Dressing the dudes: Accessorizing

So...we have the suit selected...but what ever shall we accompany it with?

I decided to begin with ties, and quickly realized that there are so freaking many to choose from! And then there is the question: do you buy the same tie for all of the groomsmen, or do we switch it up a little bit for each?

source

After some thought, I decided that I liked the idea of mixing and matching. As one of my idols, Stacy London, would say, “it doesn’t have to MATCH, it has to GO.” I decided to search for different ties, but in similar colors.

First stop? Where else...TJ Maxx and Marshalls. I'm predictable, what can I say? And boy, was I lucky! I stumbled upon a plethora of green and blue ties at both stores...for $9.99 a piece. I was able to snag a bunch in different patterns. I think they all go together really well, and I love that they aren't "matchy matchy" like they would have been if I had purchased the same tie for all of the dudes! So...what do you think?

How did you pick your ties out (for those of you who chose suits)?

Dressing the Dudes: THE suit

Ok...so you've already heard about our suit shopping debacles...I bet you'd like to see how it all turned out!

When Justin and I were in Florida for Thanksgiving, we inevitably wanted to check for any amazing Black Friday sales. Normally, I do not get up at the crack of dawn to shop, but if there is something particularly good on sale I can be convinced to do so. When the Black Friday ads came out, Justin noticed the Kohl's insert, which I had passed over (foolishly). Annnnd guess what? They were having a sale on their suits until noon! My ears immediately perked up.

So...Justin and I arrived at Kohl's at 8am the day after Thanksgiving to scout out the suiting! I must say, I was VERY pleasantly surprised. The suit separates that were on sale were by Apt. 9, and they had a very nice textured charcoal suit that fit him very well!

Don't judge me, lurking in the mirror...I didn't shower...

One of Justin's groomsmen showed up to Kohls while we were shopping as well, and he and his wife liked it as well! Yay! And, do you know what we liked even more? The price!

Original price for coat and pants: $300

Sale price (with an additional 15% off coupon): $122

We went ahead and purchased the suits for all of the groomsmen so we wouldn't have complications. We had to order some of the pieces over the phone at customer service because they didn't have them in stock...but they didn't charge us shipping - yay! And, because it was a sale, we received $10 in Kohl's cash for every $50 we spent...so we racked up $120 in store credit to use at a later date! Don't you just love a good deal?

So, the suit search was finally over! Now...what ever shall they wear underneath that suit?

Did you rent or purchase suits/tuxedos for your wedding? Did you find any good wedding items on sale for Black Friday or after Christmas?

Dressing the dudes: Shopping around

One thing I’ve been continually putting off is the issue of dressing up the guys. You’d think this would be a rather simple decision…and I suppose it could be. Just throw them in some tuxedos, right?

Mmmm not so much! I think a tuxedo is very nice, but it really doesn’t go with the overall look for the wedding. We want everything to be semi-formal. So…it looks like we’re going to have to opt for some suiting!

I think that having the groomsmen purchase a suit has many advantages! If we time their purchase correctly and get a good sale, it could cost approximately the same price as a tuxedo rental (yeah, those babies are not cheap!!!). Although, unlike the tuxedo, the guys will get to keep them, and potentially wear them again. Both of Mr. Buttons' brothers wear suits (or at least nice trousers, shirt, and tie) for work, so we are confident that at least two of them will put a suit to good use after the wedding is said and done.

So, we hit the ‘net (and the street) and started to search high and low for some reasonably priced options!

One thing we knew for sure from the start: Justin needs a tailored/slimmer fit suit. He has broad shoulders and a small waist, so sometimes regular suit coats can look boxy on him.

Jos. A. Banks

Thankfully, Jos. A. Banks just came out with a new suit style: the Traveler Tailored Fit suit. We like that it is wrinkle resistant, stain resistant, and it is wool (nice quality!). It comes in a plethora of colors/textures as well. The consultants at the store informed us that Jos. A. Banks typically holds “buy 1 suit, get 2 free” sales pretty often. Amazing! Although it would take some coordination between the guys, if we purchased the suits together, we could score them at around $233 a piece!

Ah...but it can't be THAT easy, can it? One of the groomsmen was a little concerned with price...so Justin and I decided that we would keep searching a bit.

First stop: Express. Justin already owns one of their tailored fit suits, and I think he looks pretty darn nice in it! So, he tried it on again...this time in charcoal grey:

Ahhh gotta love the 5 oclock shadow...

Sadly, we were thwarted from this particular suit because although it fits Justin really well, his twin is in-between sizes. Moving on....

I wanted to give a rental suit a fair chance...so we headed in to try one of those out. They were nice enough to order in what they called a "fitted" suit for Justin to try on in his size. It was black (not my beloved charcoal gray)...but I wanted to give it a shot:

It looks...ok from the front...but then he turned around...

Ahhhh! That does NOT look fitted...Justin looks like a hunchback with a saggy butt! P.S. he is going to murder me if he sees these pictures posted...

So...after a few days of shopping around, we were still at a loss! Who would have thought that finding a suit would be so difficult? This was proving to be harder than finding my wedding dress!!!!

Do you prefer a suit or a tuxedo for a wedding? What did/what are your guys wearing? Did you have a difficult time locating something perfect?