Weddings & evening / Womenswear
The London Bespoke Club · Toronto4 min read
From the Journal
Women’s wedding suits. Made for you.
A wedding tuxedo, matching jackets in Santorini and a dog named Pablo in the lining. A few real commissions, and my advice on planning your own.

At a glance
- Start with what you enjoy wearing. A tuxedo, trouser suit or long jacket can each be a starting point for the conversation.
- Bring your wedding and travel dates. Allow around 10 weeks for a first semi-bespoke suit, or four to five months for our bench line, with the schedule confirmed when you come in.
- Think about the whole outfit at the fittings: shoes, what goes underneath, and how it feels when you sit and move.
In this story
The first thing I’d ask is what you actually want to wear. Perhaps you already know you want a tuxedo. Perhaps you like the idea of a suit but haven’t worn one that feels right. Either is a perfectly good place to start.
There’s plenty of wedding advice about what you should wear. I’d rather hear what you like, what you feel comfortable in and what you have planned for the day. We can work out the shape, cloth and details together. These are a few examples of what that can look like.
Kim’s wedding tuxedo
We made Kim’s forest green tuxedo in Vitale Barberis Canonico Perennial Super 110’s wool for her wedding to Melissa. Worn with a white shirt and bow tie, it’s a lovely example of using colour for black tie, and the photographs show just how well it sits alongside Melissa’s dress.
I like this as a starting point because it leaves room for both people. You don’t have to wear matching outfits to look good together. If your partner’s outfit is already chosen, bring a photograph if you’re comfortable sharing it. We can talk about how yours will sit alongside it while keeping the choices your own.



Matching cloth, different outfits
For another couple, we made coordinating Loro Piana jackets for their pre-wedding photo shoot in Santorini, Greece. Their wedding took place there too, but these were the outfits for the photographs beforehand, rather than what they wore for the ceremony.
Both jackets use the same blue checked wool, silk and linen cloth from Loro Piana’s Proposte Giacche collection. Hers is a long, double-breasted style; his is a shorter jacket, worn here with white shorts. The cloth connects the two outfits, with each cut differently.
Inside, both jackets have a custom lining featuring photographs of their dog, Pablo, with labels for ‘Pablo’s Mum’ and ‘Pablo’s Dad’. That’s a detail I love: something personal to the couple, tucked inside the garments.



Start with the whole outfit
Think about the shape you enjoy wearing before getting lost in the smaller details. Would you prefer a jacket that comes in at the waist, or something straighter? Wide trousers, a slimmer leg, or a skirt? Photographs help, but so does bringing a garment you feel good in and explaining why.
Then we can look at what goes underneath. A shirt and bow tie give a different feel from a blouse or a simple top. Neckline, jacket fastening and sleeve length all need to work with those choices. You don’t need every answer before you come in.
Tell us about the setting, too. An outdoor ceremony in summer and an evening indoors may call for different cloth. If you’re travelling, mention that early. Feel the options in person and look at the colour in daylight, especially if you’re considering ivory or trying to coordinate with another outfit.
Use the fittings
Bring the shoes you plan to wear, or a pair with the same heel height, and the shirt or layer you intend to wear underneath. Those choices affect where the trousers finish and how the jacket sits.
At the basted fitting, the garment is held together with temporary stitching so we can work on the shape before it is finished. Sit down, move your arms and tell us how it feels. If you expect to spend a lot of the evening dancing, say so. A wedding outfit has a full day’s work to do.
Please speak up if something feels tight, awkward or simply unlike you. The fitting is the time to have that conversation.
Budget and time to allow
Our women’s semi-bespoke suits start from $1,800, and our bench line starts from $5,795. Cloth and the commission you choose determine the final price; a long jacket or a separate piece will be quoted for what you have in mind.
For most clients, I’d suggest starting with semi-bespoke. It begins with your own pattern, with allowance for your style, fit and posture. Allow around 10 weeks for a first suit, typically with two fittings. Our in-house cutter and tailor, Ian MacMillan, makes the bench line at our Toronto atelier, with more handwork and four to five fittings over approximately four to five months.
Give us your departure date as well as the wedding date. We’ll confirm the schedule before you commission anything and leave room to discuss final adjustments and collection. If the date is close, ask us what is possible before settling on an outfit.
Compare semi-bespoke and our bench lineWill you wear it again?
I often encourage clients to think about longevity. If you’d like to wear the suit after the wedding, let’s consider that while choosing the cloth and cut. You might wear the jacket separately, or change the shirt and shoes to make the whole outfit less formal.
That doesn’t mean every choice has to be practical. If this is something you want specifically for your wedding, that matters too. The useful thing is to decide what you want from it before we begin.
Come in with a few ideas
Bring a few saved photographs, your dates and a sense of what you’d like to spend. If you’re still deciding between shapes, our womenswear team can help you work through them with the cloth in front of you.
Consultations at our Toronto atelier are complimentary and strictly by appointment. We’ll talk through the outfit, the fittings and what needs to happen before you leave for the wedding.
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