Mens Tailored Attire : - The Right Wedding Dress Code

February 4th, 2005

Would you love to wear snakeskin cowboy boots, a bolo tie, and your lucky jeans to your wedding? Well, if your inner muse is singing "Folsom Prison Blues," go for the ten-gallon hat and spurs if they make you happy. Just remember that fashion trends may come and go, but your wedding pictures are forever. And if your beloved lays one on you before the ceremony, that shiner will go down in history.

Call me old-fashioned, but I prefer to err on the traditional side when it comes to a tux. I´d choose classic black with a notched lapel, pleated-front white shirt, point collar, hand-knotted black tie, black socks, dress shoes, white handkerchief, and suspenders. Personality is in the details, and in the case of my tux, I reserve it for a pair of black cufflinks and typewriter key shirt studs. No fuss, no muss, and the whole rig coordinates nicely with a lady in white.

For any formal occasion -- especially your wedding -- your goal is to look less like the bandleader and more like James Bond circa the Sean Connery years. Shawl collars will therefore get nowhere near my neck when the big moment arrives. The same goes for those maitre d´ wingtip collars that say, "Garcon, table for four," more readily than, "Shaken, not stirred."

But don´t get me wrong -- I´m no formalwear fascist. If you´re bold enough to attend your nuptials in a ruffled shirt and white silk suit, more power to you. But if you´re riding the fence and can´t tell if an item you´re considering is trendy, interesting, or an inexcusable crime against humanity, ask your fiancee for her opinion. Fashionably speaking, the day is more about her dress than your tux, and stealing the show does not bode well for your immediate future.

If you want to keep your fiancee out of the equation, use caution. While superstition dictates that you cannot view the bride in her gown before the ceremony, it´s an extremely bad idea to surprise her at the altar with unapproved couture experimentation… trust me.

by Robert Moritz
Taken from The Knot