suit and accessory advice

counterculture

im going to a wedding in the summer in Ireland, my girlfriend is going to be a bridesmaid so im likely to be in a lot of photos throughout the day, and i have no idea what to wear that will go with what she is wearing, id like to coordinate to a degree without looking like im part of the bride/groom/bridesmaid group, can anyone help?

id wear a kilt and save alot of hassle but the wight of the fucker alone will be a pain in the arse when it comes to flights etc, so its looking like a suit, and i know nothing about suits, last suit i owned i got from a mate and we got drunk and ripped the sleeves off at a party.

i realise im leaving myself open to alot of piss-taking, hence the reason im asking on an internet forum and not asking my mates etc.

some serious advice would be appreicated

butcher of bakersfield

I got one a few years ago from Burtons, I think it was for £60, and it was alright tbh. Fitted very well. Obviously not tailor made, but the guy in the shop was very helpful.

Rich9

My current fave look is a grey single breasted suit with a pinstripe. A white or light (solid) coloured shirt. Wearing a tie is not a definite requirement, but you'll probably find most others will wear one to a wedding.

Have a look in an outlet type place. There's generally a Suits You or a Next. I once got a really nice suit from Next clearance for about £30 in total

The Big Cheese

Some rules:

Single breasted

2 button

vented back

NO turnups

NO pleats in trousers

As slim fit as you can get without looking like Rod Stewart.

Make sure its 100% wool, no Polyester or anyting that says 'Machine washable'

Paired with a nice, crisp white shirt, or anything plain (checked shirts with suits.... not anymore)

Slim belt that's not 'fancy'

The Big Cheese

Oh and like bike purchases, buy cheap, buy twice.

A good classic cut suit will ALWAYS be handy.

Grey

Navy

Black

you can't go wrong.

77ric

jeff banks studio suits, love'm. they look good and they ain't to expensive either.

but fcuk it and get the kilt.

Anonymous

there is alot to be said for a nice and expensive suit, they will have the nicest fabric and if you get a tailored one, fit the absolute best.

however, theres plenty to be said for cheap suits, i have a burtons suit which cost me 100 quid about 7 years ago which is still in tip top nick, it is the exact shape and style as my bosses suit at the time which was made by hugo boss and cost over 5 times the ammount i paid for mine. however the fabric his was made from was real class.

as far as i can tell, all cheap suits are copies of much more expensive classic manufacturers suits

i have another couple of suits one of which cost about 40 quid all in from asda. i know i know, its a supermarket but hear me out. due to my line of work its important to have a suit that i dont mind a catering sized cheesecake being slapped on the back of, a 4o quid suit fits the bill perfectly.

once you buy a suit, you will find lots of reasons to wear it to all sorts of things, even just going out for dinner. there is something very cool about wearing a suit an everyone looks good in one.

i would echo the above sentiments about shirts, and a good quality thick white cotton shirt looks very sharp behind any suit then get a plain tie to match your birds dress colour. even better in my opinion is no tie atall but splash out on a good shirt

77ric

and some nice blingy but tasteful cuff links

and if you go down the tie route a nice simple silver tie clip

i got a jeff banks studio suit from burtons oh maybe 4 years ago, they done a few alterations at no extra cost same day, wore it that night to a works do and had both bosses complementing on the suit, men who could and would drop the price of a good race hardtail on bespoke suits.

mine 140 notes if i remember correctly

supersonic

I got mine from Next - was part of the 'sports' range and is a lightweight blend of wool that breathes very well. Really comfy to wear, was abour 120 quid.

fitch28

Get the jeff bank studio suits, wait a couple of weeks and you'll get a big discount if you go to the one in debenhams


oh and follow the big cheeses rules!

yoohoo999

The Big Cheese wrote:

Some rules:

Single breasted

2 button

vented back

NO turnups

NO pleats in trousers

As slim fit as you can get without looking like Rod Stewart.

Make sure its 100% wool, no Polyester or anyting that says 'Machine washable'

Paired with a nice, crisp white shirt, or anything plain (checked shirts with suits.... not anymore)

Slim belt that's not 'fancy'

+1


and please, please, please.........no black suit, black shirt and a pink tie with a massive knot combo

it's a wedding, not an interview at a call centre.

make sure you wear a nice belt too. nothing too bling.

Do you live near a city? Go and have a look at what they've dressed their windows with in shops like Reiss, Hugo Boss etc. You don't have to buy there, but I can guarantee you that you will get some good ideas for what to wear. The colour combos that they use in Reiss in particular are bloody great for things like weddings.

Not business smart, not casual, but really on trend and a bit different.

Take a couple of pictures and then head into Zara. Inexpensive and good quality, also more trendy than next/river island etc. You should be able to find a combo similar to the ones spotted in Hugo Boss/Reiss.

O if you're feeling flush, a suit/shirt/tie will cost around £450 from Reiss or £500-600 from Hugo Boss.

Look here for ideas:

http://www.reiss.co.uk/shop/mens/tailoring/


This is nice, it's on that page:

cat_with_no_tail

M&S all the way baby. Good range or colours / styles and prices to choose from.

Maybe I'm getting older or maybe they're getting better, but I'm finding an ever increasing proportion of my wardrobe comes from M&S. :oops:

cee

If in edinburgh...go to Moss Brothers on George street.

£100 will get you a reasonable quality quite nice wool suit....there ar often sales which are not available online...I got a black cerruti job for about £120 including a saville row tailors shirt.

or a kilt.....just wear it for the flights!

bails87

Can't wear M&S, I need somewhere that does slim fit.

I'd agree with Sheepsteeth. Suit, decent shirt and tie to match the dresses.

You don't need to go mad, if you've got by without a suit until now, it doesn't really make sense to blow £500 on one.

MacAndCheese

Got a friend that works in M&S? I do and she buys my suits for me....£250 suit...that'll be £200 to you sir with the staff discount. I agree if you want to go really flash that follow the big cheese's advice as you can probably buy one and keep it for years...but if, like me, you tend to get a bit messy at weddings then there is a lot to be said for some of the modern machine washable ones.

llamafarmer

bails87 wrote:

Can't wear M&S, I need somewhere that does slim fit.

I'd agree with Sheepsteeth. Suit, decent shirt and tie to match the dresses.

You don't need to go mad, if you've got by without a suit until now, it doesn't really make sense to blow £500 on one.

I'm actually considering a suit from Topman for a mate's wedding later in the year - reason being I find it a nightmare to find a well fitting suit off the peg, but they do slim fit jackets that are pretty much spot on for me. I've got a half decent one from Moss which isn't bad, but the fit is everything with a suit imo.

+1 for white shirts, especially if it's a summer wedding, then you can add the colour with a good tie. I reckon a tie is a must for weddings, at least at the ceremony - if you sense that most people haven't bothered you can always take it off.

cat_with_no_tail

Yeh, slim fit is something that is most certainly not an issue for me. I don't really need flash suits anyway, online gambling seems to be very much a jeans and t-shirt sort of industry. I dont need to spend more than a couple of hundred quid on a suit.
I do have 1 rather expensive suit from Norton and Townsend, but that's very much a mega special occasion suit.

bails87

llamafarmer wrote:

bails87 wrote:

Can't wear M&S, I need somewhere that does slim fit.

I'd agree with Sheepsteeth. Suit, decent shirt and tie to match the dresses.

You don't need to go mad, if you've got by without a suit until now, it doesn't really make sense to blow £500 on one.

I'm actually considering a suit from Topman for a mate's wedding later in the year - reason being I find it a nightmare to find a well fitting suit off the peg, but they do slim fit jackets that are pretty much spot on for me.

I've got a Topman suit too actually, I like it, fits me well and I am very slim! I was out with a few mates straight after work the other day, and two of the girls we were with commented on how good it looked actually :oops:

Surf-Matt

M&S only make clothes for fat people.

Try Moss - they do a good range of well made suits to suit budgets from low to mid range.

The check list above is correct but also:

Decent double cuff shirt with subtle cuff links.
Decent shoes well polished - try and get classic ones rather than some muppety pointy slip ons that will make you look like a BMW driver ( )
Shave well before - blood from nicks on the collar is not a good look.
The suit must NOT NOT NOT be shiney.
Avoid light colours - they look cack unless you are South America.

bails87

This is clearly the solution:

cat_with_no_tail

Surf-Matt wrote:

M&S only make clothes for fat people.

Yes, that's right, in the same sense that BMW only make cars for W'nkers?

Not everyone wants a 26" waist Matt. Not being a runt does not automatically make you fat :roll:

BigJimmyB

The Big Cheese wrote:

Some rules:

Single breasted

2 button

vented back

NO turnups

NO pleats in trousers

As slim fit as you can get without looking like Rod Stewart.

Make sure its 100% wool, no Polyester or anyting that says 'Machine washable'

Paired with a nice, crisp white shirt, or anything plain (checked shirts with suits.... not anymore)

Slim belt that's not 'fancy'

My sentiments exactly.

Jacket needs to fit whereby you can get your balled fist in behind it (buttoned up) - thumb to pinkie and no more or it's too baggy.

And it needs to allow you to show abt an inch of shirt cuff.

Trousers need to cover the tops of your shoes when you're stood still with lesgs together.

Tie looks best in a Windsor knot.


Next is good for all this, even at a regular shop (rather than clearance) you can get suit, shirt, cufflinks and shoes for abt £200

Surf-Matt

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

M&S only make clothes for fat people.

Yes, that's right, in the same sense that BMW only make cars for W'nkers?

Not everyone wants a 26" waist Matt. Not being a runt does not automatically make you fat :roll:

Caaaalm down and accept the tongue in cheek humour. I have a few M&S items of clothing.

Waist is a healthy 29" thank you very much and I'm "overweight" for BMI so as runty as an ox.

I just find all M&S shirts shapeless - you end up having to tuck in metres of material because they don't taper in at all. The suits just don't work either.

Agree about BMW though.

Lardr5e.

cat_with_no_tail

Surf-Matt wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

M&S only make clothes for fat people.

Yes, that's right, in the same sense that BMW only make cars for W'nkers?

Not everyone wants a 26" waist Matt. Not being a runt does not automatically make you fat :roll:

Caaaalm down and accept the tongue in cheek humour. I have a few M&S items of clothing.

Waist is a healthy 29" thank you very much and I'm "overweight" for BMI so as runty as an ox.

I just find all M&S shirts shapeless - you end up having to tuck in metres of material because they don't taper in at all. The suits just don't work either.

Agree about BMW though.

Lardr5e.

Good comeback.

I'm a chunky monkey 40" chest, 34" waist and 33" leg (well, according to M&S I am anyway). At 95kg and 6ft I'm approaching Obese. Oddly enough, there's not loads of meterial for me to tuck in :P

I'm off to go and cry in a corner with some pies now

the article don

You traitor to Scotland.!!!!

Wear a kilt, let your dong swing freely underneath, the feeling can't be beat. Keep your legs crossed for photos though. Seriously, though, a dark kilt like Black Watch with black socks, waistcoat, white or black shirt and a bow tie is a killer look. Burds love it!!!

Depends how special the occasion is but Prada suits are absolute quality. You get them in Cruise ( I think there's one in Edinburgh?)

kona_matt

yoohoo999 wrote:

The Big Cheese wrote:

Some rules:

Single breasted

2 button

vented back

NO turnups

NO pleats in trousers

As slim fit as you can get without looking like Rod Stewart.

Make sure its 100% wool, no Polyester or anyting that says 'Machine washable'

Paired with a nice, crisp white shirt, or anything plain (checked shirts with suits.... not anymore)

Slim belt that's not 'fancy'

+1


and please, please, please.........no black suit, black shirt and a pink tie with a massive knot combo

it's a wedding, not an interview at a call centre.

make sure you wear a nice belt too. nothing too bling.

Do you live near a city? Go and have a look at what they've dressed their windows with in shops like Reiss, Hugo Boss etc. You don't have to buy there, but I can guarantee you that you will get some good ideas for what to wear. The colour combos that they use in Reiss in particular are bloody great for things like weddings.

Not business smart, not casual, but really on trend and a bit different.

Take a couple of pictures and then head into Zara. Inexpensive and good quality, also more trendy than next/river island etc. You should be able to find a combo similar to the ones spotted in Hugo Boss/Reiss.

O if you're feeling flush, a suit/shirt/tie will cost around £450 from Reiss or £500-600 from Hugo Boss.

Look here for ideas:

http://www.reiss.co.uk/shop/mens/tailoring/


This is nice, it's on that page:

+1

just one style/tradition thing to add, never button up the bottom button on your jacket. so on your 2 button option, just do up the top button.

Surf-Matt

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

Cat With No Tail wrote:

Surf-Matt wrote:

M&S only make clothes for fat people.

Yes, that's right, in the same sense that BMW only make cars for W'nkers?

Not everyone wants a 26" waist Matt. Not being a runt does not automatically make you fat :roll:

Caaaalm down and accept the tongue in cheek humour. I have a few M&S items of clothing.

Waist is a healthy 29" thank you very much and I'm "overweight" for BMI so as runty as an ox.

I just find all M&S shirts shapeless - you end up having to tuck in metres of material because they don't taper in at all. The suits just don't work either.

Agree about BMW though.

Lardr5e.

Good comeback.

I'm a chunky monkey 40" chest, 34" waist and 33" leg (well, according to M&S I am anyway). At 95kg and 6ft I'm approaching Obese. Oddly enough, there's not loads of meterial for me to tuck in :P

I'm off to go and cry in a corner with some pies now

29" waist, 40-42" chest and I resemble a startled pigeon. I have the legs of a runty sparrow though and have no idea how they manage to work properly. In fact I was nicknamed Ram Man (the He-Man character with no legs) for a while! Chicken and Mushroom pie for supper later - yum!

llamafarmer

kona_matt wrote:

just one style/tradition thing to add, never button up the bottom button on your jacket. so on your 2 button option, just do up the top button.

QFT. My mate's tailor came out with this gem of a line:

"It's a jacket, not a straightjacket"

bails87

llamafarmer wrote:

kona_matt wrote:

just one style/tradition thing to add, never button up the bottom button on your jacket. so on your 2 button option, just do up the top button.

QFT. My mate's tailor came out with this gem of a line:

"It's a jacket, not a straightjacket"

Then why put 2 buttons on if you're only meant to use one? :roll:

MacAndCheese

kona_matt wrote:

just one style/tradition thing to add, never button up the bottom button on your jacket. so on your 2 button option, just do up the top button.

My Girlfriend's father always says that you should undo the last button on the cuff of a tailored suit also....apparently it shows that the buttons are real, because on a cheaper suits the buttons on the arms are fake...i called him a flash git.

yoohoo999

bails87 wrote:

I'd agree with Sheepsteeth. Suit, decent shirt and tie to match the dresses.

You've got to be REALLY careful with this one.

If you try to match and get it even slightly wrong you're going to clash, or even worse, look like you've tried to dress like a member of the dressed wedding party.

Much better to stick to a general theme, i.e if they are wearing navy, go with navy or grey suit (not black) and white shirt.

There's a few things I wear to weddings that I know will be highly unlikely to clash or look out of place, without even knowing what the rest of the party are wearing. Stick to subtle, middle of the respective spectrum colours.

Incidentally, if you have a few quid left over, go to an alterations shop and get the suit taken in where necessary, it will make the world of difference.

I would rather wear a cheap, but well fitted cloth, than an expensive one that doesn't fit properly. People will notice that long before the rest of the outfit, and you'll look much better in photos.