A Black Tie Affair

A Black Tie Affair

January 6th, 2010 @ 1:35 pm by Mrs. Spaniel
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On Black Friday, Mr. Spaniel and I avoided the mall and hit up the tux shop instead. We went back and forth about whether to go for the shadow stripes or solid black, and we had a heck of a time choosing between two or three buttons. Pure agony! Okay, so it wasn’t that hard: Mr. Spaniel knew he wanted tuxedos for him and his groomsmen as opposed to suits, and he knew he wanted black. Menswear in general has a lot of catching up to do to ladies’ fashions in terms of complexity and stress induction, because there really weren’t that many options once those two choices were made. (I promise I will make up for the simplicity of his decisions by belaboring the sock selection as much as possible.)

For the groom: a black shadow stripe, two-button coat with Victorian Gold paisley vest and tie (we’ll be substituting the rental tie for this one).

(source)

For the groomsmen (and the bridesmen!): the same thing, but with a black vest and tie.

Not too shabby! Since the rental includes the coat and pants, shirt, shoes, vest, tie and cuff links, the only item we still need to track down are the socks. Do you have any idea how hard it is to find nine complementary pairs of green, patterned dress socks? It may be the most difficult wedding-related research task I have taken on! I’m giving myself an end-of-January deadline to find them before I kiss this idea goodbye and just ask the guys to all bring their own black socks. But I would hate to give up goofy pics like these!

(source)

What was your tuxedo-shopping experience like?

Tags: menswear |

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21 Responses to “A Black Tie Affair”

1 2 Last

Bee

Mrs. Mouse (message) 5,844 posts, Bee Keeper

Oh man, sock shopping was totally insane! I went to so many stores. You should go back and read my post about it if you can find it–I think there are some good links there. Good luck! Btw, classy, classy choices.

1/6/10 @ 1:40 pm (reply)

Member

Ms. Mojito (message) 399 posts, Helper bee

You really nailed this topic on the head! You did a great job with your picks. We just tackled this over the weekend-Mr. Mojito was less than pleased with his choices- he prefers more of a suit look and the sales lady kept trying to push her style on him. menswear really does have alot of catching up to do!

1/6/10 @ 1:45 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Spaniel (message) 6,792 posts, Bee Keeper

@Mrs. Mouse: I’m looking for the post!

@Ms. Mojito: Thank you! It totally stinks, though, when you come in with a clear idea and salespeople try to push you in another direction. So frustrating!

1/6/10 @ 1:59 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Pug (message) 3,753 posts, Honey bee

ooh, love the gold vest!

1/6/10 @ 2:05 pm (reply)

Bee

Mrs. Espresso (message) 1,310 posts, Bumble bee

I love the fun socks! I never went with Mr. E to the tux shop- he went by himself and surprised me the day of

1/6/10 @ 2:07 pm (reply)

Member

ChiDIY (message) 184 posts, Blushing bee

We actually just went to look at Mens Warehouse. I have to say… I am SHOCKED at how much it costs to rent a tux! If I weren’t so obsessed with everyone matching, I’d have them buy their own black suit. We will be following in the footsteps of Mrs. Powderpuff and having them go sans vests, and ALSO looking for some rad socks! I like it.

1/6/10 @ 2:22 pm (reply)

Member

PennyRoulette (message) 24 posts, Newbee

I’m so frustrated with tux options! I want the guys to look like they are at a party not a funeral!

1/6/10 @ 2:27 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss French Fries (message) 2,218 posts, Buzzing bee

Very classy! Good luck with the socks — I love the way they look in pictures!

1/6/10 @ 2:48 pm (reply)

Bee

Miss Guinea Pig (message) 1,377 posts, Bumble bee

Can’t wait to see what your sock search turns up! I’m still trying to convince Mr. GP to wear awesome socks

1/6/10 @ 4:37 pm (reply)

10.

Bee

Miss Hamster (message) 4,046 posts, Honey bee

Love that sock pic! I’m not even going to introduce the possibility of sock options to the Mister. He had enough trouble deciding between two sets of cuff links!

1/6/10 @ 5:49 pm (reply)

11.

Bee

Miss Scissors (message) 7,343 posts, Bee Keeper

yay socks! we’re doing crazy socks for the wedding.

1/6/10 @ 7:21 pm (reply)

12.

Member

mimi06d (message) 646 posts, Busy bee

Loving the gold paisley!! Good luck on your sock hunt.

1/6/10 @ 7:47 pm (reply)

13.

Bee

Miss Nachos (message) 1,733 posts, Bumble bee

Who would have thunk socks would be so difficult? Sounds like Mr. N’s quest for nude colored men’s underwear!!

1/6/10 @ 9:34 pm (reply)

14.

Bee

Miss Spaniel (message) 6,792 posts, Bee Keeper

@Miss Nachos: I KNOW!!! I mean, I can find the socks… what I can’t do is find them for less than $20 a pair. WTH?

1/6/10 @ 9:56 pm (reply)

15.

Member

pvaulter718 (message) 2,116 posts, Buzzing bee

@Miss Spaniel: $20 a pair, for SOCKS?!!? o.m.g. have you tried looking for women’s socks? Our groom’s posse all had feet sized 8 - 10 and I was able to find a great pair of women’s socks that fit up to a size 12. But don’t tell them they wore women’s socks, they’d kill me!

1/7/10 @ 8:27 am (reply)

16.

Member

CrstnBeach (message) 94 posts, Worker bee

You should expand your search beyond just dress socks. Some of the multi-colored ones in that picture look like they may have been sports socks. We used Old Navy’s argyle socks for our boys’ feet and the pictures are really cute! Its worth it to find them!

These are all blue, but $8.99 from JC Penney!
http://www.jcpenney.com/jcp/X6.aspx?DeptID=53070&CatID=53070&Grptyp=PRD&ItemId=171434a&cm_mmc=ShoppingFeed-_-Google-_-Men-_-Men%20s%20Stafford%20Essentials%20Argyle%20Dress%20Sock%203%20Pack

1/7/10 @ 9:30 am (reply)

17.

Member

CrstnBeach (message) 94 posts, Worker bee

And check out Amazon! Here are white/color stripe socks too! 7.29/pair

http://www.amazon.com/Red-Lion-Mini-Striped-Socks/dp/B0013B89P8/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=apparel&qlEnable=1&qid=1262874789&sr=1-1

1/7/10 @ 9:34 am (reply)

18.

Bee

Miss Buttons (message) 5,046 posts, Bee Keeper

Love the menswear! The guys are going to look sassy!

1/7/10 @ 9:51 am (reply)

19.

Member

lkbphmd (message) 662 posts, Busy bee

I hear you on the sock search! I never knew how much time I could spend looking for the right socks or that I maybe should have stood in a crazy long line to buy said socks when I first found them.

1/7/10 @ 10:08 am (reply)

20.