Yes, I just bought a bunch of dress shirts and Bermuda shorts at a consignment store – what a great deal, and DS couldn’t care less where they come from. I suspect that perhaps other than interesting socks, he will default to a uniform within the formal dress code – blue blazer, blue or white shirt, tan khakis, and a couple of favorite ties. He said one belt and one pair of shoes is enough. Maybe 2, just in case…
We have some excellent consignment shops and I also use online for used clothing. Very good ideas. Nothing I bought has visible labels so that is good.
Unless the item is worn inside-out. (Looking at you, ChoatieKid.)
Was laughing… Until I realized that I too was wearing my pajama top inside out. I checked the label but its so weathered that its now just a white slip with grey squiggles… So its all good :-bd …
FYI - Old Navy is having a sale on shorts for $12 today, many of the styles would be acceptable at BS.
^^^Are those winter shorts or summer shorts? Oh wait, there’s no difference. Boys will wear them in a blizzard. Go figure.
Working on getting a suit for DS. Heard that his school prefers one-color for their formal dinners (vs. khaki bottom and navy jacket). I think this may be because boys wearing khaki bottoms wear khakis that are too casual…not sure if khaki colored dress pants are not allowed period. (trying to find out but no response yet).
What is the preferred color for a suit? Navy? Charcoal Grey? or ??
Thinking Navy would work best because then he could also wear it with khakis (to another event).
One rarely goes wrong with a navy suit, but for one suit, any dark color is fine.
@sunnyschool: I don’t recommend cross pairing a suit jacket with non-suit pants, except in a real pinch. In general, blue blazers/sportcoats have different features (the fabric, buttons, etc.) that easily identify them as “separates”, whereas a suit jacket is made to go with a certain set of suit pants. Another reason to avoid doing this is that you are subjecting one part of a suit to more wear (and generally more cleaning cycles) so that it can start to age faster than the pants. I’m sure someone is going to call me a stickler for this, but c’est la vie.
BTW, a pair of grey (generally wool or wool blend) slacks is another, dressier, alternative to khakis. And IMO, might pair better with the repurposed suit jacket than khakis.
I am with skieurope that for a first suit, navy is a good choice, with a very dark grey a second. Not to sound overly morbid, but I think, if one only has one suit, it should be something you could wear to a wedding, a job interview, or a funeral.
I’m not, and I agree. My dad told us we should send both suit pieces to the cleaners even if only one needs to be cleaned.
A lot of businessmen will buy a suit with 2 pairs of pants. Probably wouldn’t be a bad idea for students who have to wear them regularly. Jackets often get taken off at some point at an event so see less wear. But, boys usually outgrow stuff before they wear it out.
@sunnyschool I’m not sure where your son is in his growth cycle but be cautious about buying something in May that he won’t need until September. Some of my kid’s growth spurts seemed to happen overnight like corn.
Thanks…yeah a bit worried about the summer growth spurt but was just thinking of erring on bigger side. There’s a great place where we are this week to buy suits and sports jackets.
OK, so let me understand (as I see now in dress code that dress khakis are fine with navy sportcoat)…for formal dinners at most schools, what do the boys wear? I always thought this was the style most boys wear at BS because it is preppy and because a formal one-color suit may be too formal. I lean toward the preppy look (as does DS by default bc he doesn’t care too much…)
Probably dress khakis with a navy blazer. 
Even now, in college, that is pretty much the standard dressy option for non-interview type events. Although as mentioned above, grey pants are a nice touch as well.
I’d say most boys in my school didn’t have a suit until senior year and/or they stopped growing. Of course, I attended a casual dress school, so YMMV…
Yes, nice khakis with navy blazer. It’s the uniform. 
S (casual dress school) has grey slacks and khakis to wear with his blue blazer depending on the occasion.
Found a bunch of stuff. I err on side of getting everything a little big.
Do “tailored shorts” mean absolutely no cargo pockets or would mostly tailored with a small side pocket be OK?
I’m not sure I’ve ever used tailored shorts and cargo pockets in the same sentence. I would assume that any side exterior pocket will make the shorts no longer “tailored.”
We have some that just have a slit in the side (ie good spot to put an ID or key), but I would still describe them as “tailored”.
If you want to post a link of the shorts, we can opine better. To me these are tailored shorts: https://www.macys.com/shop/product/polo-ralph-lauren-mens-stretch-classic-fit-shorts?ID=2995721&pla_country=US&CAGPSPN=pla&CAWELAID=120156340012894460&CAAGID=21472339985&CATCI=aud-76852206748:pla-89833969625&cm_mmc=Google_Mens_PLA--Men’s+Apparel±+Polo+Ralph+Lauren±+GS_Shorts--89119370945-_-pg3409_c_kclickid_7bcafee7-32d0-429a-834a-57c2bcdef180&trackingid=403x3409&catargetid=120156340003435653&cadevice=c&gclid=CMeVgsrq5dMCFc1WDQodHj4L5Q
I would agree, but a slit on the side is not a cargo pocket. As @doschicos says, post a link, and we can give a better opinion.