Off The Cuff Wedding Suits For Men

Today’s grooms take their weddings seriously and whilst they wouldn’t want to outshine the bride, they understand the importance of getting the right look to reflect their personality and embrace the style and theme of the happy occasion. It’s also the ideal opportunity to treat yourself to a great one-off creation for the occasion. Wedding suits play a big part in most wedding days.

Traditional morning tails or contemporary frock coat ? Dinner jacket, or your own individual style ? The weight of the cloth is the most important  consideration in the choice of fabrics for wedding suits.

Although generally the heavier weight of cloths can tend to have more longevity, nowadays the location of your wedding may require a more appropriate lightweight cloth. With more and more brides and grooms opting for a wedding abroad to guarantee the sun, no one wants to be wearing a 16oz worsted suit in 35’ heat … But for a UK wedding we  recommend cloth between 9-12oz in weight being almost perfect for 9 months of the year.

By far the most popular colours for wedding suits are still the classic plain blue and plain grey shades. It’s sensible and prudent for grooms to consider the use future use of their  wedding suit, after all, it’s an expensive purchase. Wedding suits that have been made in the more traditional blue and grey shades of cloth are therefore quite easy to fit into daily life without too much trouble.

The picture below shows three cloth bunches from Huddersfield Fine Worsteds laid on my work table. Any of these colours would be a suitable blue for a wedding suit. From the left, the first bunch is a Super 110’s with cashmere, then a Super 130’s with cashmere and finally a Super 150’s with cashmere. These bunches show cloths in the 9-12oz weight range, the higher the Super number the lighter and more luxurious the cloth tends to get.

The picture below shows the same cloth bunches as above in the same order, with what would be quite suitable cloth choices for clients looking for a grey wedding suit.

There’s much more to a suit than just the outside appearance of the cloth … The next two pictures show that if you do opt for a more sober or traditional colour for your wedding suit, it certainly can be so much more than the staple IBM blue suit or grey work suit. You can have the option to imbue your suit with a bit of your personality with a beautiful and unique lining. The linings shown below are top drawer Italian printed linings.

After something truly unique ? Then the next picture shows a few cloths with a bit more personality, not garish and completely acceptable for a wedding suit. The checks (plaids) are a great choice, it’s very easy to split your trousers from your suit to create an odd jacket for smart/casual wear. Definitely a good way to get a lot of bang for your $.

However, for clients that are looking for a more contemporary look, our first port of call with cloth selection is our mohair bunches. The mohair yarn is often woven into bright and vibrant cloth colours, and due to the nature of the fibre, the finished cloth usually has a lustre and sheen that is so synonymous of the mohair fibre. And, the higher the content percentage of mohair in the finished cloth, say 65% mohair and 35% super 120’s wool, the more vibrant the colour and reactive to light the cloth becomes.

The picture below shows two of our tailors dummies outside our shop. The dummy on the right is dressed in a modern mohair, the dummy on the left is wearing a traditional tartan. Two completely different cloths, and two strikingly different cuts .. the left dummy has a classic English style of cut, resulting in a fuller chest with a single button fastening, opened lower quarters and a more defined waisline. Whilst the mohair has a more modern contemporary cut, but still looks great.

The traditional shaped English style of coat is still the most popular style and understandably so. To be honest not much looks better than a well-cut suit with a clean chest, a sharp defined shoulder line with a nicely shaped lapel leading down to the shaping into the waist, and a moderate flair given over the hips.

Interested ? Give me a call.