> I think you need to readjust your lens.
Do you regularly buy suits, and have you bought one recently? You post is the kind of unfounded delusions people have about suits (easy to spot when someone mentions the "need" for bowties...) that keep them from buying one. Discount suits are a thing. The last suit I bought cost $50. Polyester fabric is cheap, far more durable than cotton, and comfortable. Alterations are $15-30. Department stores have sales - my summer suit is a great linen I bought for under $100 from a major department store (I think it was Nordstroms).
> That's enough jeans and t-shirts to last you over a decade.
Suits will easily last you for over a decade, as long as you don't cycle in them (that will destroy any pair of pants quickly). My first suit turns 15 years old this year and it is still in good shape. Polyester and wool fabric will outlast the cotton that jeans and t-shirts are made out of many times over. Suits as work clothing work out to be less expensive than replacing the discount $25 jeans and t-shirts that fall apart after a year.
Mail-order made-to-measure dress shirts are less expensive than off-the-rack dress shirts in department stores. Last time I ordered I paid about $40 per shirt (easier to buy in bulk once a decade... again these shirts last), department store ones were $80 and up.