Bartorelli Napoli

Start with the shoulder, because it is the one measurement a tailor cannot fix cleanly. The seam should end where your own shoulder ends, with no overhang past the bone and no divot in the sleeve below it. Almost everything else is negotiable: sleeves shorten, the waist takes in, the collar can be closed down against the neck. Buy for the shoulder and the chest, then budget for alterations rather than hoping a size down solves a fit problem in the body.

Two will cover almost everything if they are the right two, a navy and a mid-grey, both plain or nearly so. That pair carries work, interviews, weddings and funerals without anyone tracking which one appeared last week, and it doubles as four jackets and four pairs of trousers once you start splitting them. The next suit is where personality goes — a check, a stripe, a lighter weight for summer — and it is the one to buy last rather than first.

Yes. Every piece DIHSAN sells is the brand's own — genuine designer product, with the maker's hardware, stamping and markings intact. Nothing is a reproduction or a licensed imitation.

No. Duties are included on every DIHSAN order, and US orders include taxes as well.

Yes. Eligible Bartorelli Napoli pieces can go back within 14 days of the ship date, for store credit rather than cash, and shipping charges are non-refundable. Items discounted 70% or more — plus swimwear, intimates, and limited-release styles at any discount — are final sale.