With a beautiful summer and seemingly endless amount of weddings this year, we’re all bound to have at least one to attend this summer. While we specialize in helping you pick a wardrobe for every occasion, here’s some advice for the upcoming ” wedding season”
- Know Your Audience – first and foremost, you should never outdress a couple on their wedding day, so knowing the dress code for the event is key. Having a wardrobe that is easy to dress up or down gives you some versatility when attending weddings with vague dress codes.
Now that the ground rules are out of the way, let’s look at some fun outfit options!
- “ The Formal Wedding” – In a wedding that calls for ” black tie” or ” formal” attire, we recommend either a suit, or a dress pant and sport coat, with a formal shirt and tie. You should avoid wearing a black suit to any wedding that is not your own, and you should never wear a tuxedo to somebody else’s wedding. Ideal colours this summer for a formal outfit include mid to dark blues, Grey’s, and tans. Shoes should be either a black or brown dress shoe, black if you’re wearing a black pant, or a charcoal Grey pant, and brown for charcoal, blues, and tans.
- “ The Dress Up Wedding” – The vaguest of dress codes, which also means you have the most flexibility. We recommend a dress or dress casual pant, what we call a ” 5 pocket pant” which is just a fancy word for formal jeans or casual dress pants. You should pair this with a sport shirt ( which is usually a patterned dress shirt that is cut in a way that allows you to wear it tucked in or un tucked. It’s up to you if you’d like to add a tie or a blazer to this outfit, if you show up feeling too formal, it’s always easy to ditch the jacket after the ceremony 😉 shoe options should be a dress shoe, a loafer, or a formal leather sneaker, often I’m black or brown, but sometimes a white sneaker completes a look.
- ” The Casual Wedding” – Casual doesn’t have to mean poorly dressed, it’s usually a request not to dress too formally. In this case you’re best wearing a 5 pocket pant, a chino, or a nice jean, and a sport shirt or casual button up. No ties or jackets required, and if weather permits, maybe even a nice pair of shorts. If you’re wearing shorts, you shouldn’t wear a long sleeve shirt, and if you’re not wearing a jacket, sleeves typically look best rolled with a long sleeve shirt. Shoe options can include a dress shoe, loafers, or a leather sneaker, usually white, brown, or black.
Now that our primary dress codes are taken care of, here’s a few “hot” looks this summer.
- “Suspenders” – Suspenders are real hot right now, and by hot we mean popular, and also attractive, of course. Typically suspenders look best when paired with a fitted dress pant or Chino, ( meaning a casual pant with dress pockets, usually cotton) and a fitted dress shirt, in a white, off white, light blue, or some soft patterns. Suspenders, like a belt, should always Match the colour of your shoes. Warning! NEVER wear a belt and suspenders at the same time. You also shouldn’t wear suspenders with a suit vest.
- The “Just having a really cool shirt” – Sometimes simplest is best, and you can let a fun shirt do all the work for you. Just make sure you’re pairing it with an appropriate pant – when in doubt, blues look good with browns, tans, and contrasting blues, black pants look with with jewel tones ( royal blue, emerald, ruby red) and everything looks good with charcoal Grey.
- Fabric is important – It’s looking like it’ll be a hot summer, make sure your clothes are appropriately weighted and you’re picking the best fabrics for the season. Generally, a cotton shirt Is most ideal, and for pants we recommend either a cotton chino, or a wool dress pant. If this isn’t an option, try and find a lighter weight breathable synthetic blend – try and avoid anything that is largely polyester based, it doesn’t breathe very well.
Enjoy the season! Enjoy your weddings! See you soon!
-Lucas Cameron James McKinnon