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Wedding Suits

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Benny the Ball

19:47 / 08.08.05

As some folk will know, I'm due to get married next year. As yet I haven't thought much about what to wear, but as the future Mrs The Ball is rushing around trying on all types of dress, I've been facing up to the fact that I need to organise something soon. I'm not the biggest wearer of suits, and as it is taking place in hot climes and not too formal a setting have kind of pushed the idea of a morning suit out of my head, unless otherwise persuaded. My idea is a very smart and well cut, single breasted grey suit. However, where does one go about looking for such an item and what would one expect to pay? Any ideas, either of tailors, styles, materials, cuts, etc etc would be gratefull. Also open to general discussion to what others have worn and why it worked, why it was chosen etc etc.

Tryphena Absent

20:13 / 08.08.05

I don't know much about this but I think the first question you need to ask yourself is how much money you want to spend?

Tryphena Absent

20:19 / 08.08.05

You also might want to take a look at Haus' contribution on white formalwear in Stupid AFD Questions. Primarily though I'd think about the type of dress your fiancee will be likely to choose, how smart it will be and just what you're going to need to wear to balance it out. Remember you're standing up there with her and you're going to look foolish if you're underdressed.

Aertho

13:56 / 09.08.05

Where will the cermony take place? Reception? How tall is Mrs BTB? If I recall correctly, you're a giant.

While you want to look great for the camera, you must consider comfort first of all.

I used to work at a flower shop and later at a reception hall, I've seen great combinations and utterly horrible decisions. Fill us in.

Benny the Ball

18:02 / 09.08.05

The ceremony is taking place in a Hotel in Santa Barbara, in May. Mrs The Ball measures in at around 5' 7". My favourite colour is purple, hers is green. I've seen a gorgeous Paul Smith shirt with double cuffs that I quite like the idea of, and a tie of either purple or green. As for how much I'm expecting to spend, I've got a figure of about £450 for a suit, anything around this amount is worth a listen I think - or am I being completely unrealistic?

Alex's Grandma

07:37 / 10.08.05

Hmm. Grey suit, purple/green shirt, green/purple tie... It's a long shot, B the B, but it might just work.

Aertho

17:21 / 10.08.05

I agree. While I feel the green and purple is a bit festive, I won't deny a brother the right to have flair.

A nicely tailored mid-tone cool gray suit would be very nice for a summer wedding. Still, have a backup. And the gray suit will work around most everything.

Benny the Ball

17:42 / 10.08.05

Hmmm, interesting. I was thinking more along the lines of a nice white shirt, and with the lining done one colour, the tie the other, but.... who knows.

grant

18:09 / 10.08.05

What's the general feel of the wedding?

Santa Barbara in May... hot enough for a white dinner jacket, probably.

Grey suit? If that's what you're into, then go for it. Just remember that purple pinstripes + green tie = The Joker.

Benny the Ball

18:46 / 10.08.05

I doubt I could pull the Joker look off. As for the feel, well, I'll soon be out there having a look around the place and getting a feel of what to expect, as, of yet, I have been trapped in the UK working away (only twelve more sleeps!). Not sure of the exact route, it seems to be going along some mish mesh of Japanese meets Mexican meets Taoism route at present. I do know the first song, I do know who my best man'll be, and I know that I want a rice steamer on the wedding gift list - but Mrs The Ball is driving herself insane trying to find a dress, so I felt like bringing an air of calm about proceedings, opting for the Grey Suit goes with everything look, so she doesn't feel trapped in a mood or style. It'll be in a garden, there is a lotus pond, and that's about as far ahead as I know for now.

ONLY NICE THINGS

07:53 / 11.08.05

Grant,if you are trying to fool this poor innocent boy into wearing a dinner jacket in the afternoon, I am going personally to destroy you. Atom by atom.

Benny: Americans will let you get away with almost anything. Bear in mind, however, that you will look like the photographer in the photographs, especially if your wife is wearing a traditional wedding dress. If the weedding is semi-formal or informal then lounge suit, theoretically at least, is acceptable, although the tropics suggests white or light - is your ideal suit a dove or slate grey?

If you're wedded (if you'll excuse the term) to a single-breasted two-piece, you might want to think about a waistcoat - white silk is traditional. Bear in mind that your shirt, be it ever so expensive, is an undergarment.

Jack Vincennes

09:12 / 11.08.05

Do you have any kind of Scottish connection, Benny? Could a kilt and full regalia be an option? Plenty of scope for green (and to a lesser extent, purple) there...

(Sorry. Going to a Scottish wedding today. Possibly influencing me a little here.)

Jack Fear

14:58 / 11.08.05

JINGS!

HELP MA BOAB!

Benny the Ball

17:47 / 11.08.05

Not scottish, but Irish. I've always felt a bit odd about the whole kilt thing though. A waistcoat I think could be the answer to take the suit up from just smart to something more. The suit, I'd imagine would be more slate grey - so would a white waistcoat be lost on a slate grey suit with a white shirt? Or would it be best to go for a slight tone to one or the other?

ONLY NICE THINGS

19:11 / 11.08.05

Ivory silk, pale gold brocade, would be traditional and contrasting...

Benny the Ball

18:29 / 12.08.05

Okay, I spoke with a costume designer today at work, and they suggested a couple of tailors (one in Brighton) and also suggested that I get a grey suit with a touch of blue in it to bring out my eyes (I have very dark blue eyes). So should I be moving more towards the blue tie with a grey/blue light suit and waistcoat route? I'm thinking aloud here, so any answers are helpful.

Gresham Blake?

That's the one. You familiar with it, Haus?

grant

17:28 / 15.08.05

Did he say afternoon?

Missed that.

Ah -- "morning suit" out.

Up to speed now.

Goodness Gracious Meme

18:29 / 15.08.05

Gresham Blake

*drools*

Gresham Blake do wonderful work. (and you'd be in the company of Johnny Depp, who apparently uses them!)

Benny the Ball

10:27 / 16.08.05

Okay the options are building, and yet getting narrowed down.

So far we have;

Gresham Blake

Mark Stephen Marengo

Ted Baker

Paul Smith

as all viable options for places to pick up a suit.

Anyone used any of these folk - anyone say why they're good or bad?

ONLY NICE THINGS

15:12 / 16.08.05

Did he say afternoon?

Missed that.

Ah -- "morning suit" out.

Grant, focus.

Morning suit can be worn until 6pm, after which one changes to evening dress (black or white tie, depending). If your ceremony starts in the afternoon and ends after 6, morning dress can be worn until such time as an opportunity presents itself for a change of clothes (that is, before dinner), but what kind of a psychopath would want to put their loved ones through that?

Black tie is often worn at afternoon weddings in the US. If you want to look like the _waiter_ in the photographs, this is perfectly respectable.

grant

18:10 / 16.08.05

Yes, black tie is worn for *anything* "fancy" in the U.S., regardless of time. And "suits" tend to be business-wear-only. I mean, I know there are suits and there are suits, but the word always makes me think first of a job interview. Focus, yes.

Are we going to get a picture of the eventual suit, BtB?

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:31 / 16.08.05

Young men dressed in evening suit (black tie) early in Harvard were generally ribbed with cries of "Check, please!" This always seemed to me the right combination of friendly and monitive.

Are you going for bespoke or made to measure, BtB?

ONLY NICE THINGS

21:33 / 16.08.05

Grant: Americans actually make it slightly easier. The suit you're thinking of - the job interview suit - is a "business suit". We call it a lounge suit, because it's the suit you wear for lounging about in. Otherwise, morning suit is poshos, and then evening suit can be black or white tie. There is also mess dress and subfusc, but neither of those is a regular concern.

Benny the Ball

04:19 / 17.08.05

There will be pictures - I will be bespoke in fact here's a link to a couple of Gresham Blake one's that I liked the look of, maybe in different colours but none the less the suits are fine...

a pair of suits

ONLY NICE THINGS

06:54 / 17.08.05

Oooh, trousers. GGM, have a word...

mondo a-go-go

17:42 / 18.08.05

Would you consider getting your suit in California, since you're getting married there? I know a very-well-dressed mod in LA who might be able to point you in the direction of good places to get suits...

Benny the Ball

18:03 / 18.08.05

It's an idea. Any recommendations are greatly appreciated. I'm heading over to see the chosen one on monday (joy!!!) so will no doubt have an eye out for any suits or tailors that we pass by.

Sekhmet

16:32 / 19.08.05

I'm flabbergasted that you're being allowed to choose your own clothes. Every wedding I've ever been involved with put the groom, as well as all the attendants, entirely at the bride's mercy.

And that, my friends, is how you end up wearing periwinkle or seafoam.

Bully for you - or Mrs. the Ball, anyway - for being oh so progressive.

Mourne Kransky

18:55 / 31.08.05

Benny the Ball doesn't wear trousers, does he?

I can see your jacket may need smartening up though. And are you standing on your wedding cake?

Logos

01:23 / 02.09.05

If you go for the green/purple striped tie with the gray suit, I'd strongly recommend a really nice white shirt. It stands the test of time, so those wedding pictures don't have to disappear under the bed after five years go by.

Good suits can be found at any price, depending on your budget. If you tell me what you can spend, I can tell you roughly what you can get for it. Also, expect to spend $50+ on having the suit adjusted by a tailor. It is worth it regardless of what you start out with.

Alternately, the basic, no ruffles tux is always classic.

Benny the Ball

08:59 / 02.09.05

Xoc - we debated about doing a bottomless/topless wedding, but couldn't decide on how it worked best. The cake, being a top layered tirramisu, certainly wouldn't take my weight though.

Logos - nice one. I'm looking to spend around £400-650 (so, er, $750-1100?) all in (nice shirt I've seen costs £75, need shoes, waistcoat, tie, cufflinks also, so guessing about £200 on all this and about 400-450 on suit itself). I thought about a tux, having never worn one, but felt that it would be a little uncomfortable, and lead to much fidgeting/sweating. I'm looking at the grey suit (with maybe a speck of blue in it) white shirt, ivory waistcoat, purple handkerchief/tie and dark or brown shoes - the search will begin very soon, once work has given me some time off.

Logos

21:17 / 12.09.05

Sorry I didn't reply more quickly. In that price range, you can probably find a rather nice suit from a mid-range designer (Hugo Boss might be a good place to start), or a made-to-measure suit (one step down from full bespoke) from one of the younger tailors out and about.

woolly

23:13 / 12.09.05

Hullo Benny,

Glad you're not going to wear a dinner jacket -- is odd for a wedding I think. Alythough not as odd as the boy at a wedding I went to recently who had a tie covered in mirrors and a wierd sort of hair extension off the back of his head like a pink ratstail. Wrong with a capital R.

My friend got married in a blue and bit grey suit which looked fabby and he got it bespoke so that it was his best suit ever and he wore it loads after that. So worth the extra cash.
Also, if I may be so bold, I have spent all summer at weddings, and the groom looked the nicest at the one when he hadn't tried to match himself to bridesmaids/ushers/bride. And where he shunned anything that looked like it should be at a wedding.

So off to Paul Smith with you, I say. Men always look fine in his suits

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