Groomsmen attire help!

angela346

I am having a very relaxed vintage rustic so slacks and white button downs with vests/suspenders the only problem I have is wanting them to all go together without them totally matching. I don't want to do the whole tux rental and I also don't want them to send a bunch of money on an outfit. It was easy to do bridesmaid dresses since they carry everything in bridal shops. But I'm at a loss for all the pieces the men will get. Any ideas about to to get them all going well without breaking the bank and without having to drag 5 grown men to the mall and making them model outfits?!

Thanks!
Angela

CMGragain

angela346 said:

I am having a very relaxed vintage rustic so slacks and white button downs with vests/suspenders the only problem I have is wanting them to all go together without them totally matching. I don't want to do the whole tux rental and I also don't want them to send a bunch of money on an outfit. It was easy to do bridesmaid dresses since they carry everything in bridal shops. But I'm at a loss for all the pieces the men will get. Any ideas about to to get them all going well without breaking the bank and without having to drag 5 grown men to the mall and making them model outfits?! Thanks! Angela

This is not traditional mens wedding wear.  Without jackets, they are only half dressed.  What is your FI wearing?  They should wear the same.
I encourage you to consider light sports jackets/ blazers.  The men will look good, and they can use the jacket for other occasions. They can take their jackets off at the reception, which they cannot with a vest. You can buy a sports jacket for about  $100.
Rustic does not equal half dressed.

amelisha

CMGragain said:

angela346 said:

I am having a very relaxed vintage rustic so slacks and white button downs with vests/suspenders the only problem I have is wanting them to all go together without them totally matching. I don't want to do the whole tux rental and I also don't want them to send a bunch of money on an outfit. It was easy to do bridesmaid dresses since they carry everything in bridal shops. But I'm at a loss for all the pieces the men will get. Any ideas about to to get them all going well without breaking the bank and without having to drag 5 grown men to the mall and making them model outfits?! Thanks! Angela

This is not traditional mens wedding wear.  Without jackets, they are only half dressed.  What is your FI wearing?  They should wear the same.
I encourage you to consider light sports jackets/ blazers.  The men will look good, and they can use the jacket for other occasions. They can take their jackets off at the reception, which they cannot with a vest. You can buy a sports jacket for about  $100.
Rustic does not equal half dressed.

Dude, who cares if it's traditional? It's her wedding and they can go naked if she wants to and they agree. Come on. No one needs to wear a jacket, it's not 1960, and vests-only is comfortable and cool, temperature-wise.

Why not just get their sizes from them and order the vests/suspenders online so you can choose the colours/styles? Once you find the ones you want, just send each one a quick text or whatever so they can see it and veto it if they really hate it for whatever reason. Men's sizing is way more standardised so the fit will probably not be an issue. You can just ask them to wear a pair of trousers (in a certain colour if you know what you want, say black or grey?) and a white button down, and let them choose to wear something they have already, borrow, rent, buy or whatever. I'm guessing most if not all grown men probably have those kicking around already.

esstee33

Yeah, put me in the "they don't need jackets" camp. Are they going to be wearing ties? You could get them different ties, or allow them all to pick their own tie within a color scheme. Then they'd "match" without being identical. 

Liatris2010

I would pick colors and let the GM buy their own attire. For example, you say brown slacks and vest, white shirt, and GM all buy their own, or wear something they already own. Then you can provide matching suspenders and ties to tie the look together. We had our GM in grey suits of their own choosing and bought them all the same tie. It was super easy for us, and they all got to decide how much money they wanted to spend on wedding attire.

southernbelle0915

I agree they don't need a jacket if you're having a casual wedding. If your wedding is formal, their attire should match (i.e. they should wear a jacket). 

But just so you know, if they're wearing a casual vest and pants they should wear a belt - NOT suspenders. Suspenders are for holding up tux pants where you're not wearing a belt. 

You can find a la carte suit items (i.e. you don't have to buy the jacket) at department stores and Joseph A Bank. You can probably also order them online.

cowgirl8238

Liatris2010 said:

I would pick colors and let the GM buy their own attire. For example, you say brown slacks and vest, white shirt, and GM all buy their own, or wear something they already own. Then you can provide matching suspenders and ties to tie the look together. We had our GM in grey suits of their own choosing and bought them all the same tie. It was super easy for us, and they all got to decide how much money they wanted to spend on wedding attire.

This is exactly what we did.  We had all the men (6 of them!) buy their own grey slacks and vests and then gave them a matching tie so they still looked coordinated.  It worked really well since the men were all different sizes and shapes (big and tall to tiny).  i would attach a picture if I could make it work...maybe later!

esstee33

Wait, can we discuss the logistics of them wearing vests and suspenders? Like, at the same time? Why? 

CMGragain

esstee33 said:

Wait, can we discuss the logistics of them wearing vests and suspenders? Like, at the same time? Why? 

Suspenders are normally worn under vests or jackets.  What is NOT normal is to wear them without one of these.  Vests are meant to be worn under a jacket.

esstee33

Suspenders just seem so unnecessary to me with a vest over them, since I think most people intentionally including them in their wedding party attire are doing so for aesthetic reasons. Why cover them with a vest, even if that's the traditional attire?

CMGragain

esstee33 said:

Suspenders just seem so unnecessary to me with a vest over them, since I think most people intentionally including them in their wedding party attire are doing so for aesthetic reasons. Why cover them with a vest, even if that's the traditional attire?

Tuxedo pants do not have belt loops.  They must be worn with suspenders.  DH refused to wear his in 1976, and the photographer had to keep telling him to hitch up his pants for the formal photos!  DH can be ridiculously stubborn!

esstee33

CMGragain said:

esstee33 said:

Suspenders just seem so unnecessary to me with a vest over them, since I think most people intentionally including them in their wedding party attire are doing so for aesthetic reasons. Why cover them with a vest, even if that's the traditional attire?

Tuxedo pants do not have belt loops.  They must be worn with suspenders.  DH refused to wear his in 1976, and the photographer had to keep telling him to hitch up his pants for the formal photos!  DH can be ridiculously stubborn!

Well, yeah, I understand the tuxedo thing, but I was referring to the OPs situation, in which there are no tuxedos. She clearly state it's relaxed, with slacks and button-downs. 

ElcaB

esstee33 said:

Wait, can we discuss the logistics of them wearing vests and suspenders? Like, at the same time? Why? 

I don't think she means both at the same time, I think she means one or the other. 

OP, my suggestion is to pick a color and ask them to select on their own, i.e., gray pants, grey suspenders, and any green tie. Or, pick one pair of pants for them to buy, then select different ties to go with it. 

Knottie82180187

I agree, you can mix vest and suspenders and look awesome if you tie it together with similar ties or identical ties, leaving the jackets behind.  I have seen a lot of style shoots doing this. 

Here is a blog post that is awesome to share with your groomsmen guiding them on pants.  This is a HUGE issue even still because most guys don't wear dress pants on a regular basis, so they think it's fine, and it ruins pictures and makes casual suddenly just plain sloppy.

http://blog.monkeysuitvintage.com/2014/07/30/a-series-of-dos-and-donts-for-grooms/

disclaimer: I wrote it!