.

The wonder of Starbucks doesn’t stop at the experience–just ask anyone who works there. Starbucks provides benefits to more of their employees, as well as higher wages when compared to others in the food service industry. The Corporation encourages employees to contribute to the long-term success of the company, and offers a stock purchasing program to provide extra incentive. I have heard people describe working at Starbucks as working with friends, even if you have gone into a store knowing nobody on staff.

And perhaps it is that work atmosphere that creates the welcoming atmosphere for customers. I have no doubt that every little thing contributes to the Starbucks experience which leads me to endorse Starbucks Corporation in its entirety.

Hot

Grande 2-pump non-fat no-whip extra-hot white chocolate mocha. This is the perfect drink, save the price. Two pumps of Starbucks’s delicious white chocolate mocha syrup to match two shots of espresso (I’d get one pump in a tall, three pumps in a triple venti, etc.). Milk steamed to 170 degrees fahrenheit to last just that little bit longer (16 oz is a lot to drink). I (usually) opt for no-whip because I find it too sweet (hence the less syrup); I also usually opt for the non-fat milk because I prefer it in a large coffee drink. This drink is one of the more expensive ones, unfortunately. Starbucks must know just how tasty that white chocolate mocha syrup is! I think Jillb. first served me this tasty drink.

Half-sweet extra-hot upside-down caramel macchiato. If you’ve ever thought a caramel macchiato needed a little more of a caramel taste, and a little less in-your-face sweetness, try this. Vanilla syrup, espresso, caramel sauce, milk, topped with foam. The hot espresso and milk will melt the caramel sauce much better than if the sauce were on top. This drink is hit-and-miss when you order it. My experience is that an untrained barista will make it a vanilla latte with caramel sauce on top, completely missing the point. Perhaps it would be better to order it as a (for example) tall one-pump extra-hot vanilla latte with caramel syrup on the espresso. From the Internet.

Double short whole-milk no-foam latte. As close to a flat white as you’re likely to get at Starbucks. This is a coffee flavoured drink, and it’s delicious. I usually add a little bit of sugar. It is simple, and it tastes great. I read about this in England (not at a Starbucks).

For-here short whole-milk dry cappuccino. Europe in a cup. Add a little sugar, and get a spoon. If Starbucks had small tables that you stand at I would be in heaven. Personally, I have to have my cappuccino’s in a ceramic cup, which is why this one is for-here only. I find Starbucks’s cappuccino to have too much milk, which is why I prefer it dry. A remanence from my year abroad.

Cold

Iced grande two-pump light-ice (no-whip) white chocolate mocha. I’m sure it’s hard to see where this one comes from. I found that in Europe the iced white mochas come with whip; I don’t know if this is the International standard but I had never received whip on my iced drink in North America. Light Ice isn’t a trick to get something for free, I just find that this drink is so good that I end up drinking it so quickly that I have a huge cup full of ice. If going a size up or down, add or remove a pump of white chocolate syrup. This happens to be one of MK’s preferred iced beverages as well.

Coffee frappuccino. Sweet, thick, and delicious. Plan on having a lot of energy afterwards. This one I read off of the menu.

I just composed a farewell e-mail to say goodbye to those who I could personally say goodbye to before leaving. After I added everyone to the “to” field I realized that there were 60 names in this list and I thought it unfair for me to not write something here about my leaving. 60 people who have personally affected my life in the past year. 60 people that I can put more than just a face to–people whom I have relate experiences and emotions to. Surely you must understand how it can be hard to leave.

Last night I shipped my personal affects to Canada which turned out to be a long, time-consuming process. After spending well over an hour at the UPS warehouse I was received at the Mihut household where we ate a delicious beer can chicken, with potatoes and a salad, and then watched a couple of recently-aired TV shows. It was really relaxing, but sad for me at the same time. I definitely had the thoughts that I did not want to leave.

***

I started writing this post hours ago, but could not finish with the trip to the Asian restaurant, checking-in for the flight, saying goodbye, going for a final run, etc. Unfortunately now I don’t have time to reflect further, as I have to go and get ready for dinner, plus pack this evening. But let it be known that the people here are awesome and I will miss them dearly.

Update: Feel free to track me on flight AC839 tomorrow. No stalkers please. Thanks.

I will give you two examples of when I have bought a Bio product and why, and then I’ll move on to the point of my post. The first is when buying feta for the great feta pate. I strongly prefer fresh feta in the brine to vacuum-packed feta and my only non-vacuum-packed option was a Bio option. The second is when buying bananas and the Bio bananas looked bigger, brighter, and better than the non-Bio bananas; and no, I don’t think that’s because the Bio products are “better” but just that they didn’t have any Doles.

I thought a little bit about the Bio vs. non-Bio product debate and it really seems to me the target audience–or at least, the ones who get most passionate about it–are middle-aged women. Maybe women more generally, but certainly middle-aged women–the soccer mom age. When I came to that realization I could even recall a women trying to lecture me about the “low quality” of the milk I was buying at Aldi Süd in Germany. In the checkout line a woman even switched to English (of course, I didn’t understand her German) to tell me about how my milk lacks the quality and nutrition that more natural milks enjoy. (To be honest, all that milk talk made me want milk even more and I opened the carton as soon as I left the store.)

I can draw parallels between the Mac and PC debate. Macs are the “new” (not really, but you know), premium-priced, “better” products while PCs are the old, what everyone’s used to, commodities. Many Mac users are fanatics about the product, trying to persuade those around them to buy these “better for you” products. The majority of buyers don’t get involved in the argument, choosing to just buy what they’re used to (PCs). There are also some people on the PC-side who are decidedly PC and are vocal about it.

This realization made me laugh. In this parallel I am undoubtably on opposing sides. I thought about why these two particular debates are of interest to me and can explain it simply by saying that both computers and food are things of interest to me. Clearly the reasons why I use Macs are vastly different than why I buy non-Bio food products but both positions I have come to after considerable thought and experience.

What debates are important to you, and which side are you on? Do you see any parallels to the “better, more expensive” vs “traditional, better value” examples here?