The London Lounge

My fiance and I are planning a small wedding in Italy next year, immediate family and a few very dear friends. Recognizing all eyes will be on the bride, I nonetheless want to look my best.

My first (and favorite) bespoke suit is a SB 3 button roll with notch lapels and a ticket pocket. The fabric is Harrisons Premier Cru # 49057, an 11oz Super 100's + cashmere in a dark grey very small and subtle Birdseye.

I'm considering commissioning a DB vest from my tailor in the same fabric and using this as my wedding suit. Would my fellow members consider this appropriate?

Many thanks for your advice and suggestions.

The suit jacket styling doesn't quite fit a DB vest, but I'm not really a fan of those anyway, except as they find themselves in formal rigs. SB might work a little better, even if it does have something of a bank-officer vibe.

Nevertheless, if you get the shirt and tie right, and smile confidently, it will look good with or without the vest.

I don't think you need the vest, but it's imperative that you wear your first and favorite bespoke suit! An old friend like that will put you in the best possible frame of mind for your wedding--more so even than something commissioned for the occasion. I'd focus my attention on a crisp white shirt, great cufflinks, a beautiful new tie and a pair of highly polished oxfords.

An additional consideration regarding a vest might be whether your tailor can source the cloth from the same bolt, or at least the same dye lot, and whether you have had your suit dry-cleaned in the interim. You would not want to discover even a slight mismatch in color after the order had been placed. If you haven't already done so, I'd take the suit with you to the tailor and compare the cloths together before deciding to proceed. If that is not an issue, then suit yourself.

You don't say what time of year, time of day, or part of Italy your wedding will take place in. My first thought is that if it is in a warm season and clime, an 11-oz birdseye dark gray lounge suit, especially with ticket pocket, will look more understated and elegant, as well as more seasonal, with no vest at all. Our member collarmelton has a suit styled similarly, though sans cash pocket, with a handsome DB vest, but it is in a heavy gray chalkstripe flannel, so the vest fits with the functional impression of warmth conveyed by the cloth and looks appropriate. If you're not wearing morning dress, I don't see any need for the third piece to the lounge suit on grounds of formality or correctness, and I agree with carl browne that with careful furnishings the two-piece ought to yield a light, authentic, and dashing effect perfect for the joyous occasion.

Troutonthefly - The DB waistcoat in the same fabric of your bespoke dark grey suit will be definitely a winter´s look. If it´s a summer or a rather warm weather wedding, skip it. Focus on the impeccable white cutaway collared shirt you´ll be wearing and the gardenia in your lapel button-hole. Congratulations.

carl browne wrote:I don't think you need the vest, but it's imperative that you wear your first and favorite bespoke suit! An old friend like that will put you in the best possible frame of mind for your wedding--more so even than something commissioned for the occasion.

I like the logic behind this excellent piece of advice!

couch wrote: but it is in a heavy gray chalkstripe flannel, so the vest fits with the functional impression of warmth conveyed by the cloth and looks appropriate.

That is a very good point!