Prom attire advice please! (read: Spec me a suit)

peteruk

peteruk

peteruk

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Hey all,

As you may have guessed, my leaver's prom is getting ever closer and regrettably, I have left getting something to wear to the last minute :o.

Now basically, I'm totally clueless as to this whole prom thing, but I'm guessing the done thing for males to do is to wear a suit. Sooooo, if you could give your views and opinions on any of the questions it would be much appreciated:

1. What's fashionable/suitable (no pun intended) now?

2. Where should I look (what shops etc) ?

3. How much should I expect to spend (parents will be funding considerably, so my budget is currently unknown, so spec me a range of prices if you like) ?

4. Any other comments. :D

You know the drill - feel free to post piccys and links (providing they're not of a competitor :p).


Many thanks to all who post!
Peter :)

Edit: Oh and yeah, hiring one *may* be an option, if you have any experiences/suggestions on this.
 
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Isn't this going to be a "black tie" event?
In which case a dinner jacket + trousers, double cuff wing collar shirt with dress studs, cufflinks and no cummerbund is always the thing to wear.
 
Chronos-X said:
A Cummerbund is very much a "black tie" thing tbh...
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I've not seen one worn at a black tie event for quite a while, they appear to have fallen out of fashion, much the same as ruffles on the shirt, fold down collars instead of wing collars and big fat floppy bow ties.

However if you hire a suit you'll get a cummerbund anyway, you can always remove it if it isn't fitting in too well.

This is a decent link:
http://www.dapper.co.uk/dapper/dress_etiquette.htm

http://www.studenttailor.co.uk/

some slightly broader dress code definitions:

http://www.porters.uk.com/guides/info/default.asp?ID=16

Do get some patent leather shoes though or it'll just look wrong.
 
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Go to Suits You or Moss Bros and hire black tie for about £35-40. As VIRII says, don't get a cummerbund, hardly anyone wears them any more. You might want to get a waistcoat if you want to snazz it up a little.
 
VIRII said:
I've not seen one worn at a black tie event for quite a while, they appear to have fallen out of fashion, much the same as ruffles on the shirt, fold down collars instead of wing collars and big fat floppy bow ties.

.
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yep cummerbunds are rarely worn these days and should never be worn if you are of the more "well built" stature
 
I've got a Black Tie do coming up, and I'm sorted witha Dinner Jacket.

Just one question: how do you wear a wing collar? do the pointy bits go behind the bow tie, on top of it, or are they ironed flat onto the shirt? Its just that I worked at a black tie event recently and I saw all 3, none of them looked particularly convincing.

By the way, never wear a normal white shirt with a bow tie, you will look like a waiter. Always wear a dress shirt.
 
I was just watching the west wing, I quite like this kinda attire...

samjosh.jpg


even though josh's bow tie isn't straight...
 
qwerty said:
do the pointy bits go behind the bow tie, on top of it, or are they ironed flat onto the shirt?
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Don't think it really matters that much - I would go for behind the bow tie, but not ironed completely flat - just so it pushes out the bowtie a bit. Not on top though, I don't think.

Note, exibit B from the west wing...

sambowtie.jpg
 
blueCAT said:
Don't think it really matters that much - I would go for behind the bow tie, but not ironed completely flat - just so it pushes out the bowtie a bit. Not on top though, I don't think.

Note, exibit B from the west wing...

[IMGhttp://www.joevernon.org/forums/sambowtie.jpg/IMG]
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It may need some ironing. When I tried that it just pushed the bow tie forward in a stupid way. However I put the collar, it will stay like that for all of 5 minutes anyway. And I dont like things round my neck so I'll probs do the drunk hang it round your neck thing after a bit.
 
Thanks for your help everyone. :)

As it happens, the letter actually says:

Prom Letter said:
Formal dress code...Suits are not essential for boys but tie, trousers and shoes are.
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So in truth it boils down to what other people wear; that said, I should think the vast majourity will be wearing Black Tie dress anyway.

Acording to that letter, we don't have to wear shirts :eek: :p.

Anyway, keep all the advice coming people! :D
 
A 'DJ' is the way to go for something like this although as it's summer, a tuxedo is an option too. I was dressed up in penguin attire last night for my graduation and for a dress code that specified 'black tie', myself and almost everyone else wore a dinner jacket, shirt (some ruffled and some not), trousers and a black dickiebow. About 2 out of the 200 people there wore a cummerbund so it does appear that they are falling out of fashion

With regards to whether or not the collar wings should be worn above or behind the bow tie, there seems to be varying opinions on this one. Last night, most of us were wearing the wings behind the dickiebow but some had them above. I prefer them behind and it would seem that most other people would do too.
 
peteruk said:
Ahhhh, sorry, thought they were the same thing.
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Again, some people would disagree with that too! I've always been led to believe that a tux is white and a DJ is black but a lot of people still refer to a DJ as a tux.
 
Scuzi said:
Again, some people would disagree with that too! I've always been led to believe that a tux is white and a DJ is black but a lot of people still refer to a DJ as a tux.
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I always thought they were the same but we call it a DJ and the yanks call it a tux.
 
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