Menswear Alternatives? Please help!

AwScWedding · March 2014

We have been back and forth about renting or purchasing for the groom, groomsmen and fathers. We want the men to wear dark grey pants and vests with white button down shirts and coordinated ties. Only the groom and my father will be wearing a jackets. (Something similar to the attached picture)

I would love and appreciate opinions on Purchase vs Rent and ideas other than Men's Warehouse that we can look at. Thank you in advance!

doeydo · March 2014

You and your FI shouldn't be planning your fathers' outfits, unless they are groomsmen or something. You two should only have input on the attire of members of your wedding party.

AwScWedding · March 2014

Thank you for your input, but it does not address my question.

Maggie0829 · March 2014

It may not have addressed your question but it was a very good point that @doeydo made and it needed to be noted.

You can look for suits to purchase at any department store, Jos. A. Banks, etc. Your FI needs to check with his GM to determine their budget before you look at anything.

CMGragain · March 2014

Why only a jacket for the groom? The groomsmen will look half dressed. The vest is an accessory, not a substitute for the jacket. It is fine for the men to take off their jackets later in the reception, especially if dancing is the activity. They should wear jackets for the ceremony.
The rule is that the groom and his groomsmen are dressed in the same level of formality. If the groom wears a suit, so should the groomsmen. The suits do not have to exactly match in color or style.

jenna8984 · March 2014

I disagree with CMGragain. My FI and I are not "formal" people and we have no visions of our wedding being a formal event. So my FI and his men are only wearing the vest and no jacket. See attached picture of how sexy this looks on David Beckham and I don't think it looks half dressed at all. Our moms are wearing sundresses, not "mother of the bride gowns" so it works with the formality of our event.

Anyways, we are renting those pieces from Men's Warehouse. It's actually only $135 without a jacket so I think that's a steal. I know you said other suggestions so here they are- Macy's has a line of suits by their house brand INC which are semi affordable (pants $100, vests $50), they could look into buying those. If you have a Burlington Coat Factory near you, they sell suits at a major discount but it may be hard finding every size you need. The cost was not an issue for us, it was more of the problem of his men being different sizes and not being able to all buy the same one.

ElcaB · March 2014

CMGragain said:

Why only a jacket for the groom? The groomsmen will look half dressed. The vest is an accessory, not a substitute for the jacket. It is fine for the men to take off their jackets later in the reception, especially if dancing is the activity. They should wear jackets for the ceremony.
The rule is that the groom and his groomsmen are dressed in the same level of formality. If the groom wears a suit, so should the groomsmen. The suits do not have to exactly match in color or style.

I'm with @jenna8984 on this one. While the "rule" you listed is a good guidance, it's not like her groom is wearing a vest and the rest of the groomsmen are wearing t-shirts and cargo shorts. I think they'll look just fine the way she described it.

@AwScWedding, I'd suggest purchasing the items. Most of the men will be able to wear gray slacks and white button-ups again, so it makes sense to me.

KPBM89 · March 2014

We're having our GM in tan pants and vest with a white shirt and tie to match the girls, FI is wearing a jacket. We're buying them from Men's Wearhouse, but only because the set we're getting is at an insanely good price ($100 total to purchase both the pants and vest, and FI's jacket I think is around $250 alone). And since you can only rent the ties from them that match DB colors, I'm most likely going to make their ties myself once I find satin in the right color. The only downside is that we have to order everything at once and we need his unreliable brothers to send us the money for their suits (we're in GA, his GM are in CT, CA, and MD-the MD one being my brother, the only one to actually send us his check.).

If you're against MW, you can try a dept store, but I know when we were looking for vests in several places, they were hard to find, especially in colors other than black and in several sizes. In fact, out of about 60 stores we looked at, only one had a tan vest other than MW, and it was butt ugly. Or if you have an outlet center near you, try a Van Heusen Outlet or Jos A Bank Outlet. The outlet stores run sales almost every single day, especially on holiday weekends. There you would purchase. I have a good guy friend who works for a JAB and he would text me almost every single weekend to tell me their deals so I could get big discounts on FI's work clothes.

Definitely ask each individual their budget first, because you don't want a situation where you ask everyone to spend a bunch on something they might not ever wear again (FI's brother did this to him for his wedding: never asked his budget and picked out this slim fit suit that is over $400 that he will never ever have a need for other than their wedding).

AddieCake · March 2014

Shouldn't it be up to the individual groomsmen whether they purchase or rent?

CMGragain · March 2014

Well, if you want your groomsmen to just wear shirtsleeves, then go ahead, but it isn't proper. If you are wearing a floor length formal gown, it will look out of place.

duhitsd · March 2014

Not sure where you are located but Tuxedo Junction is a rental company that is in 18 states. In my area they are typically in shopping malls.

sengland14 · March 2014

I used that same picture for my GM inspiration. The quote we got for renting was nearly $800. We ended up deciding to rent my FH's gray suit (complete with jacket), but buying attire for the GM. We ditched the vests, bought gray & black suspenders on sale at JcPenney for $15/each and bought gray suit pants on sale at Sears for $25/each. I also got them gray ties on ebay for $5/each that were exactly what I was looking for. My FH also got himself and all the groomsmen (and me, actually) grey converse for that day as well. It doubled as the GM gift. We told all the guys to please bring a new, unworn, white shirt with them that day. I don't want some bachelor guy showing up with a worn out looking shirt from ten years ago lol. That's the only piece we are asking them to provide.

So at the end of the day we spent $150 on the grooms tux and $45/per GM, not including the shoes as I didn't pay for those and I am not sure what they cost. We are having an outdoor wedding at home so for us the look we ended up with is perfect for the "feel" (shabby chic/vintage/romantic) of our wedding, but it probably wouldn't work for a more formal affair.

We just bought all these items last week so, if it helps anyone, it's likely that some of the sales I mentioned are still going on. Nothing about their outfits looks cheap, but we managed to get exactly what we wanted on a tight budget.

lizandmark2014 · March 2014

As far as buying goes any men's store dealing in business suites. Like Joseph A Banks, Macy's, Belk, Dillard's, some tux shops sell their invintory too or have an annual sale.

Menswear Alternatives? Please help!

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