Tuxedo Appointment - Attempt #2

We were really productive this Saturday! We got up early and both worked out. From there, we met up with some friends for lunch and stopped by David's Bridal to get a fabric swatch & then to another Men's Wearhouse. This experience was a LOT better. Kathy (the saleslady who introduced herself first thing!) walked us through all the details of the types of tuxedos & accessories. She showed us all the vests and ties, and I have to admit that the flowered & striped combination (shown in the picture) didn't look too bad when put with a tuxedo.

We talked to her about the possibility of having the groomsmen buy suits instead of renting tuxes. I wasn't big on that idea...until she explained the difference between suits and tuxedos. Do you know the difference? It's not much... As compared to suits, tuxedos have:

1. A satin stripe down the leg of the pants (instead of not having the stripe)
2. A satin lapel (instead of being the same material as the rest of the jacket)
3. Buttons on the jacket sleeve are fabric-covered (instead of being plastic)

That's it?! Once I realized that there wasn't much difference between the two, and it would only be a little bit more expensive for the guys to get to keep a suit (instead of paying $ and keeping nothing), I opened up to the idea. Patrick is in the process of talking to the guys to get their opinions, but we looked at some black suits, and I think that either would look good.

We wanted to also check out JoS A. Bank, another suit/shop. I realize that we're probably a hard sell b/c we're both in sales, but simply put: we have hoooooorrible luck with our first experience at each tux shop. We walked in, and after standing and waiting patiently a couple minutes for the guy at the register to finish writing something, he told us to take a seat next to a desk with a computer. 

We started flipping through the book of vest & tie colors, and after about 5 minutes, a guy with a store manager nametag came peeking awkwardly around the corner. He was very distracted and kind of talked to us about general details of what comes with the tuxes, but kept looking around the corner - then walked away with no warning.

I looked at Patrick with wide eyes, and he calmed me down saying, "Don't worry, he's just waiting for the salesperson to finish up with his customer; that's why he kept looking around the corner." At that moment, the manager came back and handed us his card, saying, "Here's my card before I forget," and walked away again. Whaaaaattt?!

We tracked him down and Patrick did a great job of asking specific questions - that were answered briefly; he wasn't about to volunteer any information that wasn't asked about (having had a bunch of questions answered by Kathy at Men's Wearhouse, we knew the basics and knew what questions to ask). Patrick asked if the guy could write down some of the prices/info he was talking about, and the guy practically threw a pen at him and told him he could jot down whatever notes he wanted.

I asked if we could see some of the specific suits/tuxes/shoes/vests/ties, and with each question, he said we couldn't! They apparently don't keep them in the store, and we have to go by the colors (on the 1 inch x 1 inch swatches) & pictures in the book or website. After the 4th "NO" we got while asking to see a sample - and the 3rd time the guy randomly walked away - that was about all. We asked for other locations of JoS A. Banks in the valley b/c even though we liked the selection & prices, this guy was definitely not getting credit for our sale.We'll try again on that one...

Update on the Flower Dog Outfit... Belle's dress is looking REALLY good. I have it finished besides for finishing the underside (the loose ends/threads need to be covered up). She's such a good sport; as I played around with ideas of what would be the best way to make sure the dress stayed on, she patiently sat in front of me and waited until I was finished. I finally realized that instead of making a dress that had to be closed with a zipper/velcro/snaps/etc, I would just make the dress around (and attached to) the new harness I bought for her that matches the bridesmaid dresses. Genius!

That's all for now. Goodnight!

-Lisa