Groom's Suit ~ The Action!

As I didn't enquire about floating canvas during my research trips to the tailors, I decided to email all 3 of them to find out more. I thought to myself, whichever who bothered to check their emails and reply promptly would probably get my deal.

The first reply came from Kingsmen. Their reply was - they do both. However, they charges S$ 100 extra for floating canvas. Next came Coloc's reply.

Simon replied that he only do full floating canvas and there was no mentioning of extra charges.

I decided to narrow down my option to either Coloc or Kingsmen. Both have equally long history in the tailoring scene. Kingsmen's advantage is that it appears to be more modern and trendy in its designs. It's disadvantage is definitely in its pricing. It is certainly on the high side, which extra charges for requests such as functional sleeve buttons, stitched lapel, floating canvas. Their fabric selection was okay for the

Super 130s selection.

For Coloc, my initial visit was to the Marriott hotel's outlet. The shop front is definitely not as trendy and modern as Kingsmen. The fabric selections there were similar. However, its wedding package of a 3 piece suit at S$ 950 was tempting. In fact, the tailor was willing to do all the extras at no additional charges.

Sensing and fearing that I would have to keep paying for extras at Kingsmen, I decided to take up Coloc. The only issue I had was Coloc Raffles or Marriott. 阿寶's concern was that Coloc Marriott didn't appear to have trendy designs based on those suits on display. I suppose no bride in a great gown would want to stand beside a groom wearing a outdated suit. Not to mention that she's been complaining about how old fashion my Goldlion's suit was.

So we decided to visit Coloc Raffles to check it out, to trust her woman's instincts/feelings about a shop. Although we'd sort of passed by it during one of our visits to CYC, it took us

a while to find the shop. Again, the shop front isn't as trendy as Kingsmen, but it definitely looks more modern as to its brother shop at Marriott.

Simon definitely looked better in person than the small photo at his website. I quickly introduced myself and we got down to business. Told him that I'm not going to use the suit for work after my wedding. Simon showed us a lot of fabric. And there were all Super 150s. He offered a 3-piece suit (inclusive of a shirt) wedding package at S$ 1,200.

After browsing through a lot of fabrics, we settled for a pinstripe fabric which has a sheen. During the browsing, Simon would lay the small fabric over my hand to simulate how it would look like on me. Sometimes he would lay it over a model (with a suit) to simulate the end product. This helped me to visualize how it would be. I got a feeling that 阿寶 actually still prefers fabric that has designs to form patterns rather than pinstripe. Simon brought out a completed pinstripe suit for me to try on, as 阿寶 felt that it would look weird. But it doesn't.

The next decision was for the lining. As the fabric was orange pinstripe, Simon suggested matching the lining with peach. 阿寶 found it too girly. He asked if I'm open to yellow, which we took a look and immediately settled on it! The lining's Zegna branding helped in closing the decision. For the suit's front pockets, Simon suggested them to be at an angle. We agreed since we don't have much opinions on this.

For the lapel, I decided to use peaked lapel rather than notched lapel. Typical business suits have notched lapel. As I'm not making a tuxedo, no vent is out of the question. It's a matter of single (central) or double (dual) vent. Selected the double (dual) vent as it provides more mobility.

We didn't make the decision for using horn or shell buttons for the jacket. This could be decided later. Both are natural materials and hence, their 'colors' are natural. Meaning, you can't say you want a particular color! But hey, this means the 'color' wouldn't fade. And yes, shell buttons do feel cold when touched.

For the pants, there is only 1 single decision to be made: to have belt loops or buckles by the side. The advantage of wearing belt is that in event that my waist dropped a couple of inches, I could still wear the pants. The problem is that I've to matched it with my shoes' color (or even getting a new belt is a hassle on its own). For buckles, they only offer half to an inch room for slimming down. But since I'd not tried it before, and I doubt I would lose so many inches, I decided to go for buckles. Now, even if I did lose that many inches, I certainly won't mind paying for alterations!

As there are now 3 colors, the vest fabric selection would have to be careful. I don't want to end up like a clown donning multiple colors. Simon suggested 2 tones of green fabric (both have sheen), but I'm not really into green color. There's always a fall back plan to use the same fabric as the suit, but I contemplated against it. Decided to use a greyish/silver bird-eye fabric. When worn on its own, it would appear to be an individual piece, and it also goes with the suit's fabric. This time round, didn't go for the yellow lining as the back of the vest, instead opted for black. Not wanting to be too flamboyant. The bride is the peacock of the day.

The last decision to be made was the dress shirt. White was the selection. Coincidentally my shirt looks like this. I decided to go for concealed buttons. Since it is a white shirt, the buttons would be matching white.

Now that all the necessary decisions were made, it's time for Simon to work. The first question he asked was whether I want a perfect fit or have some allowances. While a perfect fit would be ideal, the thought of it being too restrictive is a concern. Hence, decided to opt for a good fit, rather than skin fit.

I lost count of how many measurements he took of me, from my top to bottom, shoulders, arm length, wrist size, leg length, etc. It took us around an hour or more, to complete the selection, decisions and measurements. At the end of it, I could see that 阿寶 is very hungry!

Finally, our investments? S$ 1,300. The first fitting is somewhere end August and Simon is pretty confident that 1 fitting is all he needs. By end October I would be able to get my gear for the big day!