Laurie Hopkins Menswear Blog

We all know the importance of getting things right and wearing the right clothes for the right occasion and your School Prom is no exception.

In fact, some would say that your High School Prom night is possibly one of the most important nights of your life to date and choosing the right clothing can be difficult. You need to get it just right, too way out and you can look stupid - too casual and you can look out of place, so the question is ‘What will you be wearing this year for your High School Prom?’

Here at Laurie Hopkins Menswear, Huddersfield - we have over the past few years built a reputation for providing local schools with great prom suit hire.

Most often than not boys will chose a simple Single Breasted Dinner suit and accessorise this with a waistcoat, bow tie or rouche tie (worn with a wing collar shirt) and top pocket hankie and so we have put together a special Prom Suit Hire Package for the occasion which is only £42.50 plus £5 Accidental Damage Wavier.

Take a look at just some of the waistcoats on offer with the Prom Suit Hire package by clicking the link.

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By offering a men’s formal hire service, we are often asked to explain the difference between the terms Dinner Suit, Evening Dress, Black Tie, Tuxedo and White Tie, so here is a brief explanation.

Dinner Suit (Evening Dress)

A Dinner Suit consists of a black (or very occasionally a Midnight Blue – this is almost never used in hire or ready to wear, only in Made to Measure) jacket which is usually single breasted but it can be double breasted that has either silk or satin on the lapels and pocket flaps and a pair of matching trousers with silk or satin down the side seams.

Black Tie

If you receive an invitation to a formal event and it stipulates Black Tie then you should wear a Dinner Suit, Dress Shirt (either wing collar or standard collar) and a Black Bow Tie – often people will wear a Black Cummerbund with this suit.

Tuxedo

In the USA, any formal Dinner wear is called a Tuxedo, this term stems from the Dinner Suit which was worn as the informal dining wear at the Tuxedo Park Club (a country club in New York) in the late 1880’s.

In the UK and Western Europe, a Tuxedo can refers to any evening wear that is not Black or Dark Navy but is more commonly used to describe a White Jacket.

White Tie.

White Tie is also known as Full Evening Dress and is used on very formal occasions (think Chancellors Speech at the Mansion House, London). It Consists of a black short jacket that is cut to points at the front waist and tails at the rear, A White low cut waistcoat, White Marcella Shirt, White Marcella bow tie and evening/dinner suit trousers. White Tie should never be worn to a function that starts before 6pm.

Morning Dress

If you are invited to a formal function that takes place before 6pm, you should (traditionally) wear Morning Suits which consists of a tailcoat, waistcoat, stripped trousers, shirt, tie (or as an alternative for weddings – but never for Ascot, a cravat) and top hat.

More recently, for weddings, the frockcoat and the prince suit have been introduced to complement the tailcoat.

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We are continually being asked for new ideas for little presents, keep sakes, momentos etc for the Groom, his Best Man and the other men in the wedding party.

The obvious ones are cuff-links however, we have now taken delivery of a range of Black Socks that are specifically aimed at the wedding market.

These socks come in Groom, Best Man, Father of the Bride, Father of the Groom and Usher flavours!

At only £4.95, they are great value for money and are guaranteed to stop that perennial wedding problem that is commonly known as ‘White Sock Blight!”

Black socks for the Groom

Buy Groom, Best Man, Father of the Bride, Father of the Groom and Usher socks here.

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On Monday we had a rather tall gentleman come into our shop, he needed a hire suit (either a Lounge Suit, Dinner Suit or Tuxedo) but he needed it quick.

So that’s not very difficult is it? I hear you say, well not only was this customer very tall, he was also 54″ chest!

Now whilst that’s not ‘massive’ as such, the hight combined with the chest size meant that we couldn’t fit our customer up off the peg. We had to contract the hire in from our supplier who just happens to be the largest formal hire and Wedding Hire supply company in Europe (and possibly the world.)

So to add to the equation, not only had we got a tall gentleman with a large chest measurement, he required his suit and shirt for today because he was departing for a cruise tomorrow.

48 hours later, in walks the customer, tries on his suit and guess what? Yup - your right, it fit him perfectly. So as the saying goes ‘There you go Cinders, you can go to the ball!’

Have a great holiday.

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