Cocktail attire wedding dress code/fit check
I'm attending a wedding in October with a cocktail attire dress code and haven't purchased a new shirt in a while. This soft pink color was purchased to complement my wife's attire, but I'm not sure I have the sizing or style right for my existing suit. Questions I have:
* Are the sleeves too long for how much cuff appears when the suit is on?
* Is the collar a bit too loose?
* Is the button-down style collar too "casual" for cocktail attire with a tie?
The place that I bought the shirt from goes by half-inch neck sizes and full inch sleeve sizes. For reference, this is a "tailored fit" (between regular and slim) and is 15 1/2" neck, 33" sleeve. Most of my shirts use the typical ranged style and are sized at 15-15 1/2" and 32-33".
Thanks for any advice!
12 Replies
maybe a personal preference thing, but i do think the button down collar is a bit casual
I think you're good pretty much all around
if I wanted to be nitpicky I'd say your shirt sleeves seem just a touch long, maybe a half inch, but if you were to wear a shorter sleeved shirt then your jacket sleeves would also need to be shortened. It doesn't look bad as is
This looks good and is appropriate for cocktail attire, what shoes are you planning on wearing?
Thanks all! This was really helpful. Attaching the shoes I will wear along with some plain standard dress socks. I didn't want to dig them out for the original pictures but I've worn them before with this suit and they break fine, no worries there!
You look fine. I can nitpick but nothing that would be useful I think.
These shoes will be fine. I would recommend in the future if it is within your means to spring for a nice pair of dress shoes. They can really make a big difference and if you take good care of them they will last a very long.
I do agree with that. I just didn't wanna pick nits ;) but if we're gonna talk shoes, I would recommend a classic set of black oxfords, and a pair of shoe trees. Something like allen edmonds park avenue or fifth avenue (factory seconds / sale / new-in-box second-hand / gently used second-hand.) But for right now, it's not like you're gonna stand out in a bad way.
Yah definitely don’t worry about rushing out for shoes but its definitely a worthwhile investment for the future and a pretty easy way to upgrade your formal appearance.
That's very useful advice that I will take into account. I have neglected formal dress in recent years and I'll save this advice for when I can do so. Thanks so much!
Quick question since it doesn't show so well in pictures. How snug should my collar be? Is there a finger test or something?
I measured at 15 1/2” but this is much looser that my "ranged" department store shirts
Collar looks fine, should he snug but comfortable.
My older ones lean on the choking end, so I suppose if this looks right then I've just had too snug for too long 😂
Gotten used to being lightly strangled, I didn't know it was supposed to be comfortable
Collar looks fine in the photo. You don't want it to choke, you want to fit in a finger or two, depending on which fingers etc, but no more than that. But as always the key with these things is looking correct, and if you can do that while comfortable you're winning