i am not in style.

adam and i are now 10 months into what will be a 24 month engagement.  we have done little to no wedding planning since sending our deposit to the high peaks resort.  honestly, having chosen the venue takes away so much of the planning because the high peaks resort will be hosting our ceremony and the reception as well as doing all of the catering.  sometimes it feels like we've been engaged forever, which may partly be due to the fact that we have been dating for almost eight years.  the wedding seems to be more of a concept rather than a real event which will happen.
so in order to keep the idea of our future wedding fresh, we took a trip to the fashion mecca that is albany (read: sarcasm) to look at suits for adam.  having decided that ours will not be a formal event, tuxedos are out of the picture.  additionally, i like the idea that adam will be able to wear his wedding attire again as opposed to the uni-task outfit i'm wearing. 
beyond the no-tuxedo thing, we walked into the mega-overwhelming mens wearhouse (wear!  so clever!  again: sarcasm) with few hard and fast "rules".  we were immediately approached by a young, well dressed salesman.  apparently people do not browse in suit warehouses because we met with clear disdain.  noting that we were in the zygote stage of planning for a non-traditional wedding that was over a year away, he seemed incredulous.  if we weren't going to buy a suit today, he couldn't guarantee that what we liked would be in stock later.  even more serious, what if the styles changed between now and the wedding!  the horror!
ironically, the ideas of possible suit styles we have in mind weren't even offered at this not-so-comprehensive wearhouse.  i mistakenly mentioned to the salesguy when he returned a little bit later that i liked the look of vests but couldn't find any in the store.  he abruptly explained that vests aren't "in".  here's where i mentioned that i already purchased my wedding dress (a closeout style from many seasons ago) and that it cost a lot less than the price of the suits in his store.  i wasn't being snarky, i was smiling because it was clear that we were not in the right place.  we had a little discussion about how his wife spent $2,000 on her wedding dress and then adam and i left the store.  we didn't leave outraged (amused really), only more educated regarding the hard pitched, car...oops, i mean suit buying process.
isn't getting the dress supposed to be more difficult than the suit?

6 comments:

  1. With all the time and planning involved it sounds like the event is a little more formal than you think. I have a fairly limited experience here but my current job came with a nice perk, a custom cut suit. If you already have a budget in mind maybe consider having a coat/vest made for him. That way it could be altered over it's lifetime and you could choose the fabric too. Beyond that it might be good to spend the money with an artisan rather than a warehouse. Perhaps the biggest issue might be finding a capable tailor in reasonable proximity? Have fun with the process and forget anyone that turns their nose up at ya! Oh and maybe you don't have 'fashion mag' style but I think that is the coolest part.

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  2. @nokdeez
    a custom coat & vest would be ideal, but wouldn't fit in our mini-size budget (my dress was $50 off ebay). he's got about $400 to work with for the entire outfit so we've got some leg-work to do!
    we're a pretty laid back pair, so it's tough to be too put off by the folks that take themselves too seriously! we'll only do this thing once, so we plan to have fun!

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  3. Vest aren't "in"? WTH, that sounds pretty snarky, you should have been snarky back to him. You could always hit up Burlington Coat Factory for designer labels for el cheapo, but the selection is kind of a crap shoot. Good luck!

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  4. Oh Renee--The image of you in a Wearhouse makes me giggle :)

    here are a couple of options:
    http://www.josbank.com/menswear/shop/Home_11001_10050 Mike bought a searsucker suit for a wedding from this place for like $120. the pants might have been the funniest pleated things you ever saw, but somehow the whole thing together with 7 groomsmen looked amazing!

    Brooks Brother outlet in Lake George has really great sales.

    J-Crew might have the vest you seek. They are super-preppy, but not exactly hip.

    H&M also seems like the vesty sort. Crossgates has a pretty good-sized H&M.

    Kohl's has sort of nice suits that you could get altered to really have it fit well.

    You could talk to the seamstress at Cifone Designs (on Bay Road) about having a vest made then matching an off the rack suit to match it. She altered a dress for myself and Violet and did a super-job.

    GOOD LUCK! I love the vest idea with no coat!!!!!

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  5. Renee, Vi's Mom's suggestion re; Cifone Designs, is a good one. She, Christine Cifone, did some small alterations for me. Her reputation in Glens Falls is/was excellent. If you talk to her... ask if she remembers the Agway service tech who installed the "new" boiler downstairs. Good luck.

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  6. thanks for the tip on Cifone Designs...i had been looking for a decent tailor (which i know nothing about) to do alterations on my dress.

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