Where to shop for wedding suits in Sydney?

Wedding suits shopping, where do I start?

If you're getting ready for your wedding day, wedding-suits are sure to be an important task on your to-do list. Shopping for wedding-suits can seem overwhelming and stressful, it doesn't have to be! With options like made-to-measure suits and professional men's wedding style services, you don't have to worry about finding something off-the-rack that fits properly. With the proper guidance, you can find wedding-suits that fit your body type and your wedding aesthetic perfectly. Don't let wedding suit shopping ruin your wedding day - make sure you know how to shop smartly!

Where to shop

You are given many options in terms of where to shop, mass market retail stores, custom tailored stores, designer brands or a private one on one experience.

The followings is a summarised run down:

Mass Market Retail - These are the David Jones, Myer's and brands within them, the large format retailers. The biggest benefit when buying mass market is buying on sale, they are able to provide large discounts as they are generally high volume large margin model business models. The compromise is quality and fit. Meaning, you may have to spend extra on alterations, and you are limited to fabric choices. A piece of advice  if you need to do a lot of alterations, it may be better to find another fit. If you are on a tight budget, then this could be a good place to start. You should expect to spend from about $399 to $699 for a suit, although there are more expensive options also available in department stores.  A synthetic fabric should be around $399 and a entry level wool fabric should cost around $699.

Designer Brands - These brands are well known brands like Giorgio Armani, Hugo Boss, Zegna or Brioni. The benefits is that they usually include alterations as part of the purchase, "usually", not always,  and deal with better quality fabrics. With some of the reputable brands you are paying for quality but with a lot of them you are paying a premium for the brand name. You need to know your fabrics and construction to understand if it really worth the value. Always questions the staff to understand why you are paying the price for these products, brand alone is not a good enough reason. You would expect to pay $1299 to $3000+ for a suit at a starting level. 

Custom Tailored - These are stores that do made to measure clothes, and you get to choose several fabrics and customisation options in an in-store environment. The benefits with made to measure is that if you are not a typical or standard size then you are able to get things made to your body measurement, with no additional alteration costs, the sole purpose of made to measure.  The art of shopping made to measure is to make sure you are lead by someone with experience, who will give you quality advice, if they have a fashion background and knows how things are made, and how the fabrics work on the body, an in-experienced representative could cause you unwanted stress in the long run.Quality suits generally start from $899 to $3000+ depending on the company, maker and fabric. You may find cheaper options in the market, be mindful not to compromise quality to save a few dollars. 

Personalised Wedding Tailor - A personalised wedding tailor gives you a combination of all of the above, what you get in a personalised wedding tailor is an experienced fashion designer and retailer that is able to combine the best of all of the above and put together your complete outfit, either fully custom made or a mix of custom made and retail store. But you will get good quality advice and direction. The pricing is generally along the mark of a custom tailored offering or a bit more. The true value you are getting is experience and knowledge of how to source and deliver the best quality and value for your budget. Generally wedding suits starts at $899+ but it is a one stop shop for a made to measure or off the rack from a knowledgeable industry expert.

 Trust is everything!

Now you are ready to explore the different wedding suppliers in the suiting category that fits your budget, personal preference and type of experience you want to have when shopping for your wedding suits. Make sure you ask as many questions as possible, to see if the store really understand your needs, and are qualified in men's tailoring and styling. 

One thing that all grooms will experience when shopping for their wedding, is that when they say the magic word "Wedding" time will freeze, and you will step into a new matrix, the faces of the sales people will change, their eyes open up, and a massive smile comes out, there is no explanation for this behaviour.  No one else in the store suddenly matter, you become the centre of the universe. Don't stress, this is normal, it is called the "Wedding Phenomenon". The secret is to chill like nothing ever happened and ride the matrix. 

Trust is everything, so choosing your supplier generally depends on who you really trust to give you honest and truthful advice, trust your gut instinct and do not get fooled by the "buy now or you will miss out" marketing scams, or "its the last one in the universe" line. It is your wedding suit make a quality decision with knowledgeable advice and not an impulse one. 

 Making a quality decision

The final aspect is making a quality decision based on ultimate value, affordability, useability and ethical or conscious practices. 

Value is generally defined on both intrinsic and extrinsic motives and is subjective to each person, price alone does not drive value. when purchasing your wedding suits, invest in quality pieces that has re-purpose value. Meaning that you will be able to use it again, as a suit or as individual pieces. Buying quality means you will be able to enjoy what you have bought for a longer time.  A re-purpose mindset promotes a sustainable lifestyle practice that is better for the environment and also for your wallet in the long term. 

Always question how things are sourced and made, no matter what the price point, be a force of change for a better world for people that are less fortunate and are subject to forced labour and minimum wages. You have a choice not to entertain this sort of practice, so ask the question, do your due diligence and shop ethical.