When it comes to getting a raise or getting a new job appearance matters. While you can clamor all you want about the usefulness of judging people by their appearance it has been shown time and time again that good looking well dressed people enjoy higher salaries and that many employers place your appearance including your attire above your college transcript when it comes to the hiring process. Personally for guys there isn't anything better than a tailored suit to make a great impression.

Purchasing a suit can be an expensive outing especially if you want one that is stylish and fitted to your measurements. When I went looking for a suit last month my options were to spend $400 and up on a custom tailored suit at a local establishment or shell out for big name stylish two piece at the local department store forgoing the elegance of a custom tailored solution. Thankfully before I purchased a new one I discovered that the handmade suit I picked up in Vietnam a few years back would make due as long as I didn't dish out any bear hugs at the reception. Since this isn't a long term solution and the airfare to fly back to Vietnam to pick up another custom tailored suit for $80 would outpace the savings I have been looking for an affordable tailored suit online.

Some deals only come around once or twice a year, but offer savings that justify the wait. This post is part of our series on such 'don't miss' sales.

When I think about dressing for business, it's usually just that, thinking. In my world, a stout pair of jeans, a clean t-shirt and a sweatshirt will serve you for just about everything. Yet there's always been a part of me that wanted the natty look of a midnight blue, three piece, pinstriped Brooks Brothers suit. The company is famous for outfitting dignitaries from Abraham Lincoln to John F. Kennedy, as well as popular figures like Clark Gable, Andy Warhol and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, so it should be able to gild me as well.

The suits normally cost a minor royalty's ransom-- the Golden Fleece two-button pinstripe, for example, retails for $1,600. However, the company's semi-annual sales bring them a little closer to the Earth I inhabit. After Christmas and in June, Brooks Brothers knocks 25% off of much of its stock. If you open a Brooks Brothers credit account at that time, you can bump this discount up to 33%, quite a healthy savings on an outfit just south of $2,000.

Brooks Brothers was established in 1818, during the administration of John Quincy Adams, making it the nation's oldest clothing retailer. With 170 U.S. locations and 70 in other countries, even we in the hinterlands can dress like the famous. You may use this store locater to find Brooks Brothers near you.

Even at 33% off the regular price, those fantastic Golden Fleece suits are still a bit out of my reach, though. For now, I'll just have to imagine how a $1,600 suit must feel. Perhaps I should resume pursuing that law degree after all. Ya think?