The Father of the Bride Wears British 🇬🇧

My daughter's wedding this summer saw me embark on a project to not only dress stylishly as father of the bride, but also to wear all British-made. I'd like to say how much I appreciate the kindness and generosity of the brands who've helped with this. I've been recounting the progress of the #FatheroftheBride project on Instagram and Twitter. 

Spencer Tracy and Elizabeth Taylor in Father of the Bride (1950)

The main elements of the outfit are now identified or being made. In addition to the items here I have a waistcoat from Sir Plus which I will review in a separate piece. I still have cufflinks, tie, socks and underwear to find, but have a good idea where I'll go for most of these. It's time to give an update here:

Morning coat and trousers from Cad & The Dandy

Cad & The Dandy have been offering competitively priced tailoring on Savile Row for a few years now and I've been meaning to catch up with them since early in this blog's existence. I was delighted when one of the founders, James Sleater, offered to help. 

After some thought, I've decided on a black morning coat and a fine Prince of Wales check for the trousers. I appreciate that stripes are the common choice, but looking through photographs of twentieth century wedding attire, I noticed that men were often a little more creative and adventurous in selecting cloths for their trousers. Every hire morning coat comes with striped trousers, and I wanted to be different. The inspiration for a check cloth came from the wonderful Morning Dress Guide to which I'm very grateful (see image below). The trousers will have buttons for braces (suspenders US).

I'm grateful to The Morning Dress Guide for the inspiration for trouser choice. Stripes are not essential

James measured me up and discussed cloths and fit with me, also telling me about his mission to provide bespoke tailoring at a competitive price, using computer technology to help the fitting process to ensure that precisely the correct amount of fabric is cut, minimising expensive waste. He also offers different levels of hand-finish to allow a client to match the result to his or her budget.

Working with Cad & The Dandy's Head Cutter, David, has been education and a delight. He took me through the process of the creation of a morning coat and trousers and patiently showed me how all the elements of a tailored coat come together.

Head Cutter David shows me how a sleeve is cut, stitched and pressed

Basted fitting got the coat

As you can see from the photos, we've reached the basted fitting stage of the coat and I'll shortly be going to a trouser fitting. The coat, even at this early stage, fits beautifully and I can see the advantages of a bespoke piece over off-the-peg, particularly for such an important day. All is on course and I'll update you at a future stage. See Cad & The Dandy.

Shirts from Turnbull & Asser

I visited the Turnbull & Asser shirt factory in Gloucester in 2015 (see here) and have longed for a bespoke English-made shirt ever since. Turnbull & Asser kindly invited me to their Jermyn Street shop to be measured for two shirts by Steven Quin, who holds the Royal Warrant to supply shirts to Prince Charles. Steven's knowledge about shirt construction is rivalled only by the bewildering array of cloths available South Sea Island cottons to linens and silk. 

It's quite a privilege be fitted for a shirt by the man who makes shirts for that sartorial giant and supporter of British manufacture, Prince Charles.

Steven Quin takes me through some of the choice of cloths and measures me up for a bespoke shirt

Steven measured me up and I selected a fine pink-striped shirt with a white Winchester collar for a start. We'll see how this fits before going on to make a second shirt. One of the theme colours of the wedding is a soft pink and the narrow stripes of the cloth I've selected give just this shade, but leave me, I now realise, with the problem of deciding what colour tie to wear. That's for another day.

I'll report back when I'm called back to T&A for a fitting of the first shirt. See Turnbull & Asser.

Shoes from Barker Shoes of Northampton

The selection of shoes for formal morning attire at a wedding is easy. In general a plain pair of black Oxfords is called for. A foot injury means I can rarely fit into Oxfords (where the lacing closes at the foot of the tongue) so I wear Derbys (where the lacing is open at the foot of the tongue). 

Barker Gretna derbys

I was lucky to be offered a pair of Barker Gretna Derbys (I hope there's no irony in the name Gretna). Part of the Barkerflex range, they are comfortable and stylish. I've liked them so much I've found it hard to save them for the special day.

I like the area of graining behind the toe; while neither the style nor such a finish are strictly correct on a shoe for such formal use, it adds some interest while remaining subtle. See Barker for details of their British-made shoe range.

I'll be updating this project from time to time here on the blog. To follow this journey on social media, please follow my Instagram and Twitter accounts #FatheroftheBride.

NOTE: This post is unsponsored but some of the products have been offered free of charge or for a reduced charge. I'm receiving no payment from the brands featured.