Father of the Bride: A Wedding and a British-Made Outfit

Many of you have been following the story of my search for an entirely British-made outfit for my role as father of the bride at my daughter's wedding in July. As any parent who's experienced a child's wedding will know, the event is a mix of joy, pride, nervousness and celebration. The nerves kicked in before I walked my beautiful daughter up the aisle and remained until I'd given my speech later that afternoon. It was a weekend to remember and I'll never forget the happiness on the faces of all present. 

Photography Samantha Jane (link below)

Details of the outfit can be found on previous features here on the blog. I'd like to repeat my thank to all the brands who generously gave items for free or at a reduced cost. The items were a testament to British quality, manufacture and craftsmanship. See information below.

Bespoke morning coat and Prince of Wales check trousers (British cloth): Cad and The Dandy

Bespoke shirt: Turnbull & Asser

Waistcoat: Sirplus

Shoes: Barker

Socks: Pantherella

Underwear: British Boxers

Braces: British Belt Co

Cufflinks: Abi Insoll (I will be featuring Abi's work at a future date on the blog)

Tie (bought at retail cost): Drake's

To complete the British-made theme I wore a vintage Smiths watch - made in Cheltenham, England in the fifties.

My daughter's vintage lace dress was from Gillian Million.
Photography Samantha Jane.

Wedding waistcoat from Sir Plus: Father of the Bride

Continuing the Father of the Bride series, in which I assemble an entirely made-in-Britain wedding outfit, I've acquired a double-breasted waistcoat courtesy from Sir Plus. Made from dove grey linen, it's beautifully tailored and will complement my Cad & The Dandy morning coat and trousers very well.

A brand I've featured before, Sir Plus manufacture here in London, making their products from 'cabbage', unused lengths of cloth left over by clothes and other manufacturers. Rather than throwing any excess away, it gets used by Sir Plus to make superb waistcoats, dressing gowns, jackets and other garments for men and women of style. See Sir Plus. 

I'm grateful to Sir Plus for donating the waistcoat for British-made the Father of the Bride Project. More information and images will appear in due course as I assemble the outfit.

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.

A Summer Wedding and the all-British Father of the Bride

My daughter is getting married this summer. She has a beautiful dress (not that I've been allowed to see it) and Mrs Grey Fox is also going to look stunning. Not to be outdone, I'm determined to wear British-made from top to toe in my role as Father of the Bride. It will be a traditional wedding, so it will be morning attire for the gentlemen.

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

I write much about British-made products on this blog so it's only natural that I should want to wear British-manufactured menswear. It's a very special event, so I've decided to have the morning coat and trousers made for me. I've selected a tailor and will follow the tailoring process in future features.

Wearing an Oliver Brown hire outfit last year. For my daughter's wedding I'm after a perfect bespoke fit

I'll also be looking for UK-made shirt, shoes, tie, waistcoat to socks and underwear. It should be no problem putting together a British outfit. Follow my Father of the Bride adventures in future posts on the blog. If you supply British-made menswear and can help, do get in touch.

#FatheroftheBride

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.

My Sister's Wedding - stylish guests and venue

My sister, Carole, was married this last week. A photographer, she loves vintage and dancing and there were so many stylishly-dressed guests that I thought it merited a post. Some of the men were wearing suits from the fifties and earlier.

The marriage was celebrated in an unrestored chapel at The Licensed Victuallers Asylum opened in 1833 in Southwark, London (now Caroline Gardens) - a superb venue for a wedding with a difference. I didn't take my camera, but Instagram allows a fascinating range of affects which flatter my photography skills.

I featured some of Carole's  Retro Girls photos here and see her website and blog.

Grey Fox thirty five years married - 70s wedding style

Grey Fox was married thirty five years ago today - long before he had grey hair.