Wedding Casual

We have a wedding to attend in a few weeks, so of course I have been thinking about what I might wear. But it isn't going to be a typical wedding, so it's unlikely I'll wear what I would typically choose wear to a wedding.

The bride is a friend and former coworker of the Mrs., and as we did, she and her fiancé are paying for the wedding themselves. To save money, the actual wedding and reception are to be family-only; what we are attending is the "after-party" at a local tavern, on a Saturday evening.

The first thing I decided is that there will be no point in wearing a suit or a tie. No one else will be as dressed up as that, which I find unfortunate, but I also don't to be the one guy who shows up in a suit and tie and ends up looking foolish.

Also, it will probably still be fairly warm; our wedding was in the last week of September and I believe the high that day was around 72. By 7 pm it will be starting to cool off, but it's likely to still be in the mid-to-upper 60s that evening. I want to look sharp but casual, and be comfortable.

I never had much interest in linen, but I'm realizing its value in warm-weather dressing situations. A linen jacket with only a partial lining is about the most comfortable thing a guy can wear on a warm day when the situation calls for any amount of dressing up. A couple of weeks ago I happened to see a blog post somewhere that mentioned a cream-colored linen jacket, and it made me realize that such a jacket would be a great piece to build an outfit around for this event.

I scanned the sale sections of some websites; the best option I found was at Nordstrom Rack, but the marked-down price was $120 and they were sold out of my size anyway. I was hoping to find something for less, if possible, so I turned to eBay. I immediately got really, really lucky: I found an auction for a cream Brooks Brothers linen jacket, made in Italy, in my size.

It has patch pockets, which are more casual than the set-in style pockets you typically see in suits and sportcoats. This is a nod to the more relaxed nature of dressing up in warm weather. The measurements indicated that this jacket would very likely fit me quite nicely. Amazingly, no one else bid on it, so I walked away with it for $50. It arrived yesterday, and it fits me perfectly; I don't even need to have the sleeves altered. It may have been worn, but it appears new.

There are some creases from being folded for shipping, but those can be steamed out easily. It's a three-button jacket, and from the position of the buttons it looks like it might be a decade or so old. I'd prefer that the lapels roll to the center button, which is more traditional, so I'll have a go at it with the iron, but I'm not especially worried about how successful I'll be.

Now to figure out what I'm going to wear with it...