Early on in the wedding planning, Ashley suggested that instead of renting a tuxedo, I should instead buy a new suit to wear for the wedding. I really liked this idea because I currently own four different suits, two of which I wear regularly and only one that I actually think fits me properly.
Suit #1
I got this solid navy blue suit to wear to homecoming my junior year of high school. That means it was purchased in the Fall
of 2000 and is therefore ten years old. I guess I may have been a little heavier back then because this suit is WAY too big for me now. This suit actually remained at home while I was on my mission in Japan. It's in okay shape but it's so big that I tend not to wear it.
Suit #2
I bought two new suits for my mission: one solid navy and one solid gray. When I bought the suits, I was 40 pounds heavier than my usual weight thanks to a rather generous meal plan during my freshman year at BYU. I managed to lose that weight fairly quickly and neither of the two suits fit that well. When two bike accidents destroyed the solid gray one, I needed a new suit. I couldn't find any in my size in Japan so I had my mom order another one from the store where I had bought the first two suits. They used my previous measurements when finding a new suit and sent me one that was way too big and fit just as poorly as the one it was replacing. When I got home, I think I had this one tailored in order to fit me better. It still is too big and as Ashley pointed out this weekend, the seam between the shoulders and sleeves make a weird shape.
Suit #3
This is the only suit that wasn't purchased for me and ironically, it fits me the best. My former roommate Alan Seawright bought this suit and had it tailored to fit him when he was in high school. He bought it in Hong Kong and the inside label is even written in Chinese. While we were roommates we discovered that we are roughly the same size both for clothing and for shoes. That led to us sharing quite a few articles of clothing. At some point, we noticed that I really liked wearing this suit but Alan didn't. Meanwhile, he really liked a pair of my shoes that I never wore. We decided to make a permanent trade. Even though this suit was tailored to fit Alan, it looks really good on me. I wear it very frequently but since navy blue is not one of our wedding colors, it was not an option for the pictures.
Suit #4
This was my newest suit. It's black with very narrow white pinstripes. My parents got this suit for me as a christmas present back in 2007. I can't remember whether I tried this on before I bought it or if I just guessed at my measurements and had my mom order it online. In any case, like my mission suits, it somehow ended up being a lot bigger than I would have liked. Nevertheless, it is new and it is the only black suit I have so I probably wear it almost as frequently as suit #3. Still, I always feel like I am swimming in it because it is so baggy. This was a viable option for the wedding since our colors do include black, but Ashley convinced me that we could look for a new suit that looks and fits even better.
The first place we stopped to look was Macy's at University Mall in Orem. We decided that gray was probably a good idea since I already had a black suit that I wore frequently. We narrowed the options down to two suits: a gray pinstripe Tommy Hilfiger and a sort of shiny gray "Calvin Klein Body" suit. I eliminated the second one pretty early on because the pants were REALLY tight. I guess that's where the "body" portion of the name comes in: the suit is supposed to really hug your body.
The Tommy Hilfiger one fit much better: it wasn't too baggy and it wasn't too tight. Here is a picture I took in the dressing room (ignore the green plaid shirt I just happened to be wearing at the time):
When I came out of the dressing room to model the suit for Ashley I couldn't help but grin because I was really happy with the suit. I was especially excited that there was the option to buy a vest with the suit. I've always wanted to own a three-piece suit but never found an suit that included one and was also inexpensive.
Despite liking the suit so much, I was hesitant to get it for some reason and we put it on hold. Thankfully, both Ashley and my mom talked some sense into me and I went back with Ashley the following day to buy the suit. It was already on sale but thanks to a promotion at Macy's this week, I got an additional 20%. As Ashley pointed out afterwards, it would have been wrong NOT to buy the suit at that price.
So here are some shots of me in the suit both with the jacket and without it.
Ashley brought up the possibility of me wearing a pink tie for the wedding since our colors include "raspberry" and "blush". I told her there was no way I would wear a pink tie. Fortunately for her, we found a paisley tie in a tie shop that not only had black, gray and blush in it but that I also said I would be willing to wear. The tie in the above pictures is a different paisley tie, but below is the tie I will be wearing at the wedding.
I'm excited to get to wear this ensemble at the wedding. All I need now is a new pair of "stylish" black shoes. Maybe when I find a pair I like I will devote another post to them (after all, Ashley already did that when she bought her shoes). As if I didn't already have a million reasons why marrying Ashley is the best decision of my life, the fact that she is already helping me improve my wardrobe is a gigantic plus.
