This past weekend, Foxy and I decided to hit up Men's Wearhouse to see their rental options for him and the boys. Apparently, I did not do my research.
I mean, what do I know about the men's stuff in regards to wedding planning? Not too much. Shameful.
My initial thought was that the guys would be easy-peasy - we'd just rent their suits! What I didn't realize was that Men's Wearhouse only rents out tuxes, which is great for some people, but it's just not "us". We realized very quickly that we wanted and needed suits as opposed to tuxes due to factors such as color, formality, fabric weight, etcetera.
Here's an idea of what we're looking for:
Image via Rebecca Westover Photography
Image via Green Wedding Shoes | Photo by Ashley Rose Photography
Image via Style Me Pretty | Photo by Beautiful Moments
In other words: suit pants, vest, dress shirt, tie. The groomsmen would be in a lighter/heather gray get up, and Foxy would be in a darker/charcoal gray ensemble. I suppose the vision is to have the vest and pants be the same exact shade and pattern, a la the first and second photos above.
What we got at Men's Wearhouse was this:
Nice and presentable, for sure, but a little formal and not as matchy as what we are striving for. Except for the tie; we're buying the tie!
I did some extensive searching - Express, Banana Republic, Macy's, Sears, Kohls, the 'Bee - many of which had some good contenders, but it seemed like either the style, color or price just wasn't right. The one site I happened to find a good mix of the three was JCPenny.
Both vests by JF J. Ferrar
Seeing as this is not a definite decision yet, my primary concern was that whatever pieces we ultimately do decide on won't be available when we are ready for the guys to purchase, or that they won't be available in the right sizes. None of the groomsmen are local - four are in New York and one (his brother) is in Colorado - so there's really no opportunity for Foxy to get together with the guys and do one mass trip. Ah, details and complications.
I've admittedly been doing a little research on the guys attire every day, hoping to find an easy, magical solution. Then just the other day, I noticed Mrs. Meerkat's post on Studio Suits, an online store that makes custom suits in a wide variety of fabrics and colors for a really, really good price. Everyone can enter their own measurements online, when they are ready and able to.. no worries about wrong sizes or limited stock. I'm currently awaiting some fabric swatches to see if the colors are right, and if they are? I'm cautiously hopeful we may have found an amazing solution for the guys!
What did you decide for das men at your wedding? If you did the suit thing, where did you get them from? I'm open to any and all suggestions!!
