If you’re anything like me, you have 5-7 weddings to attend per summer for the next three to four years. And, like me, you’re feeling a little over wearing the same tired navy blue suit every time. If you want to get a little more mileage (and maybe just a little more joy out of your wedding weekend wardrobe), then it’s pretty simple. Ditch the tie.
Ditching the tie is a mindset. It’s more than just the act of forgoing that long piece of knotted fabric around your neck. It’s a mindset around embracing more relaxed silhouettes and letting those smart casual outfits have a seat at the table with more traditional (stodgier) spring and summer wedding attire.
Our Senior Merchandiser of Apparel at Huckberry Javi Arista sat down with me to talk about five of the outfits he had a heavy influence in curating. Five outfits that cover everything from the travel day to the destination wedding to the morning after breakfast when you might feel a little sluggish but your fit rescues you from true post-wedding morning infamy.
Look 1 – The Travel Day
The wedding weekend can start as soon as you hit the airport. With the Flint and Tinder 365 Utility blazer, form and function go hand in glove here. Javi says, “This blazer has more bells and whistles than other ones we carry.” A bit a of a storage warrior, this blazer is ideal for the airport. Not only does it have a top button to up the formality factor when you need it, this piece also has three buttons at each cuff and side button-tabs at the waist to fine-tune the fit to your liking. You can stash your must-haves in any of its three front patch pockets or in the dual-access, interior chambray pocket for more secure storage.
We won’t use any derogatory words here to talk about people’s “outfits” at the airport, but you’ve been there, you’ve seen them, and they aren’t great. Despite the airport being what it is these days, these few simple additions are great way to up your airport game. Just because everyone else is flailing there, doesn’t mean you have to.
Look 2: Hot Weather Welcome Drinks
The answer: yes. Shorts do have their place at a wedding. Javi empathized with the hesitation: “I get it. You’re at a wedding, do you really wear shorts? I think there’s plenty to be said about wearing shorts during a wedding weekend and getting drinks with the crew and meeting with friends and family. What I love about this look above is we show you how to dress up shorts.”
A key piece to dressing shorts up here is the Wills Wrinkle Free Linen shirt, a casual, breathable piece that might get a little wrinkled (a quality Javi insists is good and worthy of embrace). For footwear he says, “Pairing this all with a huarache as opposed to a loafer still keeps things casual and with the right accessories and rolling up the sleeves you can avoid the schoolboy elementary moment.”
Look 3: The Non-Suit Suit
How to have the sophistication of the suit without the stiffness and formality usually associated with suiting? The answer lies with the linen. “I look at this as the non-suit suit,” Javi says about this look, easily his favorite among the five. “Rather than your traditional blazer, you’re pairing it with a linen chore coat.
Elevate the look with the Oxford shirt and the loafers. What I love here is the combination of high and low through the fabrication and the silhouettes.”
It’s a smart look, one that also embraces monochromatic outside of the normal dark shirt and dark jeans, another smart casual trend gaining traction. Javi poses the question this outfit answers, “How do I wear drawstrings and a chore to a wedding and look pretty fire?”
Look 4: The Wedding Day
The blazer here should have your attention here. “This is an unstructured blazer, so right off the bat it’s going to fit you better. The three buttons are more casual too than the two button options some of the other guys are supplying.”
“I always tell people to embrace that linen can wrinkle. At the end of the day, it gives it a little bit more attitude and character to what you’re wearing rather than it being so manicured.” Javi’s other belief about linen: “It should feel great, it should drape, and it should be relaxed.” I’m not usually one for getting “should on” but when it comes to style tips that get me out of rigid, uncomfortable, school-boy fits that itch and scratch and don’t feel good, I’m all in. Who knew if you stopped thinking so rigidly, your outfits would follow suit. (No pun intended.)
Look 5: Day After Brunch
“We thought of this look here as the outfit for the day after the wedding. You want to be put together a little bit but you’re also a little more casual. For that, a knit crochet shirt and open weaves are great. This look embraces the monochromatic, this time with neutral tans and earth tone colorways.” Javi emphasized throughout our talk that each look has elements likely already in your wardrobe. 365 pants, a pair of loafers, and a chore coat. Pairing those elements with something like a Fisherman Sandal, something admittedly a little more fashion-forward, becomes all the more accessible.
Pulling something like that off might seem far off or inaccessible but what Javi communicates to me is that with just a few simple swaps, you can get there. But that small gesture opens up a ton of other possibilities. Add a few touches of well-appointed jewelry, you’re cooking with gas and ready for something that maybe once felt off-limits but is now right there for the taking.
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