Nah then people. I have to go to a rather posh wedding next month, my problem is this...

I have to wear a "dinner suit", but never having owned a proper suit (or learned how to tie a tie), I'm at a bit of a loss as to what I actually want now that I have looked at some different styles (available on eg. Philip Johnson).

Do I go and buy one? If so where do you recommend?

Do I hire one? (approx. £60). If so where do you recommend?

Is there such a thing as a male version of a dress agency? Where I can get a fantabulous knock-out suit for the price of hiring one.

Charity shops? If so where do you recommend?

How much is a suit these days? Bearing in mind that I've got this far without one.

Try Matalan and places like that. They often have them for around £50....cheaper than hiring especially if you get to wear it again.

Dinner suit is like black tie, ie bow tie, so you can have a made up one. If it's daytime are you sure it's not morning suit?

Matalan did some Dinner Suits last Christmas. I was careful not to stand near a naked flame. We were going to a fancy dress 'Come Dancing' the theme and paid £50 each for 2 suits then decorated them up with frills and sequins.

They had some in TJ Hughes a while ago which were a bit dearer but looked better if you weren't doing the fancy dress bit. It all depends on whether or not you think you might need one again sometime. If not then I'd just hire one

This years fancy dress theme is 'Camp as Christmas', suggestions for an outfit gratefully received!

matalan & asda have been clearing last years stock - but choices are limited.
there is a tailor on Manor top supplies everything - Ashley Jackson's i think.
quality & cheap £35 i paid last year.

Originally posted by pete_jim

This years fancy dress theme is 'Camp as Christmas', suggestions for an outfit gratefully received!

If you're slightly rotund, rounded, a bloater etc you could do 'the only gay in the village'

If you're generally medium-sized, there's probably a dinner suit in a charity shop near you. The older a DJ gets, the better it looks. With the exception of Tony Blackburn, that is. If you can, get a proper tie and learn to tie it.

ASDA is good...shirt, bow tie, jacket & trousers for £75...

Go to the NEXT staff shop in leeds ,any suit would cost 5£ ,3 shirts for 10£ ,(u need a staff card ,if any of your mates work for NEXT)

Thanks for your help so far.

So the general concensus of opinion then is: Buy a suit from a cheap retailer, ie. Matalan/Asda.
Do I want a single or double breasted and what should it be made of? (I don't want to be avoiding standing near fires/candles etc.)
Do I need a waistcoat?
Personally I like the "Dress Agency" idea, is there such a thing?

There is a Next factory outlet at the Doncaster Retail Park, will try there on monday.

Another problem is that when I put on a suit it will look like I work on the door.

Can't you go in a lovely floral hat? It might soften the image, and its so summer wedding. ;)

There are several dress hire shops on Ecclesall road, and you can go in them and hire all kinds of proper evening wear. They even do a fitting and alter things so they fit perfectly for you. Dinner jackets are no problem because the students at the old Sheffield University have traditionally had that kind of gear for their Balls, which are quite formal.

If you're a bit scared, don't worry we can go down on the bikes and I'll go in with you, shout at them and give them a right Bolloking so they don't take the pee.

Originally posted by SHarper
Another problem is that when I put on a suit it will look like I work on the door.
That's because you wear sunglasses like your Avatar, wear an earpiece and keep talking to your hand.

Another option is to order one from a catalogue, be careful with it, dont use the pockets and then return it after the occasion. This was the option my Mum used to go for in the late seventies. When I had to have a velvet jacket to be an usher at my cousins wedding and again at my elder brothers.

I do own two ties, both were tied by my brother and slipped over his head about 11 years ago. Isn't there a few ways to tie one? Which looks best?

Originally posted by pete_jim
This years fancy dress theme is 'Camp as Christmas', suggestions for an outfit gratefully received!

French onion johnny. One of my best moments, as seen in my avatar slideshow, but for a better view
http://www.rocknroll.f9.co.uk/fromwithin/french.jpg

that's me..

Beret from the army stores, onions from the greengrocers..

If it's a dinner suit, then it'll be bow tie. If you don't want to look like you work on the door - don't wear a black tie. Go for something a bit different. Loads of places sell bow ties, a lot of them you just fasten at the back so no messing around trying to get it right.

Originally posted by feargal
Can't you go in a lovely floral hat? It might soften the image, and its so summer wedding. ;)

Thanks for this suggestion, but floral patterns clash with my complexion.
The wedding is in September, is this too early for Autumnal tones?
I hear that this years colours are chocolate/vanilla and strawberry, I read it in Neopolitan magazine....

Like Hels say's if it's dinner suit it will be a bow tie so you can buy a patterned one ready tied on elastic, nothing wrong with that.

Single breasted is better than double for dinner suit, no waistcoat needed but get a cummerbund. Ted Johnson tailors on London Rd have a few matching bow ties and cummerbunds which get away from the 'guy on the door' look.

We hired smartish dinner suits two years ago from Pronuptia on Eccy Rd.

Pay great attention to you accessories, you can tell oodles about folks from their shoes, belts and watches.

Thanks for the suggestions re the fancy dress, I think the 'only gay in the village' might be oversubscribed. Thinking of going as 2 chars a la Hilda Ogden - Holly & Ivy......

It entirely depends upon your budget and whether you're fussy about decent quality. You can pick up really great dinner suits or morning suits in charity shops for as little as £10-20 if that. If you havent got yourself sorted out by now I'd start looking at all options pdq. :D

Oooh and don't forget some lovely cuff links. There's loads about these days, Debenhams and M&S do them, you can get some to co-ordinate with your bow tie and cumerbund. Want some piccies, it sounds like it'd going to be a posh do!

Steve, if you need some fine cufflinks, I have a pair of silver Tiffany cufflinks I could lend you - they really are the dog's whatsits! :thumbsup:

K x

I have a couple of dinner suits (I only keep them for fancy dress) Let me know what size you are, I may be able to help.

Little silver doggy testes, in the form of cufflinks?
Great conversation piece. Thanks K, but I would hate to be responsible for something of value.

Hopefully there is a suit winging its way up the M1, from Harrods no less. Talked to a friend today, he was with another of my friends in London, who works at Harrods and is a similar size to me ( in the chest anyway ). He has said he will despatch one of his v posh DJ's for me to try on, which is great, although I might have to get some (smaller) trousers to match the jacket.

Ta very much everyone.

Dont think any photos will make it into the public domain, I've got my rufty-tufty image to maintain...

What a pity. I was rather looking forward to seeing a converted scruff. As for cuff links you can pick them up quite cheaply either on the Moor or there's a pretty nifty little shop on Sharrowvale Road open on Wednesdays and Saturdays only which sells a few antiques which arent that valuable.

You will always see someone at a formal do who thinks that they need to look different to everyone else. They are usually Chartered Engineers who wear wacky glasses who also can't dance but drag up their best friends wife when that "really groovy Abba song" comes on later, just in case she really has been hiding how much she fancies him all these years. Avoid standing out like this :thumbsup:


So...

Cole's for the suit and shirt. Nice quality, and they will make sure it fits you even when you don't believe that you really have put on that much weight.

Currently, you should avoid double breasted unless you want to look like your Dad. Suits are always black with black satin fronts and trouser stripes. Don't be tempted by Nehru collars - they look irredeemably naff and you're trying to look a tad more suave than you do when on holiday in Skegness, yes?

Shirt fashion at the moment is for plain fold-over collars, not flat upright ones.

Please, please, please avoid a cummerbund at all costs - you will look either like the guy who never wore a DJ before, or the DJ.

Waistcoats are bad too unless you have an unfeasibly large tum that you're trying to hide.

White shirt, waffle fronted is nice rather than pleats and black studs always look good especially with double cuffs and dark stone chain links.

Elastic ties?... well you will look like a cheap club turn. Ties - rule 1 - learn to tie your own tie, it's worth the effort and the ladies do like a chap who knows how to tie a proper tie. ;) More importantly bow ties always look good unfastened when the dancing starts.

Tie colour?... always, always, always black if it's formal, pattered is fine if its a party, but try not to look like you forgot everything you ever learned about the use of colour - Carmen Miranda you ain't! :P

Hmmm, does it sound like I've done this before ;)

Originally posted by wendygs
What a pity. I was rather looking forward to seeing a converted scruff.

I never said I was a scruff, just never had to have a suit and tie.

Thanks Tony, I like the idea of Coles, wouldn't have thought of it myself, also for the other pointers, just what I needed. If the one thats on its way looks a bugger your instructions will be followed.

I forgot a few things.

Shoes - black, plain and polished, including the heels and the bit underneath between the heel and sole.

Socks, black mercerised cotton or silk - M&S are good.

Underwear - well it's a personal choice, but I tend to think it spoils the line :D

Wristwatch - if you have a nice slim one with a black strap use that, but avoid digital. If you only have a digital put it in your jacket pocket ;)

Hope that the Harrods one does the trick, but Coles aren't too expensive at all.

Bravo Tony! Good to hear a little advice about something other than getting a cheap suit. Cheap suits generally look like cheap suits. Quality and a bit of gusto win hands down in the style stakes.

From a woman's point of view, it has to be said that men togged up properly (and I mean PROPERLY) are really rather attractive- no, that's not a proposition.

I spent much of my working life attending black tie events and apart from the utter pants of the expense of ball gowns (you men don't know you're born- invest in one good DJ and wear it for 30 years, providing you still fit in it, can't be seen to wear the same £200 ball gown twice) the major frustration was seeing men looking uncomfortable. They clearly didn't realise that if they got the quality right and paid half as much attention to their appearance and grooming as your average woman does every day then they would be absolutely stunning, but were wearing suits that looked cheap and which show their discomfort and lack of belief in their own style.

Go for style and quality, pay attention to the details, and you won't believe how the compliments will flow (and no, I'm not assuming that compliments are a motivator for you, but don't knock a good thing, right?)