If he does not already possess a well fitting morning coat (often called a
cutaway) he must order one for his wedding. The frock coat is out of
fashion at the moment. He must also have dark striped gray trousers. At
many smart weddings, especially in the spring, a groom (also his best
man) wears a white piqué high double-breasted waistcoat, because the more
white that can be got into an otherwise sombre costume the more
wedding-like it looks; conventionally he wears a black one to match his
coat, like the ushers. The white edge to a black waistcoat is not, at
present, very good form. As to his tie, he may choose an "Ascot" of black
and white or gray patterned silk. Or he may wear a "four-in-hand" matching
those selected for the ushers, of black silk with a narrow single, or
broken white stripe at narrow or wide intervals. At one of the ultra smart
weddings in New York last spring, after the London fashion, the groom and
all the men of the wedding party wore bow ties of black silk with small
white dots.
White buckskin gloves are the smartest, but gray suede are the most
conventional. White kid is worn only in the evening. It is even becoming
the fashion for ushers at small country weddings not to wear gloves at
all! But at every wedding, great or small, city or country, etiquette
demands that the groom, best man, and ushers, all wear high silk hats, and
that the groom carry a walking stick.
Very particular grooms have the soles of their shoes blacked with
"water-proof" shoe polish so that when they kneel, their shoes look dark
and neat.
=WHAT THE BEST MAN WEARS=
The best man wears precisely what the groom wears, with only one small
exception: the groom's boutonnière is slightly different and more
elaborate. The groom and best man often wear ties that are different from
those worn by the ushers, and occasionally white waistcoats. Otherwise the
two principal men are dressed like the ushers.
=WHAT THE USHERS WEAR=
It is of greatest importance that in dress each usher be an exact
counterpart of his fellows, if the picture is to be perfect.
Everyone knows what a ragged-edged appearance is produced by a company of
recruits whose uniforms are odd lots. An after-effect of army training
was evident at one or two smart New York weddings where the grooms were in
each case ex-officers and their ushers turned out in military uniformity.
Each of these grooms sent typewritten instructions to his ushers, covering
every detail of the "equipment" exacted. Few people may have reasoned why,
but scarcely any one failed to notice "what smart looking men all the
ushers were." It is always just such attention to detail that produces a
perfectly finished result. The directions sent by one of the grooms was as
follows:
"Wedding rehearsal on Tuesday, St. Bartholomew's at 5 P.M.
Wedding on Wednesday at 4 P.M.
Please wear:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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