“How Is The Bride Okay With This?”: Grooms That Deserved To Be Shamed For Their Looks

Before we get into it, here’s a quick reminder that you should do what makes you and your partner happy at your wedding. If you want a small and intimate ceremony, go for it. If you want to invite all of your friends, family, and neighbors, go do that. If you want a specific theme for the reception or a particular dress code, embrace it and have fun. Make sure that you and your partner are happy and that your guests are entertained, and you’ll have a great time.

That being said, let’s not ignore the elephant in the room: if your partner dresses up very nicely for your wedding but you saunter in wearing dusty crocs, torn shorts, and an icky T-shirt, something’s gone incredibly wrong somewhere. And generally, we don’t like to judge—but some fashion choices merit at least a dash of healthy criticism. It’s your wedding day: you want to look polished, not sloppy.

“Taking a more casual approach to groom’s wear is not to be sniffed at. But your outfit does still require careful consideration so that you don’t end up looking like you’ve picked up yesterday’s clothes from the bedroom floor!” Harvey, the director of Suave Owl Menswear, which is based in the UK, told Bored Panda via email.

“Whatever you choose to wear, make sure it fits well and is clean and pressed. Jeans or a T-shirt are absolute no-go’s. Stick to a 3-color rule to ensure consistency through your ensemble,” she shared some great advice for all grooms-to-be.

According to Harvey, something that we should all consider doing is matching the shoes that the groom’s party wears. A unified style and color scheme can add a lot of oomph to photos… while the opposite is also true.

“Ensure that all members of the groom’s party wear the same shoes, too, or at least the same color. Perfect outfits but mismatched colored footwear stands out in the photographs!” she said.

What really helps take a lot of the stress off a groom’s shoulders is turning to professionals for help. For example, Harvey told us that Suave Owl Menswear’s setup doesn’t allow for mistakes to be made.

“Advice from beginning to end gets it right every time!” she said.

And though fashion advice from family, friends, and loved ones can be invaluable, there is such a thing as too much of a good thing.

“Allowing input from too many people will always pull the groom away from their personal style and comfort. We encourage the groom to visit our shop alone or with their fiancé/e before making a group booking,” the director told us.

If you’d like to take a peek at what Suave Owl Menswear has to offer, check out their website, as well as their Facebook, Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter) accounts.

According to Stephan Detwiler, Brooks Brothers’ Vice President of men’s merchandising, there are some things that grooms should “never, ever wear.”

He told ‘Brides’ magazine that they should most definitely avoid wearing jeans or T-shirts, as well as ripped, torn, or overly tired-looking articles of clothing.

Detwiler urges grooms to try to look their best for their wedding and get their clothes tailored so that they fit them perfectly. “The bride spends so much effort and energy on what she’s wearing. You should put in a similar amount of effort to make sure you look your best, as well,” he told ‘Brides.’

This matches up with our personal experience, too. Tailored clothes are a whole other level of quality.

If you don’t want to wear a tuxedo or suit, you can always decide to dress more casually. However, Detwiler notes that casual wedding garb does not mean dressing sloppily.

“Don’t show up in a wrinkled T-shirt and jeans. You don’t want to be the most casually dressed person there.” According to him, a navy blazer, non-iron shirt, cotton-linen chinos, and boat shoes are a good idea, as is cashmere knitwear (e.g., polos or turtlenecks). He adds that you can even wear a good pair of sneakers, depending on the context.

Let’s be real here for a moment—you and your partner need to be on the same page when it comes to the wedding.

You’re getting married, after all. So, it would be ironic if you started your marriage with a disagreement about dress codes, style choices, and whether or not low-quality and ill-fitting clothes are appropriate for evening wear. It makes sense to speak about all of this before the Big Day.