<p>My H does not own a tie, or dress shoes.
He does have a tweed sport coat which he has hardly worn in 30 yrs. ( but its very well made and classic)
Hes good looking, so he makes his clothes look nicer than they are, but he isn’t very interested in what he’s wearing.
Although I have a few gowns & cocktail dresses that I wore to formal events, he would be much more casual. ( shirt & cashmere sweater)
He has never really needed to own a suit, at least in his mind, but with D getting married, we were both thinking it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have at least one.</p>
<p>What would be the least painless way to go about it?
He’d be pretty easy to fit. ( I hope)About 5’7", slim but well built, long legs.
He has blondish hair, so I was thinking grey ( gabardine?)suit, charcoal shoes?
Does he have to have a white shirt?
My dad wore suits (& cufflinks!)but he’s been gone for almost 40 yrs, and since we live in Seattle, I really don’t know many people who even wear suits on a regular basis.
Its going to be all I can do to get him to wear a tee shirt that doesn’t show underneath.
I’m looking forward to it though.
;)</p>
<p>Take him to dinner and a nice drink and then go to Nordstrom’s and work with a salesperson. Second choice would be Macy’s when they are having a sale. Promise him something fun afterwards. Expect him to hate the experience, at least at first.
Depending on your D’s wedding and living in the PNW you might consider a navy, light weight wool sports coat so that it can be worn year round, a pair of camel summer weight and a pair of dark grey winter weight slacks, two dress shirts ( one solid and one stripe) and two ties. This is what we bought my H for a wedding and he has now worn one variation or another about 8 times in the past 2 years so the money was not wasted. It would have been on a dark suit.</p>
<p>I would get a dark charcoal gray suit – almost black. A shirt and tie to match, maybe a light blue if he doesn’t want white.</p>
<p>My advice would be for the wife NOT to go with him. If he is clueless and/or resistant to the shopping thing, send him to a mens wear store where a guy can wait on him and put together the package.</p>
<p>Another option. The department stores now sell suit separates. I know Kohl’s (and probably Macys and Nordstrom) sell Ralph Lauren Chaps suit separates. They have several options in grays and slightly striped blacks. You buy the jacket and pants separately to fit. Pretty painless.</p>
<p>If “well built” means an athletic build (chest - waist > 8"; this is called the “drop”), then that may actually be the most difficult to find off-the rack suits for. Most off-the-rack suits and dress shirts are made for a 6" drop; athletic cut versions made for 8" drop are rare. Yes, they can be altered, but the greater the amount of alteration needed, the less likely the result will look good (which is the whole point of dressy clothes). Some of the usual stores have athletic cut suits and dress shirts in their web catalogs, but they may not be in stock in the actual stores.</p>
<p>If that is the case, and he does not want to go for made-to-measure or bespoke (full custom), then he likely needs to at least look for suit separates (coat and trousers sold separately), since a typical complete suit with 6" drop will either be too large in the waist or too small in the chest and shoulders if he has an 8" or larger drop.</p>
<p>Dark gray is the usual color of suit that can be used in the widest range of “dressy” situations.</p>
<p>Hes not bulgy, he’s more slim, but his shoulders are perhaps a little broad.
It would be dangerous to send him shopping alone, he would buy whatever they felt like talking him into, just to get out of there.
( Im the same way, which is why I don’t do malls. I end up buying something just so I don’t feel like I wasted a trip, however, he would also let * me* talk him into something, & Im the one who will have to look at it)</p>
<p>Shoes are going to be hard too. He wears Converse, work or hiking boots or if I beg, his chukka boots.
Oh. Zappos!
:)</p>
<p>Have him measure his chest size and waist size, as these will give him an idea of what size suit jacket and trousers he should start his trying-on with. Suit jacket sizes are typically given as chest size and length, so 40R is 40" chest with regular length. A 40" chest jacket will typically assume a 34" waist, which will be the size of the trousers if the complete suit is sold together (as opposed to separate jacket and trousers). If it is a (rare) athletic cut suit, a 40" chest jacket will assume a 32" waist.</p>
<p>If the difference between chest and waist is about 6", then he should not have too much trouble finding a decent fitting suit with minimal alteration. If the difference is greater than 8", he will likely have the issues noted in post #4.</p>
<p>The main difficult thing to find in men’s dress shoes are shoes that won’t hurt one’s feet after wearing them for a while.</p>
<p>The few times I went shopping with my wife, it was a disaster. We just shopped to different drummers at different tempos. While I was just trying to process what I was looking at or trying on, she was rattling off definitive pronouncements. </p>
<p>He should go to a mens store like Mens Wearhouse or whatever you have out there (not a boutique place) and just be honest with the salesperson. “I’m not a suit guy and I need to buy a basic suit for weddings and stuff…”</p>
<p>I really think that most mens wear store salespeople are experienced in that scenario.</p>
<p>If you want, you can do it online from Macys. Order a couple of sizes and take what doesn’t fit back to a local store:</p>
<p>These are regular/classic fit wool suit separates. The black or black stripe or gray sharkskin or navy would all be suitable. Get the flat front pants (pleated is so 80s). Get a black leather belt.</p>
<p>Get a white shirt and a light blue shirt with a light strip or window pane check. For a wedding suit type deal, I would avoid the bold stripe shirts with a suit. Kinda defeats the purpose. This is not a fashion statement outfit.</p>
<p>I would skip the “slim fit” suits, mostly as a matter of style. These days they tend to be skinny jeans hipster suits. Again, not the plain ol’ suit look appropriate for a middle aged guy as a wedding suit.</p>
<p>BTW, at 5 7" with broad chest and shoulders, he is likely to be a 38 short or a 38 regular or a 40 short in the suit jacket. The length of the bottom hem is supposes to be right at the finger tips with arms at the side and fingers curled. I can fit in a 38 regular or 40 short, but the 38 regular is really just a tad long. The 40 short is just a little big around the belly, but that’s OK for a wedding suit.</p>
<p>My experience is that the suit separate pants tend to be sized honestly. For example, I wear 32 inch Dockers, but I can’t button 32 inch suit separate pants. I need 33s. 34s are still too big, but again – for a wedding suit – I’d rather be too big than too tight.</p>
<p>The main difficult thing to find in men’s dress shoes are shoes that won’t hurt one’s feet after wearing them for a while.</p>
<p>That reminds me of the joke Tina Fey made about Matthew Mcconauheys 45 lb weight loss for his role in Dallas Buyers club at the Golden Globes, " Or as actresses put it, * being in a movie*."
;)</p>
<p>Mens shoes look pretty comfortable compared to women’s shoes. Although the elongated toed shoes the hipsters wear don’t look very comfortable. They have a very shallow toe box.
His feet are a little slim. Doc Martens run too wide for him anyway, but otherwise he doesn’t have any issues.</p>
<p>His waist is about 29-30, his levis have been 30-33 for the last 35 years.
I have no idea what his chest is though. Maybe 36" or 37".
It looks like vests are popular. I wonder if I could get him to wear one in a color?
I suppose you wouldn’t wear braces & a vest at the same time.</p>
<p>Men seem more fun to dress. Women not only have to deal with whats seen, we have to get the right underwear too! :p</p>
<p>My friend’s husband was similar to yours, EK, and needed a suit for a family wedding as well. He went to Men’s Wearhouse, told them what he needed and what it was for, and what he was prepared to spend. And they outfitted him nicely. She said they were not pushy at all. </p>
<p>I agree with the others that a light blue or white shirt would be best for a wedding. H enjoys wearing colorful dress shirts and ties for work but dresses more blandly for formal occasions. For shoes, he generally goes with Macy’s, but I’ve found his brands on 6pm.com for less. If your H can find the size/style he likes in a store, you could always look online to see if you can beat the price.</p>
<p>Do male attendees at most weddings in your area wear suits? Do the two of you plan to attend very dressy affairs at least once a year? If not, I wouldn’t waste the money on a suit that will sit in the closet unworn for years. (And a cheap suit will look cheap, so that’s not a solution.) A good quality navy sports jacket, gray wool slacks for the winter, tan cotton blend for the summer, a white shirt and a couple of silk ties, one striped, one paisley, a pair of dressy black loafers, and your H will look great at any occasion. Nothing will be wasted, because the pants can be paired with solid colored or plaid shirts, worn open-necked, or with that cashmere sweater, and the jacket can be tossed over any of those combinations to dress things up for a nice dinner or evening at the theater. </p>
<p>My H hasn’t put on a suit in ten years, and he’s a clothes horse who would be happy to wear one, but unless one is working in a formal office environment, most men just don’t need to own a suit anymore.</p>
<p>Maybe I will just send him to Mens Wearhouse, I think thats where we got his sport jacket.
Then I can work in the yard. I think we are getting an early spring & there is lots to do!</p>
<p>Will he wear this suit to walk your D down the aisle? If so, the father of the bride typically dresses similarly to the wedding party, if not exactly the same. </p>
<p>If it’s a more casual wedding, I agree with MommaJ’s suggestion of a navy blazer with gray or tan pants - the blazer will be a great addition to his current wardrobe and something he can wear with casual khakis and jeans.</p>
<p>Ok, color me naive, but I thought this was going to be a thread about women dressing up FOR men. I was preparing to be offended, but entertained.</p>
<p>
</p>
<p>And this is a problem because…? Just listen to the definitive pronouncements. LOL</p>
<p>Ok, color me naive, but I thought this was going to be a thread about women dressing up FOR men. I was preparing to be offended, but entertained.</p>
<p>I can start another thread. ;)</p>
<p>*Will he wear this suit to walk your D down the aisle? If so, the father of the bride typically dresses similarly to the wedding party, if not exactly the same. *</p>
<p>As far as I know, it isn’t going to be that kind of wedding.
I believe they are getting married at the courthouse.</p>
<p>Since his legs are longer, it should be easy to fit him. A more typical issue is that suit coats are cut too long for guys with shorter legs. It’s easy to shorten pants but coats need to have the right proportion. This is the same issue women have.</p>
<p>I hate wearing suits and ties - or dress shoes - which is humorous (to me) because I had custom suits for years. </p>
<p>Thing is with off the rack clothing each brand fits differently and this one feels more comfortable than that, just like for women. So try on a bunch of suit jackets. And try some athletic cut ones too. Maybe Hugo Boss will feel right. Maybe Armani. Maybe Zegna. Who knows?</p>
<p>And remember, you don’t have to buy an actual suit or separates. Sounds like he could get away with a good coat or two and a few pairs of pants that look really good. The right combination looks good without conveying - to the wearer - that sense of “being stuck in a suit”. A nice thing is a pair of lighter pants makes it less formal and a pair of dark pants means you can go to a funeral in the same coat. </p>
<p>A lot of the comfort in a jacket is how they fit the shoulder box. Does it drape or confine? Does it stick out past your shoulders or ride too high? Of the off the rack brands, I found Zegna lays well enough on me that I don’t notice I’m wearing the coat. Most brand I’ve tried are too tight or too loose.</p>
<p>I vote for a dark gray suit. We’re getting to the age where funerals will become more common so he could double dip. Also, dark gray is just classic and will never go out of style, plus it hides flaws and stains well.</p>
<p>If it’s a courthouse thing then maybe he doesn’t need something so dressy, but the wedding is a great excuse to get him something he should have anyway.</p>
<p>Not necessarily. It all depends on chest size. The big retailers generally don’t go below a 38", and they usually don’t have many of them either. Actually, I’ve been into Nordstrom’s many times, and they usually have nothing smaller than a 40". (My son is a small guy, so we have canvassed the 'hood.)</p>
<p>For a basic navy suit, I recommend Brooks Brothers, particularly for a small guy. But pick it up during their sales: after fathers day, after christmas. No charge for basic alterations. (Don’t forget to factor in alteration prices at the discounters.)</p>
<p>Tip: open an Broooks Brothers charge and get 15% extra off on the spot, which generally means a 55% off of list. It’ll last your H a lifetime.</p>
<p>For shoes, I highly recommend Ecco men’s dress shoes. They are comfortable enough for my fussy big boy to wear every day and yet dressy enough to be worn with a suit to most occasions that require a suit. And here is one of the styles - so appropriately named! :D</p>
<p>I don’t think of him as " small". He’s average height for an Asian guy, and only a couple inches shorter than average American.
At least he doesn’t have a belly, that seems to be harder to dress.
( He’s the same height as Eddie Vedder, maybe I should ask him where he shops!)</p>
