7 Sartorial Slips Every Groom Needs to Avoid
Your wedding suit is the single most important fashion purchase you will ever make, so it’s important not to fluff it up. Check out our guide to the worst styling slips grooms make on their big day and find out how you can learn from their mistakes.
Who doesn’t love a wedding? The pomp; the tradition; the party; not to mention the chance to celebrate the special person in your life. Yet wedding day fashion can be a bit of a minefield to navigate. We know that it’s the bride’s dress that takes centre stage, but that doesn’t mean grooms get off easy. No groom wants to look back at their wedding photos in years to come and realise they look like the scruffy butler, awkwardly posed next to their dazzling bride.
Well, never fear. We’ve scoured the internet for the very worst of wedding day fashion fails and put together a definitive list of the biggest fashion faux-pas grooms make on their big day.
Failsafe Fashion Tips for Grooms on Their Wedding Day
Don’t fall foul to sartorial slips. Learn from the mistakes of others and nail your wedding day look.
1. Clashing with the bride
If you only take away one unspoken rule from this blog, make it this one: never clash with the bride. Your bride and her bridesmaids will have spent hours carefully selecting a colour scheme for their dresses and ensuring they all coordinate. Their decision will dictate the colour palette for the entire wedding, which extends to your look, too. Let’s say your bridesmaids are decked out in lilac; the flower arrangements are lilac; even the tablecloths feature lilac stripes, but you’re decked out in a luminous green tie. Not only is luminous green never a good wedding look (or, we’d argue, a good look at all), but you’ll end up looking like you don’t belong at your own wedding.
A wedding day is all about the couple: it’s the biggest celebration of a partnership there is. Making sure that you coordinate is essential, as it shows a united front. That doesn’t mean you have to don a lilac suit, though; it’s all about the subtleties. Add a splash of colour with your tie and accessories. Your pocket square needn’t be an exact match and you can experiment with different tones and patterns — just ensure that whatever colour you choose complements the overall colour scheme.
While we’re on the subject of clashing colours, this point is important. Ebony and ivory may go together in perfect harmony, but ivory and white is a no-no. You may think they’re similar, but your wedding photos will paint a different picture. If your bride is wearing ivory, don’t go with a white shirt: it will offset the bride’s dress and ruin your photos — consider yourself forewarned!
2. Missing the mark: not dressing to the dress code
No wedding is the same and, in fact, it shouldn’t be. Your wedding will be a unique celebration and, by the same token, wedding fashion isn’t a case of one-size-fits-all. We’re all prone to making the easy choice: ‘It’s a wedding, a black tux will do.’ But that kind of thinking is a major faux-pas. Have you ever seen pictures of a groom standing on a beach decked out in a full black tuxedo, next to a bride wearing a casual wedding dress? Don’t be that man, you’ll just look odd and out of place.
We’re sure you were paying attention during all those wedding conversations, but, just in case, it’s always a good idea to double check the dress code with your partner. If your wedding is taking place in the morning, a tux is a bit much. You’re better off going for an understated tweet suit, like our Grey Blue Prince of Wales tweed three-piece. But if you’re planning a beach wedding in Thailand, a three-piece suit will make you uncomfortable — you need to keep the fabric light and the layers minimal. It’s common sense, really: dress for the location and the overall tone of the wedding, but don’t feel confined to tradition when it comes to selecting your suit.
3. Donning a poorly-fitted suit
If you’ve read our blog before, you’ll excuse us for sounding like a broken record, but this point can’t be stressed enough: every discerning gent needs a well-fitted suit. It doesn’t matter how high-quality the fabric is or how expensive the cut; if your suit doesn’t fit, it’s impossible to look and feel good.
Rented suits have made poorly-fitted suits a staple of wedding day fashion. Baggy trousers, overly-long jackets and bulging shirts make the groom and his groomsmen look like they’re playing dress-up. Going tailored really is the only way to nail the sophisticated look, but that doesn’t mean you don’t need to break the bank or work yourself up to an awkward encounter with a tailor. All of our suits are hand-made by expert tailors for a fraction of the price. Simply measure up, send us your numbers, select the fabric and wait for your perfectly-tailored suit to be delivered to your door.
4. Rocking a wrinkled suit
Wrinkles have no place in your wardrobe. Nothing screams, ‘I don’t care about fashion or my appearance’ more than ruining a perfectly good suit by forgoing basic sartorial maintenance. Sure, wrinkles happen. Unless you’re planning on wearing chainmail to your wedding (you never know), your fabric — whether tweed, worsted wool or linen — is prone to getting a little crinkled in the process. But a little care goes a long way to keeping you looking sharp and refined at the altar.
When it comes to maintaining a well-made suit, a gentle touch is required. Hastily running a scorching hot iron over an expensive suit is never a good idea. Not only can it make the wrinkling worse, but you may you end up damaging the material. Instead, send your suit for a professional steam clean. Steaming is a gentle and effective way of smoothing out your suit. Unlike an iron, which uses pressure to smooth out creases, steaming works with your fabric to encourage wrinkles to straighten out, without applying unnecessary pressure.
The way you store your suit is also important. Plastic hangers have a tendency to distort the fabric, so stick with wooden hangers and invest in a suit cover to keep it in pristine condition before the big day.
5. Matching too much
So you now know the cardinal rule of dressing for your wedding’s colour scheme. But now, you have a lilac tie, a lilac pocket square, lilac cufflinks, a lilac waistcoat, lilac socks… you get the idea. Like many poor grooms before you, you’ve overstepped the mark.
Colour coordinating is important, but by matching every accessory, you risk overkill. Instead, think creatively about the colour scheme. Rather than matching everything to the letter, consider a patterned tie that echoes the tonal palette, without replicating it. Our purple paisley tie, for example, would complement your overall scheme, without making you look garish.
6. Pick one: Belt or Braces
This faux-pas is surprisingly common: wearing a belt and braces. You may be excited to add a flair to your look, and you may want to channel the old-time look with braces, but you also have a perfect belt for the occasion. It’s okay to wear both, right? Unfortunately, the answer is no. Wear a belt and braces, and you break the golden rule of wedding attire.
Belts and braces do the same thing: they hold your trousers up. You don’t need two support systems. Braces are a substitute for a belt and vice versa, and one’s no better than the other. Pick one and stick to your choice. If you really need both to keep your trousers in place, then the only thing that’s a sign of is that you need some better-fitted trousers.
7. Not accessorising… or not accessorising well
Your wedding presents a unique opportunity to dress up to the nines to impress your partner. Finally, you have a chance to wear those cufflinks you got last Christmas or the tie pin that you’ve never felt bold enough to wear. But bear in mind that accessorising is an art form. These small, but significant, adornments add personality, flair and a touch of elegance, and it’s so easy to get it wrong.
The number one mistake grooms make with accessories is mixing things up too much. Gold cufflinks, a silver tie pin and a rose gold watch are all beautiful individually, but, put them all together and you risk looking more bric-a-brac than high-end sophistication. The key to accessorising successfully is consistency. If you decide to rock our silver Empire Crown cufflinks, your tie pin and watch should be silver. Likewise, if you opt for our rose gold knot cufflinks, you’ve guessed it, your other accessories should match. Fashion is in the details, so be smart when choosing your accessories.
Wedding day fashion fails do happen, but, armed with the right knowledge, they can be easily avoided. Browse our full range of three-piece suits and accessories to ensure you are the personification of sartorial refinement on your big day.