Wardrobe Meltdown

Aha, betcha thought it was me, right? Not so. Not. So.

Little known fact: my scruffy, unshaven, indie-rocker-meets-cowboy hubby-to-be is actually quite particular when it comes to clothes. Sure, his jeans may be unraveling at the hems, and he may still wear that t-shirt that was stained by our possessed washing machine, but the boy cleans up quite well. And he does it all himself. My mother buys everything for my father, down to his socks (no shame Dad; it's pretty common, I hear). This would not fly in our household. I've lucked in a few times, buying him tees that he actually wears, but that's as far as I go. Buying shoes is quite another story (a frustrating one, I might add).

Yesterday, after a wedding checklist marathon, we thought we'd get some fresh air and scope out Bloor street for some last minute accessories for Alex's wedding wardrobe. He had, until this point, planned to wear his pinstripe H&M suit with the chartreuse gingham shirt we bought last week at Club Monaco. The gingham, we supposed, warranted a bowtie accompaniment. We picked up a cute pinstripe version at American Apparel, along with some white suspenders.

Alex also bought a grey suede belt from H&M (I was not too fond of the canvas belt he had planned on wearing). We were only missing argyle socks (which we also felt to be appropriate for the outfit).


After arriving home, I busied myself with finalizing the menu, while Alex fussed in the bedroom. He emerged in outfit #1, the aforementioned suit and shirt with our newly purchased accessories and his pinstripe sneakers. He shifted and squirmed, pulling and tugging at corners and hems. #1 was not happening. Alex proceeded to have a full-blown wardrobe meltdown (a la Dayna) while I tried not to meddle. Better that way - trust me, I am generally on the other end of this scenario.

Outfit # two involved a shoe and tie change (we decided that the dog could wear the bow tie instead). He had affixed a white sock to his collar. "Babe, just imagine that this is a white tie, and that my shoes are not falling apart". He feared looking too much like a member of The Vines. I argued that he was in fact a musician. If the shoe fits, right? No dice.

Nearly 20 minutes later, outfit #3 is presented to me with some ta-da (finally) and Alex seems pleased with himself, yet apprehensive. You see, the suit was ditched in favour of jeans and his scuffed motorcycle boots. The bowtie and suspenders were back, but they finally made sense. Adorable! He was nervous about not wearing a suit to his own wedding, but we vowed to buy him new denim, polish up the boots and find more masculine suspenders (the current "unisex" pair from AA were a tad flimsy).

He said he was inspired by this photo that we had saved as an idea for our photographer:



I dug up this photo, too:


"Look, babe, it's totally been done", I said. My dress, although not as flouffy and formal as most wedding gowns, is still quite pretty and dressy. This couple seems to have pulled it off nicely, and I quite like the juxtaposition. I am also pushing for him to buy Cons, as above, too!

My dress is still a work in progress, but I will actually reveal the "before" picture now, as I am making significant changes to it. You won't even recognize it! I'm actually considering shortening it after all.

[ BEFORE ]

So far, I haven't entered meltdown country, but that might be reserved for my hair. I am, after finishing my dress, attempting to make myself something like this for my head (yes, in this scale):


I clipped a Martha Stewart article about making fabric flowers, and I might just have enough craftiness in me to pull it off. Ability is not so much of a concern as time. 19 days!!!!!