How to pair a brow tweed suit to make it more formal?

[Casacosa]

Hey I'm new here. Been reading the forum here and there recently but never posted until this dilema came about:

I'm planning my wedding for this fall and considering getting a bespoke, plain (no pattern) dark brown tweed suit.

Brown and tweed aren't traditional wedding attire, and that's on my mind. However, I'm drawn to these options for their versatility and my personal preference for the color. I'd like the suit to be multifunctional: the jacket doubling as a sport coat and the trousers pairing well with knitwear.

My current dilemma is how to style the suit for my wedding to ensure it looks formal and stylish. I'm contemplating a white shirt with French cuffs, though I've heard these might not complement tweed well. I feel like light blue might feel less formal tho?

I haven't started any proces, so I'm open to advice and changing my mind. But a suit like this is truly what I'd love. Any thoughts or suggestions would be greatly appreciated!

 

[TheIronDandy]

First: consider the formality of the wedding. If you're having an informal country wedding, brown tweed can work fine. If it's a very formal affair in a cathedral, it's going to be trickier.

Assuming the level of formality of the wedding makes brown tweed appropriate, but you want to make it as formal as possible, consider the suit before how you style it. There are various kinds of brown: a colder, darker brown with grey tones will be more formal than a warmer, ruddy brown. The cut and make will matter too: a lightly constructed jacket with extended shoulder will be more formal than a soft jacket with natural shoulder. There are smoother tweeds, but then they will be less "tweedy".

Don't try to compensate for the fairly informal suit with formal accessories (like french cuffs). If brown tweed is appropriate, then embrace it: a white oxford shirt and a cashmere tie is less formal yet quite stylish. Combine with brow derbies in a slightly darker hue than your suit and possibly a white linnen pocket square. Classic, all the pieces can be used for daily wear.

But again, consider the formality of the event, and what your partner will think, before you think of anything else. If you have a classic wedding, no amount of "the fussy men on styleforum said this was appropriate" is likely to let you get away with a brown tweed suit.

 

[Casacosa]

First: consider the formality of the wedding. If you're having an informal country wedding, brown tweed can work fine. If it's a very formal affair in a cathedral, it's going to be trickier.

Assuming the level of formality of the wedding makes brown tweed appropriate, but you want to make it as formal as possible, consider the suit before how you style it. There are various kinds of brown: a colder, darker brown with grey tones will be more formal than a warmer, ruddy brown. The cut and make will matter too: a lightly constructed jacket with extended shoulder will be more formal than a soft jacket with natural shoulder. There are smoother tweeds, but then they will be less "tweedy".

Don't try to compensate for the fairly informal suit with formal accessories (like french cuffs). If brown tweed is appropriate, then embrace it: a white oxford shirt and a cashmere tie is less formal yet quite stylish. Combine with brow derbies in a slightly darker hue than your suit and possibly a white linnen pocket square. Classic, all the pieces can be used for daily wear.

But again, consider the formality of the event, and what your partner will think, before you think of anything else. If you have a classic wedding, no amount of "the fussy men on styleforum said this was appropriate" is likely to let you get away with a brown tweed suit.

Thank you for the reply, very very useful. Makes total sense. Wedding is still being planned so I will think about the formality, will likely take place in an old gothic church and then celebrate it on a country house (tbh).

What colours would you suggest for the tie?

 

[TheIronDandy]

If you have a fairly formal brown tweed suit, a simple navy tie is probably a safe bet. Cashmere is luxurious but not as formal, grenadine is probably more formal, but the structure will make it interesting, and the sheen will be a nice contrast to the tweed.