Common Groom & Groomsmen Fashion Faux Pas to Avoid

Usually we at Bows-N-Ties spend our time giving advise on how to do things right in terms of style, clothing, and fashion. This time around, however, our attention goes to some of the worst fashion faux pas. In particular, we have focused on the worst wedding fashion mistakes commonly made by grooms and groomsmen. With the input from our 8,000+ Facebook fans we compiled a list of the Top 9 Worst Groomsmen Fashion Faux Pas below, along with an explanation of what makes each one so awfully bad.

#1 Poorly Fitting Suits & Tuxes
Poorly fitting suits or tuxedos are never a good thing – especially not on your wedding day. You have spent months preparing for this occasion, and there is simply no excuse not to have sought out  the help of an experienced tailor. Things like the right shoulder fit, proper length on sleeves, pants and jacket, as well as the right fit on waistline and torso, are all things that need to be taken into consideration. Our tip: do a Yelp review on some tailors in your area. Seek a professional! You will be glad you did once you see the pictures.

A good example of poorly fitted tuxes. The pants are too long, and the pieces are simply too baggy for most of these guys’ builds. Unfortunately this is an all-too-common style Faux Pas found on rentals. Seek an expert tailor instead!

 

#2 Wrinkled Clothing
Going right along with poor fit, there is no excuse to show up in wrinkled clothing to a wedding – especially not when you are in the wedding, or are the groom himself. Wrinkles will make even the nicest and most expensive designer suit/tux look sloppy. Don’t even attempt to iron your own garment but instead entrust this to a professional dry cleaner. Should you be part of a destination wedding, then check beforehand where to get your clothes dry-cleaned.

A suit that is not only too big and baggy but is also quite wrinkled. This is an all too easy mistake to avoid. Our tip: Seek the help of a professional dry-cleaner, and plan ahead in case of a destination wedding.

 

#3 Bad Shoes
Given the fact that shoes are one of the most noticed accessories, it is worth it to pay extra attention to your footwear. This means that your worn out dress shoes, the ones you wear to work each day, will look out of place at your friend’s wedding. The same is true for flip-flops and tennis shoes. Instead invest in a nice pair of calfskin oxfords – something that will never go out of style – and don’t forget to shine and polish them the night before.

Worn out and un-polished dress shoes are (unfortunately) an all too common thing at weddings. Instead, invest in a classic pair of calfskin oxfords, and don’t forget to polish and shine them.

 

Even worse than worn-out dress shoes are sneakers or tennis shoes in combination with a tuxedo.  Paring formal suits with tennis shoes are one of the most common Fashion Faux Pas, pointed out by our 8,000+ Facebook fans.

 

#4 Camo Print or Jeans
We never even thought  there would be wedding parties that would decide to wear Camo. This major wedding style Faux Pas was brought to our attention by our Facebook fans.

We actually couldn’t believe it when our Facebook fans told us that they have attended a “hunting themed wedding” with groom and groomsmen dressed in Camo. After some searching on Tumblr, Pinterest, and Google, we realized that this indeed exists. We asked ourselves if the women wore fur coats???

 

#5 An Overly Matchy-Matchy Look
When we asked via our Facebook page about the “Biggest Groomsmen Fashion Faux Pas”, many of our fans were not shy to voice their dislike of the “overly matchy-matchy look” consisting of color matching cummerbund, vest, tie, and pocket square. Words like “tacky”, “Disney”, and “High School Prom” were used to describe this look. We at Bows-N-Ties have never been a fan of overly color matched ensembles. For that reason we worked diligently with our designers to offer a wide range of different wedding ties for all the popular bridal colors. That way you can dress your men in color coordinating ensembles that are not too overly “match-matchy”.

Our Facebook fans were not shy about sharing their dislike of the overly matchy-matchy look. Many of our fans told us that wedding parties that try too hard to color coordinate with cummerbund, tie, and pocket square look too much like “High School prom”.

 

#6 Color Clashing
Wearing clashing colors on one outfit is likely not done on purpose. While an overly “match-matchy” look is a wedding fashion Faux Pas on its own, dressing a group in too many clashing colors can be equally bad. Instead choose colors that harmonize with one another, and avoid too many bright hues from the same color family.

A good idea but bad execution: Colored and patterned socks are a perfect way to add uniqueness to your formal wedding ensemble, but too many clashing colors (as shown by the socks above) can cause a major disconnect.

 

#7 Poor Personal Hygiene and Grooming
While we think that this one goes without saying, some of our Facebook fans told us that they have seen scruffy bearded groomsmen all too often. While we think that a beard can indeed be stylish, poor hygiene, on the other hand, never deserves applauding.

While Michael Bolton might be able to rock his 1980s mullet, you on the other hand, most certainly can’t. Our Facebook fans voted poor personal hygiene (incl. unkempt bears, scruffy hair, and mullets) as one of the most common groomsmen fashion faux pas.

 

#8 Sports Sunglasses
No matter how much you like your pair of Oakleys when racing your bicycle, leave them at home when dressing in suit & tie. Instead, opt for a pair of shades that were not designed with sports in mind. Additionally, our Facebook fans pointed out that wearing “sunglasses at night or indoors looks nothing shy of ridiculous.”

Nick Nolte’s look from the 2012 Oscars deservingly put him on many “worst dressed lists”. Besides poor clothing fit, his choice of wearing sports sunglasses at night, paired with a formal black tie ensemble, was enough to give him a “worst dressed man” of the evening award.

 

#9 Oversized Boutonnieres
Boutonnieres are one of the more commonly worn accessories used to decorate wedding suits and/or tuxes. But all too often wedding parties take it too far. Bigger is not always better! The boutonniere is supposed to be a small accessory. Wearing anything larger than a few inches tall will look out of place. After all, it is called boutonniere, and not bouquet.

The boutonniere should not be much wider than your suit’s lapels. Anything larger than 4-5 inches tall will look out of place.

Other Suggested Articles:
Mens Style Tips for Summer Weddings
Groomsmen Attire for Teal Weddings

Your Bows-N-Ties Wedding Team

Meet The Mrs. and Her Superman

Brianne and Justen absolutely dazzled us with their love story. We’re literally swooning over here. These two are a self-described union of “apples and oranges.” As different as they may be, they are obviously madly and colorfully in love with a special brand of partnership that works and better yet- flourishes! These two met on a flight from Chicago to Dublin. As fate would insist, they also ended up on the same tour group of Ireland. On the last night of the tour, at a karaoke pub, Justen put his arm around Brianne and they have been a dream team ever sense. This is the best endorsement we’ve ever heard of for a karaoke bar! On the day of their wedding, Brianne and Justen exchanged letters and gifts to be opened before they saw one another. Justen gave Brianne a Vera Wang “Mrs” Necklace. Brianne gave Justen Superman Cufflinks. We introduce to you -The Mrs. and Her Superman.

The Apple of Justen’s Eye – The Mrs!

Meet Justen aka Superman and His Team of Superhero Groomsmen.

An Absolutely Stunning Group of Ladies!

The Cutest Ringer Bearer and Flower Girl of All Time!

Nice Form Fellas.  Our Ties Have Never Looked Better!

The Mrs. Necklace!

The Superman Cufflinks!

A Customized Tie to Celebrate the Day and the Love Story!

The Father of The Bride Gets One Too!

The Happy Couple!

Thank you to Brianna and Justen for sharing their outrageously awesome wedding photos with us. We loved this story from beginning to end and were completely taken by the beauty of the “Apples and Oranges” love story as well as the color palette.

Credits:

Groomsmen Tie: Check Patterned Tie in Bright Green

Photography by: Alea Lovely

 

Your Bows’N Ties Wedding Team

 

Stylish Summer Wedding Ensembles for Every Man’s Style

The 2013 wedding season has arrived. Whether you’re getting married yourself or are simply attending a friend’s wedding, you may want to start thinking about what to wear for the event. Finding the perfect outfit, however,  is easier said than done, especially for those who find themselves getting stuck in a routine and wearing the same wedding clothes they’ve worn for years.

The goal with putting together a standout wedding ensemble is to choose elements that are unique, yet still fit into the traditional mold of wedding attire. Fortunately, there are plenty of different options that you can take advantage of when trying to build an effective ensemble, and, what is even better, you don’t have to have deep pocket books to put together an outfit that will help you stand out from the crowd. The more you can do to switch things up, the better your chances of truly making a stylish impression this wedding season.

The following are tips for grooms, groomsmen, and guests to shake things up this summer with a new approach to wedding attire.

Grooms

Photo Credit: Smitten Photography

Needless to say, your wedding day is one of the most important events of your life. So why would you ever want to settle for a cookie cutter look? For us, a poorly fitted rental tux comes to mind here. Rental tuxes are not cheap (expect to pay $100-$200 for the weekend). So why not spend a bit more and have a clothing piece that does not only look better, but can also be worn time and time again? This means that instead of a tux, you may want to consider a suit. It is a piece that is more versatile, but can be (if picked correctly) just as sophisticated and elegant. A charcoal gray, 3-piece suit, for instance, might be the perfect choice here.

While dark colored suits are without doubt elegant choices, keep in mind that summer is all about keeping things light and airy, which is one reason why you might want to consider material above all. Cotton is extremely light, and is the perfect material for a summer wedding ensemble. A seersucker suit, for example, can be perfect for keeping you cool on one of the most nerve-wracking days of your life. The lighter the material, the more comfortable you’re going to be.

Groomsmen
If you are in the midst of wedding planning, then sooner or later it is time to start thinking about dressed the men in your wedding party. While this is certainly easy, compared to shopping for bridesmaids dresses, there are still some factors than can make this a much trickier task than you may expect.

First, think about your guys’ budget. Do you really want to burden everyone with having to purchase a full tuxedo that most of them will probably never wear again? Should you have a formal wedding, then a black suit might be a good alternative. Most men already own a suit like this, and for those who don’t, it is a good wardrobe investment that will come in handy time and time again.

Second, think about body types. Chances are that not everyone if your wedding party has the same built. Heavy set groomsmen, for instance, would look odd in a fitted suit or skinny tie, just as would shorter men dressed in a double breasted jacket.

Last but not least, think about color. Most wedding parties that we work with want to coordinate the groomsmen’s outfits to the bridesmaids dresses. While suits and shirts stay in classic colors, it is the neckwear that literally ties the ensemble to the color theme of the bridesmaids dresses. To make this process of color matching easier, we at Bows-N-Ties have sorted our entire collection to complement all popular wedding hues (see our Wedding Ties page for details). Other good accessories to color coordinate the men’s and women’s outfits (besides the ties), are pocket squares, boutonnieres, and colored socks.

Attendees
For the most part, summer weddings tend to make use of the outdoors. As a result, they’re usually slightly more casual in nature. This is good news for wedding attendees, as it allows you to experiment with a variety of different options when putting together an ensemble.

If you’re going to a casual outdoor wedding, there’s no better option than a khaki cotton suit. Clean, sophisticated and breathable, this suit will allow to stay comfortable while still striving for excellence. Semi-formal weddings call for a bit of a different type of ensemble, which comes mostly down to color. A dark blue 3-piece suit made from cotton, for example, piece can help you to remain respectful to the dress code without having to wear heavy, uncomfortable materials. Avoid formal wedding ensembles unless absolutely necessary (e.g. the invitation calls for Black Tie), as you’ll likely find yourself in a heavy, uncomfortable tux.

Your Bows-N-Ties.com Team

Wedding Bow Ties: 5 Bow Tie Style Inspirations for Dapper Groom & Groomsmen

While the classic necktie is still the preferred accessory for 8 out of 10 wedding parties, bow ties have been catching up slowly over the past few years when it comes to neckwear popularity. Gone are the days of the solid black bow tie paired with the gold-standard tux, and here are the days of bold-colored and fun-patterned pieces, designed to spruce up any drab ensemble. We at Bows-N-Ties took a closer look at dozens of different bow tie styles, patterns, and colors, and award the following five for the perfect wedding accessory. Pick the one that suits your style, personality, and setting:

Southern Gentleman

You don’t have to be from the south, nor do you have to be a gentleman to rock one of these bow ties. When talking about the “Southern Gentleman” style, certain bow-tie fabrics, colors and patterns come to mind. Seersucker finds itself on the top of the list, closely followed by colorful madras. Cotton and linen take priority of silks, and colors tend to fall in the fresh pastel category (peach, pinks, pale blues, light yellows).

Polka Dot Frenzy

Polka dots are fun! It should come to no surprise that many bow tie makers offer quite a large selection of pieces showing this popular pattern. Typically, polka dots are considered much more casual in nature compared to single colored bow ties. Our tip: choose a piece that only has two colors, one on  the background, and another as a contrasting accent on the polka dots. Also, choose polka dots that are smaller than 1/4 inch in size – anything larger will appear comical. For more info and matching inspiration on this pattern, check out our Style Guide for Polka Dot Ties

East Coast Prepster

Not the southern gentleman type, and also don’t like the whimsical polka dot pattern? Then how about the East Coast Prepster look, a look that is part old-school elegance and part summer-fun. Great patterns are classic stripes, paisleys, as well as textured solids (repp-texture, pique, and pin-dots). Pair these pieces with either elegant 3-piece suit, or a combination of V-neck cashmere sweater vest and sports coat. Finish of the look with a pair of boat shoes and complementing pocket square.

007 Bow Ties

After covering the more modern bow tie styles above, it is time to address the timelessly elegant pieces – the styles used to accessorize the classic black tie ensemble. Even though you will be a bit more limited in terms of pattern and color, there are still plenty of options for unique variations. The most visible way to step outside of the cookie-cutter black-tie look, is by choosing different bow tie styles and sizes. Another choice is in color and pattern. Choose either solid black or midnight blue, in either satin or matte finish. Ribbed textures, pique, and birds-eye pattern are all good choices for fabric patterns. Combine these pieces with a classic tux (single or double breasted), formal dress shirt, button studs, and cuff links. For more information on this dress code, please visit our Black Tie Guide.

Vintage Velvet

Want something uber stylish and fashionable? Then a slightly wider spread, velvet bow tie is in order. It is a style that is no stranger to red-carpet events, and it is an accessory that often times finds itself on the black-tie ensembles of celebrities such as Justin Timberlake, Tom Hanks, and Hugh Jackman, helping them earn numerous “best-dressed awards”.

Your Bows-N-Ties.com Team

 

Teal Wedding Inspiration for Groom’s & Groomsmen’s Attire

Without doubt, teal is one of the most popular wedding colors. Out of the 200 wedding shades that we offer matching ties for, 14 fall into the teal category. David’s Bridal alone offers 4 different shades of teal, and J.Crew brings it to 5 different hues. Because teal is such a popular wedding hue, we recently worked with a few of our favorite designers to further expand our collection of teal & turquoise ties. Here are some tips to dress the groom and his men to compliment a teal themed wedding.

Over the past few years, teal has become one of the hottest wedding hues, and is found on anything from nail polish to the groom’s necktie.
From left to right: Wedding Ties complementing David’s Bridal’s “Peacock”, Groomsmen ties in J.Crew’s Vintage Peacock, Ties complementing David’s Bridal’s popular “Oasis”, Ties for Alfred Angelo’s “Pool” blue

Tips to Dress the Groom & His Men

Certainly a necktie or bow tie complementing your color theme looks great, but are you just limited to these two clothing pieces? The short answer is absolutely not. Pocket squares complenting the ties are a good starting point to bring more color into the men’s outfits, but there are two more accessories that are actually even better suited: Socks & boutonnieres. When it comes to teal colored socks, choose some that are not too overpowering. Instead of solid teal socks, choose some that have just traces of this bold color in form of stripes, checks, argyle, etc. Teal colored flowers do not exist in nature, but florists can dye them to match your exact color. The most popular blossoms used for a teal-dyed boutonniere are hydrangeas and lilies. Besides using dyed flowers, also popular are the use of peacock feathers, silk flowers, or teal colored yarn used to wrap the stem of the boutonniere.

Your Bows-N-Ties Wedding Team

Find Ties Coordinating with Bill Levkoff’s Dress Colors

It has been a little over a year since we at Bows-N-Ties decided to sort all our 5,000+ ties to match specific wedding colors by some of the most popular bridesmaids dress designers. The first retailer we paired our ties to was Davids Bridal, followed by J.Crew, and Alfred Angelo. Now we decided to add a fourth designer to our wedding tie collection: Bill Levkoff.

Just yesterday we received all current color swatches by Bill Levkoff, and we are currently in the process of pairing our entire tie assortment to this designer’s 40+ dress colors. We expect to have this section added to our Wedding Ties page by the mid January – just in time for the wedding season 2013. Should you need a matching tie before then, then please give us a call and we would be happy to hand pick a couple ties coordinating your dress color. We look forward hearing from you.

Update (12/21/12):
As of today all wedding ties in Bill Levkoff’s colors are now uploaded. From classic ivory to lovely autumn hues like Terracotta, we got at least a handful of tie suggestions for each of Bill Levkoff’s 40+ colors

Bill Levkoff’s Tissue Taffeta
A classic fabric with medium sheen, offered in over 2 dozen colors. It is light in weight, breathable, and a good choice for spring and summer weddings. We at Bows-N-Ties offer coordinating neckties, bow ties, and matching pocket squares for each and every color available in this fabric. Give us a call and we will be happy to assist you in finding the perfect matching tie.






Bill Levkoff’s Charmeuse
A shiny and festive fabric that is offered in over 20 colors. The sheen of the fabric is almost identical to silk – which made it that much easier for us to match our ties to all these lovely hues. Give us a call and we will be happy to suggest a few ties that coordinate with your bridesmaids’ dress color.









Bill Levkoff’s Chiffon
Chiffon is a very light, airy, and somewhat see through fabric. This means that the colors appear a tiny bit lighter in comparison to the same shade in Charmeuse, for instance. To offset this contrast, Bill Levkoff uses their Tissue Taffeta fabric as a liner while the Chiffon is added as a second layer on top. The result: A luxurious fabric with nice volume, matte sheen, and texture. Give us a call to find find the matching men’s accessories to your dress color in Bill Levkoff’s Chiffon.