Formal wear advice
 

I'm not entirely sure which forum to post this in, so here goes:

This is not a very serious issue, but I'd appreciate some opinions, especialy from ladies or guys with good taste. Some friends of mine are getting married this weekend, and I will be attending the wedding. I don't know them too well, so I'm not a groomsman or anything, but I'm still not entirely sure what to wear.

I have a nice blazer, plus pants and black dress shoes, but I'm specifically wondering about the shirt/tie. I want to look fairly formal but comfortable, without being too businesslike. Are there any rules/traditions I should know about colours? Should I wear blue or white shirt (or something else?), and any opinions on how the tie should match? Or even when a tie is needed (hate the damn things.)

If it helps, I'm tall (6"1') and blond, and fairly thin. I haven't been to many weddings, and the last time I was only 12. This wedding isn't too formal, but the groomsmen are still wearing tuxes. Mostly I want to be able to impress one particular friend of the bride, and not look like an idiot while doing it. Anyway, thanks for the help.

Blazer, trousers, dark shoes, anything but white socks - please -- wear socks, shirt, tie - perfectly dressed for any occassion.

I like colored shirts on men, so I'd like the blue shirt over a white shirt.

I like really fun ties that have color and aren't the standard rep ties. Ties are the one way where you can express your individuality, I'd wear one, and you can always take it off if no one else is wearing one...

Impress the friend of the bride by being yourself - -as long as you are clean and smell good (ie showered, women aren't going to care much about your attire)

maleficent has it right, thats pretty much the same I wore to the last two weddings i attended as just a guest. Also hope you can dance and hold your liquor, the receptions ive been to have been.... rambunctious to say the least. Goodluck with the female prospect.

Two good lines of ties that have a lot of color are the Jerry Garcia ties (seriously) and the Molecular Expressions ties. They are available in most mall anchor stores. I have many of both, and they are what I usually wear.

Funny, that was exactly the tie brand I was thinking... Most ties are boring, his line is just really neat looking. (almost wished women wore ties regularly)

maleficent's covered just about eveything. The only thing that I could possibly think to add is to make sure that your belt matches your shoes.

Let us know how it went with "the friend". ;)

me too :) i love them.

Ditto what was already said.

One exception though. I like a colorful tie as well and have a closest full of them (from Jerry Garcia to Looney Tunes characters) but if this wedding is in the evening (after 6pm) then you'll want to tone it down a notch. Evening weddings are generally more formal (guests can even wear tuxes if they want) so I'd think about that when choosing your attire (still colorful but now loud).

Good luck!

Thanks for the advice everyone, I'm starting to get better at this. I'm not an incredible dancer, but I've been trying to learn a bit, so I think it should go alright.

I've always said that, in reality, a man needs very few things in order to be dressed for every occassion:

1) Black sportcoat
2) Some other color sportcoat, preferably tan or other 'khaki' color.
3) Black pants
4) Khaki pants
5) Black shoes
6) Black belt and socks
7) Shirts of many different colors

Everything else is either optional or not needed. Sure, some funky ties are good, but you really don't need that many. Just get them in colors that will match everything.

My favorite semi-casual dress is a black jacket, silver-blue shirt, and khaki pants. Looking good is all about finding the right colors and styles for your personality.

My husband has a dark red kind of shiny that looks really sharp with his black pants and blazer. He wears it with a black tie. If you want to stand out wear a different colored shirt than blue or white. I've been to a lot of events where all the guys are wearing blue shirts. I think you can get away without a tie, these days you see a little bit of everything at weddings from tux's to jeans, and not all guys own a blazer so you will look very nice just by wearing that.

One tip--next time you buy a dress shirt to go with a tie, make sure you get one that doesnt have buttons on the collar. Something like a spread or point collar. Buttons on the collar look *terrible* with a tie--the collar sorta billows out, making you look completely out of place. When ironed, the collars will stay down without the ugly addition of buttons.

Its the little things that make the difference between well-dressed and merely wearing nice clothes.

But yeah, you cant go wrong with the coat and tie. Maybe a suit if you so desire, but if you dont know them well, that may be overkill.

As for a good place to shop, Ive always had luck a Joseph Banks. They have stores all over, so theres probably one in your town, or at least closeby. Make sure you go during one of their frequent sales if you dont want to die of sticker shock. Dress clothes are *expensive* :(

Same as above a nice coloured shirt is more versitile than you would think.
Blue/Camel/Yellow/Lightblue even without a tie looks good. where the tie and at the dance when everyone is dressing down you can take the tie off.

NEVER where white socks and for the love of all that is holy make sure you shoes are clean. its the small things that make the big picture way better.

nice list to start, I'd also add an overcoat or something for inclement weather depending on where you live.