Weddingbee Blog

Mr. S is 30 years old, but he has never owned a nice new suit in his life.

I just wanted an excuse to use this picture.

He’s just never really needed one. His office, where he has worked for six years, is super-casual, so he lives in hoodies, t-shirts, jeans and Converse All-Stars. It’s incredibly rare that we go to an event where a suit is required, but for the occasional wedding, Mr. S would wear one of his two suits: a vintage one that he inherited from his grandfather (it was actually really awesome and fit him perfectly, but it got pretty raggedy after a while) and an ill-fitting suit that he bought at (don’t laugh) Target (okay, you can laugh).

Mr. S just couldn’t care less about clothes. He sees them as a necessity. He has no interest in fashion and his eyes glaze over when I mention anything to do with clothing. So, I was pleasantly surprised that I didn’t have to drag him kicking and screaming to go suit shopping for the wedding.

On Saturday, we embarked on a journey to find the perfect suit. We were really hoping to find a nice suit for $300 or less, so our first stop was Syms. Syms is not fancy, y’all. And to be honest, it’s kind of overwhelming.

But I’d read so many good things about their prices (just ask Pchipz) that we scoured the racks for the perfect suit. And the selection was pretty damned good! Mr. S tried on about a dozen gray suits and I couldn’t believe the prices! A Kenneth Cole, originally $495, marked down to $199! A Calvin Klein, originally $600, for $259! Amazing. If you’re looking for a suit and you live near a Syms, I highly recommend it.

We found about three contenders, one of which Mr. S preferred over the others, but we didn’t want to buy at the first place we visited, so we decided to hit up the nearest Men’s Wearhouse.

And basically, they carried the same suits for twice the price. We looked at a few price tags and were about to tear ass out of there when the display of ties and pocket squares caught my eye. We found the perfect golden-yellow accessories, and I grabbed a white shirt and a pricey suit off the rack to make a little mockup of Mr. S’s wedding day ensemble:

Absolutely perfect: accessories for the groom and groomsmen - check! And we went back to Syms to pick up the suit that Mr. S liked best. Check again!

And that was that! A relatively pain-free shopping experience for the man who hates shopping. You’ll have to wait ’til the wedding to see Mr. S all decked out, but trust me: he looks adorable!

Where did you go for affordable wedding-day menswear?