Morning dress - where to buy/rent for a Miami wedding?

October 10, 2007 1:08 PM

I'd like me and my groomsmen to be clad in morning attire when I get married in Miami a year or so hence. Morning dress is relatively rare in the US, and I was wondering if anyone who has had experience putting together this look for a wedding can recommend any good outfitters. We're probably going to buy for the groom and rent for the groomsmen. Any suggestions? There is plenty of lead time so I would be open to ordering from a non-Miami location. Any other advice on pulling off morning attire greatly appreciated!
posted by Kevin A to Clothing, Beauty, & Fashion (9 answers total)

I attended a wedding in Tennessee wearing this sort of outfit; I was under the impression it was a relatively standard request from the formalwear company in Nashville. My outfit was rented, not purchased, and included all the relevant paraphernalia. The logistics were identical to renting a decent (not "last minute") tux -- I showed up in advance, they took down my sizes, and a few days before the wedding I picked up the set.

...so I guess I'd be surprised if you couldn't find a local source. However, if Florida is unusually limited when it comes to male formalwear, perhaps someplace in Atlanta or Savannah would suffice?
posted by aramaic at 1:26 PM on October 10, 2007

I can't offer any advice on getting the stuff in the US, but I'm curious about why you would buy for the groom? Presumably you're unlikely to have much call for Morning dress in the future.

Mind you, most brides buy their dress, and it's hardly an outfit that will have a lot of use.
posted by sycophant at 1:28 PM on October 10, 2007

My husband and his groomsmen wore morning attire at our wedding; it was all rented from After Hours with very little difficulty.
posted by junkbox at 1:36 PM on October 10, 2007

Response by poster: >why you would buy for the groom?

To have the suit custom-tailored. I want to look great. Plus, you never know when you're going to end up with an invite to the Royal Ascot...
posted by Kevin A at 1:39 PM on October 10, 2007

I was recently in a wedding, and we rented tuxes from After Hours formalwear, which is a standard mall-type tux rental business, that has some sort of connection with David's Bridal. We didn't get morning dress, but they had it available for rent.

It does seem like a bit of a Southern thing, so I would think there wouldn't be too much of a problem with getting it in Florida. My classmates and I had to wear morning dress for our graduation at UVa, so some Charlottesville menswear store has access to fortysomething morning coats, and I don't expect it would be too different for you.
posted by LionIndex at 1:45 PM on October 10, 2007

They had morning suits in the Men's Wearhouse tux book when we got married 3 years ago. I'm pretty sure there's at least one option at every rental place.
posted by Lyn Never at 2:12 PM on October 10, 2007

They had these at After Hours, where my husband and his groomsmen rented the tuxes. My advice? Be sure you really want this before you go full bore. I thought I wanted it, and when my husband tried the whole thing on, it looked really, really silly on him. I'm not saying it looks silly on everyone, but I thought I would love it, and I ended up laughing so hard I cried.
posted by Medieval Maven at 2:36 PM on October 10, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks for the answers everyone. It seems it won't be as hard to pull this together as I thought. I will be sure to take your advice, maven, and give the look a thorough tryout before I commit to it. Thanks again.
posted by Kevin A at 3:00 PM on October 10, 2007

Fun Fact, since the answers are sufficient: Solicitors General, when arguing in front of the Supreme Court, wear morning attire. I talked to the former Solicitor General under Clinton and he said there was one place in DC where all the Solicitors General get there morning suits, but I can't remember what place that was.
posted by Falconetti at 6:57 PM on October 10, 2007