Dressing the dudes part 1: 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: Mr. Buttons 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 Button groomsmen was a little concerned with price...so Mr. Buttons and I decided that we would keep searching a bit.

First stop: Express. Mr. Buttons 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 Mr. Buttons 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 Mr. Buttons 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...Mr. Buttons 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?