Groovy groomsmen

The groomsmen made their way up to Perth last week to get fitted up for their outfits. In the end Chad decided that he wanted them to hire their outfit, rather than purchasing shirt and trousers and his mum making waistcoats. I never really thought about how expensive it was until we were there - $131 for a suit, shirt, waistcoat and tie!!

I was not that impressed with the quality of the shirt, a horrible polyester number. To get a nicer cotton shirt with french cuff was an extra $20 so I did not insist but I would hate to have that nasty fabric on my skin.

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One step at a time...

C and I used out time on Sunday in Melbourne to scour the pattern books in Lincraft and purchase this pattern for the waistcoats for his groomsmen. Now we just have to find some nice fabric.

C has decided that he does not wish for him or the groomsmen to wear ties so that removes one item of detail. He's also wavering on whether or not to wear a jacket, although I do not think that they will be necessary.

Any suggestions for good fabric sources in Australia, preferably in Perth, appreciated. The bridesmaids are wearing silk.

Looking for... waistcoats?

I went for a wander at lunchtime today, practicing being a wife by purchasing face wash and deodorant for my beloved. On my way back to the office I thought that I would make some enquiries about waistcoats for our wedding.

First up Ferrari Formalwear. They had they waistcoats on display, and one or two of them seemed okay. On speaking to the friendly salesgirl, I was told that they do not sell the waistcoats, and they will only hire them out with a full suit. Whilst that could still be an option for us, dependent on cost, it is not what we are looking at doing for the moment and she suggested that I try Tony Barlow across the road.

At Tony Barlow they were also very friendly. They do not sell waistcoats at all, and she suggested a couple of men's clothing stores that may stock waistcoats. I then asked about shirts and trousers, and was told that they have a range of shirts in different styles of collars and cuffs so we would have a range of garments for the boys to choose from... at least unless they are over six foot tall and in that case there was only one style of shirt that had extra long arms to cope. Two of C's groomsmen S and CF are around his height, and sleight. D however is six foot six so we may need to look harder to find a shirt his size! Conveniently King Size Menswear is located across the road ...

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Groomsmen style

Now that the bridesmaid dresses are organised we can look at the outfits for C and the groomsmen.

The plan for the boys is for trousers, shirt, waistcoat and tie. They will not have jackets so the waistcoat will be on display!

There are so many options for what we can do with the boys' outfits. I think that C is keen for grey trousers, although I am not sure how that will work with his waistcoat, which will be white with silver.

Ideas for the groomsmen include:

• Blue waistcoats in different shades, ties to match


• Waistcoats in the same shade, ties in different shades of blue


• Charcoal waistcoats, blue ties


• Waistcoats patterned, ties plain


• Both waistcoats and ties plain

Lots of subtle variations. Nothing too over the top! There is also the matter of where we will get them from. C's mother has offered to make them waistcoats, and she measured the boys at our engagement party for reference. I think that would be the nicest option, and hopefully will give us more flexibility with colours.

I went looking for some inspiration online from the local Perth hire places, and could only find a few. None of them were what I was looking for either. They are all a bit washed out; the girls are in dark colours so the boys will need to have strong shades to suit!

The first is the best of the four. I like the stripes, and it would work well with the right shade of blue. Not sure why I picked the second, maybe for the contrast between the patterned waistcoat and darker plain tie. The third is closer to the colour combinations that we would be thinking of, and the fourth reminds me of an old school loungue, or maybe wallpaper...






First three here, fourth here