Guide to Wedding Suits – Complete Guide

Congratulations! Although you are most likely not married yet; we have reached the end of the wedding guide and you survived it!! You can view the entire guide here and there is also a link to the right —>

We will continue our weekly wedding planning from a male prospective on Mondays but our guide will switch gears and focus on another topic. I will leave you guessing – stay tuned for next week for the next edition of the Sartorial Savillian Guide series.

Guide to Wedding Suits – Part XIV: (Final) Destination

So you want to have your wedding on a far off beach. Well, no one blames you – weddings can be uber stressful and weigh the equivalent of a small child in coin.

The bride has many choices of beach-style wedding dresses in a variety of colours, yet what will the groom wear?

A 3-peice suit with tie is way too formal for a beach setting meanwhile shorts or rolled up pants is a bit too casual and may appear unkempt. You have to maintain some sort of formality but with the right balance. Regardless, this all boils down to personal preference. If you have your heart set on a 3-peice suit, then go for it.

After all my bashing of white suits so far in my guides, now I will embrace it with open arms!

The best way to start is wait for your bride to decide on her outfit. Depending on the formality of your bride’s dress (very traditional wedding dress or casual beach dress) this will help you decide on your look. For a traditional bride, consider wearing a white tuxedo and/or one with tails with barefeet, sandals or loafers.  If she is taking the route of casual and fun – then consider wearing an off-white, linen, loosely fitted, collared shirt (short-sleeved optional) with white or tanned cotton or linen loosely fitted pants with barefeet or sandals. Another option is getting a tanned cotton blazer to wear on top. Depending on the heat, this may be too many layers, but again, it depends on formality of the bride’s dress.

You can certainly wear some colour in aqua or pink shirt, yet I like to keep it white because your surroundings will be colourful enough.

Some tips to remember:

• Do not wear a belt or tuck in your linen shirt into your linen pants. The look is supposed to be casual.
• Linen wrinkles quickly so don’t worry too much about it being perfectly crisp.
• Roll up your pants if you are taking pictures in the water, otherwise keep them down for the ceremony.
• Don’t be afraid to show some chest.

Please visit my friend Jennifer Borgh’s website for all details on planning your destination wedding!

Guide to Wedding Suits – Part XIII: Final Recommendations

So we have reached the end. I want to leave you with 4 final thoughts. There are a few things that we commonly tell all of our wedding clients and that we strongly recommend.

1.

We recommend a mixture of silk and wool or a Super 130 and higher wool. The silk and higher Super number will create a desirable sheen that will slightly shimmer in the light. The wife will already be shimmering so you don’t want to appear dull or matte beside her.

2.

A vest in the SAME FABRIC. This is like a suit of armour for you. It will keep everything well shaped, fitted, and well put together. A vest definitely creates a sense of formality that is required at your wedding.

3.

A crisp white shirt. Occasionally, the groom will want to get a crazy purple colour. I strongly recommend sticking to a white shirt with cufflinks and proportionate collar (depending on your face/neck shape).

4.

Your fiancé’s approval. I do not like to sell anything without the fiancé being present. There is nothing worse than a groom happily buying away and then later I get a phone call saying that the wife did not approve it. Always bring your fiancé along to all appointments!

Guide to Wedding Suits – Part XII: Common Groom Pitfalls

So we are nearing the end of the wedding suit guide, and before I exhaust the subject, here is my official list of “don’ts” all grooms should know. I admit some points are strict, but there are only 8 points that I can’t tolerate, so its not too bad.

• Do not mix rented AND bought OR custom garments together. The rented items will make the bought/custom items appear shabby. An example of this is renting a bright fuchsia vest with a wool Super 130 suit. As a result of the combination, the suit will look shabby as well.
• Do not try new things like a bow tie or white jacket if you have never done this before. Your wedding is not a good time to start experimenting with your style. Unless, you are extremely comfortable with yourself.
• Do not match perfectly with your groomsmen, in fact try not to match at all. Yes, there is a colour palette and theme but the groom suit should be the best and a different colour or shade than anyone else.
• Shoes are extremely important and comfort is not really the main goal. Do not wear shabby shoes that will potentially match a shabby fuchsia vest. Step it up, literally with proper leather lace-ups.
• Do not overdo the accessories, tie, pocket square OR boutonniere and cuff links is enough. These should all match eachother and the colour pallette.
• Do not wear a funky coloured shirt, stick to crisp white shirt with a french cuff (optional).
• Do not take off your jacket until much later in the reception (only when the cameras are turned off and people are hoisting you on their shoulders).
• Do not put anything in your trouser or jacket pockets – as this will ruffle the suit and not look pristine for pictures – give all of your man items to your bestman (that’s what he’s there for)

Guide to Wedding Suits: Part XI – the Morning Coat

Not a coat to be worn at night is the obvious distinction. It is also quite long (like a coat) with 2 tails at the back; the front cuts away from the body, it is also known as a ”cut-away” coat.

It’s definitely on my wish list of items to buy – the fitted women’s version of course, and I can wear it anytime. Unlike for men, the morning coat is worn for morning events like weddings ceremonies by the groom or close male family members of the groom. It’s a special occasion jacket that is more or less rented or forgotten about in a dusty closet. Sadly, its overall airtime is limited.

Last week I described male formal dress code – black tie or white tie – the morning coat would work as a substitute for a tuxedo jacket. The groom usually wears a black morning coat while other male family members wear grey.

But alas, who really follows rules anymore? I would like to make an exception for the sad and lonely morning coat. Wouldn’t it be nice if men could wear it anytime and anywhere? It’s definitely a peice that has geniune history and character; please make an exception here oh sartorial gods…

 

Brooks Brothers – Fall 2007

 

 

 

Guide to Wedding Suits: Part X: (Extinct) Formal Dress Codes

After surviving the blip of “casual Friday’s” in the 90′s due to the whiz kid internet millionaires who decided to wear shorts to board meetings, we now sit in an era where formal attire is back to being hot.

Everyone is going back to basics when it comes to workwear. But, where does that leave formal wear? Does anyone really follow the “rules” or furthermore do people actually send wedding invites that read: black tie or white tie? I believe it’s quite rare.

So rare, that most people don’t really know what it means anymore and wield a fantasy of James Bond with lots of guns.

The most common formal attire is White Tie or Black Tie, this refers specifically to the colour of the bowtie to be worn. Black tie refers to a black bow tie which is traditionally worn with a tuxedo.

White Tie is a lot more complicated and ultra formal. It refers to a white bow as well as suit “tails” (literally your suit has two tails at the back). This ensemble is quite strict and the epitome of sartorial-ism. The jacket resembles a tuxedo jacket yet it is quite short from the front that is not button-able (yet has 3 fabric coverd buttons on each side) and of course with tails at the back that can be seperated by a vent. It is worn with a white vest, wing-tip collared white shirt, white bow tie, tuxedo pants, patent (Oxford) shoes, black top hat, white gloves, and sometimes a walking stick!

Next week, I will discuss the morning coat which is specific to weddings.

 

Guide to Wedding Suits: Part IX: The White Jacket Mystery

Let me take this opportunity to clarify the apparent mystery behind the white jacket. It is a rarely worn entity due to the limited nature of its appropriate-ness. Like many things in menswear, the white jacket is buried in sartorial rules, so much so that it is confusing and perhaps best to avoid it completely!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Quick facts:

• Only for summer (May long weekend to Sepember long weekend)
• Only for night events (after 6pm)
• Only worn with black trousers
• Best worn with black or white bowtie or tie
• It is not pure white, usually off-white wool

Having said all that, it is an exception to the even stricter rules of the traditional dinner suit and morning suit. (I may discuss later).

The white jacket traditionally is a single breasted, 1 button, shawl lapel, and worn with a plain white shirt, and bow tie. However, these days most rules are thrown out the window. Most people just want to look (or atleast feel) like James Bond, and a white dinner jacket will surely achieve that task.

 

 

Guide to Wedding Suits: Part VIII – Shirts

Formality to the Nth Degree

Is this a shirt you see yourself wearing on your wedding day? Perhaps. It compliments tuxedo as the wings on the collar keep a bow tie in place. Furthermore the bib type front go well with a shawl collar and cummerbund.

However, what if you are wearing a 2-button black suit sans the tuxedo options. Okay, maybe a satin peaked lapel. Then, what shirt would work?

I am not one to promote the endless possibilities of matching your bride. Furthermore, I am completely against getting a solid eggplant coloured shirt in order to match the wedding theme.

My suggestion is to stick to a high quality cotton white shirt – with a collar that matches your proportions and with cufflink able cuffs. There is no need to over do it. For a groom, simple is better.

After spending money on a quality shirt, you could definitely wear it again to work or other formal occasions. Meanwhile a bib and/or wing tip collar would gather dust in your closet or worst yet – your arm pit stains will become apart of its legacy for the next groom.

Guide to Wedding Suits: Part VII – Accessorizing Part I

There is always much talk and confusion over accessorizing a suit so that the colours match the bride down to the pantone number. (Gag me with a spoon!)

A level of matching is acceptable but there is no need to match exactly as this task is close to impossible. Furthermore, there is a certain risk and creativity level that is required to match outside the realms of basic primary colours. Yet, how do you express yourself while remaining classic, and tasteful? By experimenting and try different combinations along with your wedding suit and shirt. Here are a few beginner combinations that may help:

For the Risk-Adverse Groom who is slightly “Emo” yet wants to be slightly funky

- this combination will go well with a bride’s outfit that has silver accents

For the Groom who is okay with wearing pink

- this combination will go great with a bride’s silver/pink/white outfit

Wedding Guide to Suits: Part VI – Cummerbunds

I was not going to include the “Cummerbund” in this guide since it’s purely a rent only item (although you could buy it, but why?) Furthermore, it reminds me of my grade school choir where we were made to wear bright royal blue cummerbunds for performances.

But then, I discovered that it originated from India and was adopted by the British. How it was able to transfer from ultilitarian usage to formal attire is beyond me and my simple theories. The indians used it as a way to carry small items around their waist. The British decided it could be used as a way to catch bread crumbs at a formal dinner function, perhaps a snack for later?

The cummerbund makes up a formal tuxedo outfit and is included in the rental package. It should be worn pleats facing up (too catch the breadcrumbs) with a single breasted jacket, bowtie and no vest.

I would suggest sticking to a vest. If you must, stick to black, grey or as crazy as red, based on the theme with a matching bowtie.