I think these photos speak for themselves, but if not, I'll tell you that we got compliments all day on both the ties and my hair clip. And, with the hair clip, the day that I went to get my hair and makeup trials, I wore it from appointment to appointment, and people were stopping me about every 15 minutes to freak out over how cute it was. I loved it. In fact, I still do, and am planning to break it out whenever the occasion might suit.
Photos by Aaron Thompson
The dress is Nicole Miller, a wonderful designer for brides that are not interested in spending $3,000 on a gown, but still want to look fashion forward.
The shoes are Belle by Sigerson Morrison, amazingly found on sale at Piperlime.
The purse? That's a fantastic find that my sister picked up at a church yard sale! I couldn't believe the luck at how well it matched the shoes. The little broach and ribbon were additions courtesy of Holly Stalder, who made the broach to match the custom shrug I ordered from her, shown below.
The bridesmaids dresses were the ever popular J. Crew. I thought the ladies looked gorgeous! The men wore their own suits with ties from Toybreaker. The flower girls from JT's side of the family wore their own dresses with green sashes made by JT's mom. My niece wore a dress from SweetPlume, and my sister made her own fabulous feather hairband.
The feather hairpiece was made by Portobello -- I got so many compliments on it! And the earrings? Another great random find at Macy's for only $30!
All images by Aaron Thompson.
When shopping for JT's band, we set out to find a jeweler that made palladium rings. We wanted something less pricey than platinum, but titanium had too many potential pitfalls, the biggest one being that it can never be resized. So if it doesn't fit just right or you gain/lose any weight, you're just left with a tiny paperweight.
We checked out a few Etsy sellers, but didn't find much in the way of palladium. Then I remembered the awesome jeweler that made my friend Laura's engagement ring: Bario Neal. Not only are their designs unique, but their business practices are ethical to boot. Bonus points. And sure enough, they make several of their commitment bands in palladium. JT chose the Milla in the hammered finish. It's hard to see the texture in the photo I took because I don't have a macro lens that can capture the detail that close, so here is a picture from Bario Neal's website that better shows the hammering texture.
The one problem with ordering from an online vendor that you can't visit in person is sizing. JT and I went to several different major mall chain jewelers to get him sized. And of course, when we went there, each one told us something to the effect of "well, our sizes are specific to our brands, so they won't be the same if you go with someone else." He did end up getting some variance in the results...but I also just think that they were trying to get a sale out of us. At one of the stores, we feigned interest and looked at a few of their rings. Unbelievably, we found one very similar to the one he had picked out on Bario Neal's website, palladium with a hammered finish. For exactly TWICE the price. So, for double the money, I could feel good knowing that I had NO idea how this metal was mined AND be supporting a major retail chain? Uh, no thanks. I'll stick with the awesome indie vendors, thank you. Plus, when you purchase a ring from Bario Neal, it comes in this awesome (and handmade) box.
I really like it, too. I love the natural look of the hammered finish.
Titanium is an even more affordable option. It looks very "manly," so it's become quite popular in men's rings, and it's not hard to find titanium rings at major jewelry retailers these days. The downside to titanium is that it's so strong, it can't be resized once it's cast. So if JT gains or loses any weight, he'd have to get a new ring. But, as he put it, the cost of a titanium ring is so cheap, that it wouldn't be a very big deal to get it replaced. These two are from TitaniumKnights:
Both great, and at less than $100 each, he's right -- it wouldn't be a big deal to replace it if in a few years it no longer fit. Though that does seem slightly unsentimental, but is sentiment worth the extra money? Sometimes you just have to be practical. I won't love him any less with an inexpensive ring.
Here it is -- JT's actual suit! He chose wisely, didn't he? Almost makes you think you're looking at a picture of Justin Timberlake, huh? They do have the same initials, after all...
It's amazing what a difference the little details make, too. The very first time he tried it on, he was wearing it with a t-shirt and no shoes. The second time, he added a dress shirt and shoes from the store. Suddenly, even though it looked good the first time, it now looked much better. Incidentally, when asking for a dress shirt at Ted Baker, I asked for "just a white shirt," something that wouldn't detract from the suit. The salesgirl looked at me baffled and said "this is Ted Baker...we don't have white shirts!" He ended up trying it on with a light green shirt.
Once we got it home, he tried it on with one of his shirts, one of his ties, and his own shoes. And as you can see, it all works wonderfully. Ditto for me and my ensemble. My friend and I had a little dress up session this afternoon now that I have all of my accessories purchased and in hand. Once all the pieces are together, they are so much more powerful than they were individually. Funny, that's kind of how I feel about me and JT.
That's why I think I chose wisely, too.
In particular, a charcoal suit with a unique pattern, almost pinstripe-meets-herringbone. Not sure if that makes sense but the picture might give a better visual.
In any case, it was rather eye-catching, and Candice and I both were impressed with its look.
Next came John Varvatos. JV has a reputation for making a damn fine looking suit, and we did find a selection of sharp looking suits. Unfortunately, they were clearing out inventory and mostly had sizes that were far too big for an understated gentleman such as myself. Nonetheless, I bet they'll have some awesome stuff later on.
Hugo Boss came next, a designer whose selection had been recommended to me from a handful of different parties. I was feeling optimistic about Hugo Boss, and let's be honest, it's a name synonymous with making sharp suits. When we entered the store we certainly found a broad selection of suits, though none of them looked quite right on me. And after taking a look at the price tags, they also proved to be among the more expensive brands. The combination of high price and underwhelming appearance (on myself, though they'd likely look great on someone else) eliminated them from the running.
After Boss, we hit up Nordstrom, another promising source, with a department of skilled salesmen to match. I used to work at Nordstrom and have seen how well trained they can be, so I had a good feeling going in. Immediately, a salesman greeted us, told me he'd find my size without asking, and sure enough, he went straight for 38, which I had previously discovered to be the right fit. He brought out quite a few different looks, some of which were a bit too big, some of which were closer to being just right. This Joseph Aboud seemed promising, but the cut of the pants' legs was far too wide.
It was around here when I discovered just how unusual a suit size I am. As I've said before, I'm a pretty slim guy, but proportionally sound, or so I thought. Apparently American men are supposed to be triangle-shaped, because I began to find discrepancies between the jacket sizes and the pant sizes that I was trying on. After going through the 38s, the salesman suggested I might possibly be a 36 in certain designer cuts, and handed me a fantastic-looking John Varvatos three-piece suit that quickly became my top pick. The jacket and vest fit like a dream, but the pants...and this is where it becomes a crushing disappointment...were a size 29. I'm a skinny guy, but there's no way in hell I could squeeze into a 29. Needless to say, that suit was out.
After Nordstrom, we regrouped and headed to Theory on a whim. Interestingly enough, they had one suit. And that one suit was awesome. Clean look, good fit, a solid choice all around. Granted, it wasn't the cheapest suit, but sometimes you have to weigh whether or not spending a little more for a finer look is worth it. And it was still a good $500 less than Hugo Boss!
Lastly, we went back to Banana Republic, out of the feeling that, perhaps, a different location might bring about a different selection. And sure enough, we did find quite a few different suits that weren't stocked on our prior BR shopping trip. One in particular was a brand new suit—-I was told I was the first one to try it on—-a gray striped number that looked surprisingly good on me.
At the end of the day, we did, in fact, find the right suit, but I'll save that for another post.
The modern fit wasn't a bad start, and came in a broader variety of colors. However, the jacket seemed a bit too wide and boxy, which is a problem I notice in a lot of men's suits. As I said, I'm on the slim side, and a more tapered fit is more flattering on me.
With that in mind, the tailored fit was a much better option, making my torso look far less square shaped. Yet while the fit was good, the colors left something to be desired. Blue pin stripes just aren't going to cut it for our needs.
After Banana Republic, we went to J. Crew. They had nothing. Not one suit. Not even a proper pair of dress pants. Some faded khakis if I recall, a few casual dress shirts. That's about it. We suffer the misfortune of living in a city where CEOs and attorneys can feel comfortable wearing Hawaiian shirts and flip-flops apparently, or so you would believe by the terribly limited selection at some retailers. Nonetheless, I expected more from J. Crew.
From there, we went to Barney's Co-op, which had a few suits, but they were either too large or the wrong color or pattern (plaid might be fun for another occasion, but not our wedding). And after that, we called it a day. Next time, we plan to tackle some designers' stores, which should yield better results. If nothing else, we have a better idea of what looks good on me.
The one above is from J Crew, and the one below from BR.
This one is from John Varvatos, available at Nordstorm.
Three pieces for $795? Not too shabby. I love the look of a three-piece suit, but JT has a long torso, and the vests he's tried on in the past didn't work for him. The most important criterion with finding a suit will be finding something that doesn't look boxy. Boxy = bad. Boxy = unattractive. JT is a slim, small framed guy and won't want to look like a linebacker on our wedding day.
When we start suit shopping, JT will give you the play-by-play, much like I did with my dresses.
I bought JT a tie from Cyberoptix TieLab a few Christmases ago, and it became his one (and only) "special occasion" tie. Then he supplemented it with a couple more for the office. I'm loving this one for JT and our two best men on the big day.
Cyberoptix does custom group orders for weddings, too. How perfect!
