Wedding style for men: Marks & Spencer bloggers' styling event

What does a man wear for a wedding? This year sees my 37th wedding anniversary. I'm not sure if that makes me an expert on weddings or not. However, I was grateful to Marks & Spencer for inviting me with other bloggers to an event at which we were to select outfits for several different types of marriage ceremony, from traditional country to beach. 

Marks & Spencer x bloggers wedding event with cake and bubbly for that authentic touch

I quickly learned that, from the man's point of view anyway (it was a menswear event) there is a huge range of choice for all at Marks & Spencer, from groom, best man, ushers, to family and guests. I was pleased to see that top hat and tails are available for the traditional wedding (I wore morning suit all those years ago), while a wide range of jackets, suit and accessories can be found for any style of celebration. 

Some of the wedding accessories available from Marks & Spencer

Long gone are the days when morning suit or dark suit were obligatory at weddings. Anything goes now. That's a good thing, but remember that this is one of the most special days of your life, so looking back decades later at yourself wearing shorts and little else at a beach wedding, or a nondescript jacket and open neck shirt at a casual ceremony may lack that element of style that such a day deserves.

Grey Fox pontificates

Each blogger was given a wedding to style for. I drew a beach wedding and a wild card, for which I chose the morning suit. For the beach I chose a linen suit with panama hat, pink gingham shirt with no tie and a pocket square (see top image). 

Marks & Spencer morning suit. The shirt was small for the mannequin, hence the unbuttoned look

The morning suit was nicely-made and I selected a very classic grey theme with a crisp white shirt. I preferred a tie to a cravat. The morning suit is creeping back into favour. It seems to me that one great advantage is that, with a such a classic look, wedding photos won't look as dated when you pore over them nostalgically in 30 years time as they will if you wear current trends for suits or jackets.

Some of the Marks & Spencer wedding styles designed by the bloggers

If you prefer a lounge suit or jacket/blazer, M&S had a superb range from square cut traditional business suits to soft-shouldered Italian style in high tech fabrics. Colours ranged through greys and browns to one of the largest selections of blues I've seen in a while. Wedding costs can rapidly get out of control and being able to buy good quality but reasonably-priced menswear, such as is available from M&S, is a real advantage. M&S recently reported the first profits for a few years and I can see how their improving clothing offering must begin to fuel recovery.

If you're planning or attending a wedding this year, I suggest you have a look at the huge range of suits available at Marks & Spencer. 

If you have any suggestions or thoughts about styling for that special day, please get in touch.

This post was sponsored by Marks & Spencer.

A Spring holiday

We all need to take time off. When that time is spent in beauty and quiet it's effects are deep and profound. I was lucky enough to spend the bank holiday weekend in the this peaceful valley. The wild daffodils were just finishing, but the woods were full of birdsong. Wild garlic, wood anemones and primroses took advantage of the brief time before the canopy closes over. I saw red and roe deer, a red squirrel, peregrine falcons, swifts buzzards, ravens. Cuckoos sang in the distance.

The fields were full of tiny leaping black dots, lambs of the local Herdwick sheep, whose lives are so tough that they leave giving birth until late April, weeks after their softer cousins elsewhere in Britain,

A welcome break.

Wild garlic on the old slate track

Primroses and wild garlic

I may be nearly 15, but I can still get up here!

Herdwick lambs

The old ruined hunting lodge

Spring colours emerging

What to wear in Spring and Summer? Inspiration for older men of style

As Spring advances and the tweeds and thick jumpers are stowed away, our thoughts turn to dressing for milder weather. I'll be looking at specific ideas over the next few months, but, to inspire you, I've started a Pinterest board here on ideas for Spring/Summer wear for men of style.

Please visit and let me know your thoughts.

The Sartorialist

The Sartorialist

Spring is in the air...

I'm no middle-aged gardener, but I love this time of year. I took these shots in my garden at the weekend. The fresh, bright greens of new growth set off the celandines, violets and bluebells. The pond is heaving with frog and newt spawn.

Soon the tweed jacket will go away and a man newly in search of style will have to decide what to wear as the weather warms.

Colour combinations 4 - woodland colours

Walking the dog in the park I took some pictures of the remarkable colours. The wood is very much as it was in Autumn, but the warm Spring sunshine is bringing it alive with birds and squirrels. The trees are covered in an almost luminous green lichen and the natural greys, creams, greens, yellows and browns in assorted textures may provide inspiration for the wardrobe of a man of style.

And here's how these colour influences might be used -