You need to look at athletic cuts. Try the J Crew "Crosby" line. In the world of suits these are reasonably priced Italian wool suits that are well made and last for a long time.

https://www.jcrew.com/mens_feature/TheSuitShop.jsp?sidecar=true#/#Crosby

I saw the Crosby suit but wasn't wanting to spend $600 on a suit. I can only think of one occasion in the last 5 years where he wore one. Unfortunately our parents are in their 80's and I think we need one on hand. ;-(

Try Burlington Coat Factory or Kohls. You can get a decent suit for a decent price, and then have it altered by your local tailor. I recently had to research and buy 3 suits, and there is little difference between a $600 suit and a $200 suit. It's only when you go above a grand and get expert tailoring above that, that the suit quality is truly noticeable. Focus on the "fun" stuff that will separate it, like shirt and tie.

ETA one of my finds was a beautiful Calvin Klein suit from Burlington. It was under $150 and needed altering, but the material was very nice. Sizes were very limited though.

Have you tried Macy's? Now is the time for really good sales. I would look at the $600 suit. if it fits and does not need alterations, it will a lifetime investment.

This suit can be worn to weddings as well as possible funerals.

I'm lucky because we have a big outlet mall fairly near-ish that often have 2 for 1 specials on nice designer suits. We got a Discounted Hugo and Hickey for the price of one discounted suit. You have to try on a zillion though. The main thing is to get a good fit AND nice fabric. There is nothing more horrible than a man in some sort of synthetic polyester-y suit. Another idea is to relook at the Crosby suit "jacket" in black, then go to a TJ max type place and look for nice quality black wool slacks. You can save a couple hundred right there.

When I worked in banking, I bought my suits at Jos A Bank. Idk if their quality is still good or not. Anyway, they do have really great sales, and sell men's suits too.

http://www.josbank.com/suits

The interesting thing is that he has a suit from who knows when that fits nicely except he can't lift his arms. This makes it awkward at a wedding or funeral!

Has the cut of suits changed or has he just oddly bulked up in the shoulders and upper arms? I mean we do Body Pump but don't lift much weight!

My brother wears a 46 long suit jacket. He has a 29" waist. He buys separates. Too much tailoring would be needed to get pants to fit.

My son has a similar build and has a suit by Joseph Abboud that he bought at Bloomingdales. Brooks Brothers suits tend to be on the boxier side with plenty of shoulder room, but they are expensive.

Localeater, is your brother Michael Phelps?

My DH has the same problem. He is now retired and doesn't wear a suit often. He found athletic cut suits at Men's Wearhouse and Jos Bank, but preferred the ones at Men's W'house. Name brands, and they were great to deal with to make the necessary alterations of the pants, hems, etc. outlets would be another great source but we don't have one nearby except Burlington and it's hit or miss.

Well, we went to Macy's and purchased a Michael Kors suit. The jacket and pants were separates so that helped. I was able to get thru to him that he is not going to be lifting heavy things, moving furniture , etc in a suit. He seemed to think that he needed to be able to lift his arms over his head or pull his arms forward while raising them up.

He can comfortably hug some one. Isn't that all you really need to do at a wedding or funeral?

Hhirrno -- no if he was he could afford a custom made suit

Another vote for Macy's. Lots of Black Friday sales going on and their prices are reasonable. As for the shoulder issue, I imagine you would size up and then tailor at waist to fit.

Rnmom, He might have to be a pallbearer but you're right, it's mostly just reach out to hug someone.

Many men are funny about clothes. Once at a men's store, I was one of 3-4 female companions waiting outside the fitting rooms for our guys. Each guy came out, the female asked "so, how does it fit?" and each guy replied "I don't know." Then looked down sheepishly at whatever they were wearing. It was funny because it happened with every single guy. Well, dears, those of us not wearing the clothes may have an opinion about how they look but only you can tell how they feel.

My stepfather never bought a suit without my mom going along with him. She would ask the relevant questions, go over to lift up his arms, have him bend over and sit down, and check out the material and stitching. It would be funny to see the salesmen looking at her, saying "this is the highest quality", and her finding things like badly matched patterns.