Weddings8 May 20263 min read
The groom's wardrobe: everything that is not the suit.
The shirt, the shoes, the belt, the pocket square: the pieces chosen last, and the ones that decide how the photographs look.
By Gilles Masson, Atelier Mesure, Paris 7ᵉ
The suit takes all the attention for months, then the week before the wedding arrives and there is still a shirt, a pair of shoes, a belt and three details to settle. Those last-minute decisions show as much as the cut, sometimes more: they are the ones the camera comes close to.
The shirt, before everything else
The shirt is settled straight after the suit, never at the end. Its colour governs the tie, its cloth governs how it photographs, and its collar governs how the jacket lapel sits.
Pure white remains the safest choice for a ceremony: it lifts the face and argues with nothing. A faintly ivory white softens a pale complexion under a June sun. The collar is chosen for the tie or its absence: more open if the knot is full, more closed if there is none. Above all, the made-to-measure shirt lets you set the sleeve length to the millimetre, the only way to show a consistent cuff.
Shoes set the register
The same suit changes register entirely with the shoes. A black cap-toe oxford pulls towards the formal, a patinated brown derby towards the countryside, a loafer towards the deliberately informal.
Two rules are enough. First: belt and shoes agree, same shade, same family of leather. Second: new shoes on the wedding day are a mistake, wear them three or four times beforehand. The subject is covered in detail under shoes for a suit.
Details, one per outfit
Pocket square, cufflinks, watch, possibly a buttonhole. Each of these is an accent, and an outfit carries one accent, rarely two.
If the pocket square is coloured, the cufflinks stay plain. If the cufflinks are engraved or coloured, the pocket square goes back to a white square folded straight. The watch follows the leather of the shoes when it has a leather strap. The rest comes off.
« True elegance lies everywhere, above all in what cannot be seen. »
Key points
The order of decisions after the suit.
- Settle the shirt straight after the suit, never the night before
- Pure white for a ceremony, ivory to soften under strong sun
- Set the sleeve length so the cuff shows
- Match the belt to the shoes, same shade and same leather
- Wear the shoes three or four times before the day
- One accent per outfit: pocket square or cufflinks
- Try the whole outfit once, shoes included
The suit is prepared over months, the rest of the wardrobe in a single afternoon. Giving that afternoon, rather than deciding the night before, is what separates a coherent outfit from a merely correct one. The wedding suit guide covers the whole.
