Surprise him with a suit: three ways to do it

A suit cut for him is the gift most men never buy themselves, which is exactly why it makes a good surprise. The one thing you can’t do is measure him in secret, and you don’t need to: the surprise is the gift, and the measuring happens with him, when he’s ready.

This is part of helping him dress better, the guide for her. Here are three ways to do it.

1. A gift certificate, and he books his own fitting

The simplest surprise, and the one that works for any occasion. You reserve the gift of a made-to-measure suit, he opens a certificate or a note, and he books his own fitting with Sam, who measures him and helps him choose the cloth. You never need to know his size, and nothing is guessed. How a suit gift certificate works goes through it step by step, and the Gift of Style is where it starts.

2. The suit, drawn, in the card

If you’d like him to open something he can see, design it first. On the Drawing Board you can choose the cloth, the lapels, the buttons and the tie, and copy a link that shows the finished drawing; sent on WhatsApp or by text, it arrives as the picture. Put it in the card or send it the morning of. He can change anything he likes at the fitting, and most men enjoy that part.

If there’s a wedding coming, the Gown Match draws his suit to go with your gown, and sends him his suit without the gown in it.

3. Sam, at his office

The best surprise of the three: the suit walks in the door. Sam comes to his office for the first appointment, measures him by hand, brings a selection of cloth, and talks through what the suit is for, without him leaving the building.

• Book it online, choosing At your office, or call 647-458-0711. Say it’s a surprise, and Sam calls you, not him, to confirm the time and the address.
• Clear it with his calendar. A surprise that lands in the middle of a meeting isn’t one. Someone at his office can usually find the right moment.
• The fitting is at the studio. Three to four weeks later the finished suit goes on him at the studio in Vaughan, where the light, the mirrors and the cloth are. That’s the one trip he makes.

Does Sam come to you? explains why the fitting stays at the studio.

What not to keep secret

• His size. Don’t guess it. The measurements are taken after you give the gift, at his first appointment.
• The timing. A suit takes three to four weeks with one fitting, and two to three months before a wedding is comfortable. If the surprise is for a date, work back from it.
• The cloth, if he has opinions. Leave the final choice to him; a suit he chose is a suit he’ll wear.

When it makes sense

An anniversary, a milestone birthday, a promotion, the new job, or the wedding itself. Gifting your husband a suit has more on the occasions, and getting him to a tailor covers the appointment once the surprise is out.