There's a lot of good advice here, which I agree with most.
Jos. A. Banks gets a lot of mentions, but I didn't think of them as a budget store, although I haven't been in one in over a year. I have several shirts and accessories from them.
Brooks Brothers - half of my clothes are from there, but they are even farther away from a low-budget place.
Already mentioned were thrift stores and TJ Maxx, which is great advice.
Also try:
- Consignment Stores
- JC Penney - I think this is one of the best places for new suits, shirts and accessories for a tight budget.
I don't have a tight budget, and I have several custom-tailored suits, and I still buy items from JC Penney because they have some nice styles with decent quality - 100% wool and 100% cotton.
A lot of the cheaper stuff has polyester and cost more than JCP.
I have some stuff from JC Penney that is quite good quality, and they have some nice styles, and they have many of the extra added features that better suits have, and many low-budget suits don't have. They have 3 inside pockets, actual real lapel buttonholes for adding a boutonniere or lapel pin. Most cheaper suits have a fake buttonhole on the lapel, and have a certain percentage of polyester.
JCP also has 100% cotton shirts that are high quality and priced ridiculously low. I just got a bunch of shirts for a client at JCP that are 100% cotton and on sale for $30 each. In contrast, Kohl's had brand name Geoffrey Beene shirts for $50 that had polyester in them!
#1 RULE: Proper fit - Whatever you get, take it to a tailor and have it altered to fit you perfectly.
#2 RULE: No man made materials - Just say no to polyester. Try to go 100% wool and 100% cotton, or in the least have the majority of the material as one of those. A cheaper suit jacket may have a polyester lining, and that is ok as long as the outer material is natural fiber.
One more note on JCP. (I'm about to spam my own forum just a little bit.) The suit I wore for my photo shoot for my new personal image & brand consulting business is from JCP. See it here: http://immaculatestyle.com/