Symphony gala attire

The wife and I are planning to attend a local symphony gala event. We live on the gulf coast and things around here tend to be very informal, so I called the box office to find out if there is a dress code for the event, I was told that suits or business casual is the norm. I've been wanting to pick up a navy suit for a while, looks like I got my excuse!

There are a couple of things I wanted your opinions on though. I plan to wear a pair of black dress shoes that I already own, I know that brown seems to be more stylish for most folks, but I feel like the black ones will maybe more dressy:



And ties, this is my current meager tie collection. Are any of these decent to pair with a navy suit for the symphony? If not, what would you stylish gents suggest?



Thanks!

I'd stick with black dress shoes for evening - more traditional although dark brown would be acceptable too I'm sure. The golden tie looks good to me for a sunny climate event.

A navy blue suit will look sharp. I'd go with the blue/yellow/black strip tie. Your low quarters will work just fine, but if you are inclined a pair of medium brown shoes with navy blue looks awesome!

Don't confuse me with a stylish gent, but depending on the shade of Navy and your shirt color, I think any of those ties might work. But I would expect to eliminate the 4th/Black-n-Gold looking one first.

If it were me, I'd go with poison in my coffee for a quick death so I wouldn't have to go to the symphony. But, that's just me.

Luckily I love music. It's more me who wants to go, the wife's not that big a fan of music, but she'll love it after this performance. The theme is James Bond, so I'm considering buying a black silk knit tie

A3M0N said:

Luckily I love music. It's more me who wants to go, the wife's not that big a fan of music, but she'll love it after this performance. The theme is James Bond, so I'm considering buying a black silk knit tie

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Nice! I have a Turnbull knit, which is 007's choice, myself. They only sell them in the London store these days though, so very hard to come by.

I am usually a brown shoe guy myself, but this is actually one instance I would go black shoe.

gegarrenton said:

Nice! I have a Turnbull knit, which is 007's choice, myself. They only sell them in the London store these days though, so very hard to come by.

I am usually a brown shoe guy myself, but this is actually one instance I would go black shoe.

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I know right. Here is the flier:

Excellent.

Black shoes.

As much as I love the look of brown shoes with almost any suit, for an evening event like this, go black.

For a navy suit, I'd get a tie in some shave of silver/grey ... make sure it has some sheen to it, and very little pattern. IF you can spring for a nice grenadine, that'd be about perfect.

Larry C in Texas said:

If it were me, I'd go with poison in my coffee for a quick death so I wouldn't have to go to the symphony. But, that's just me.

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If you were married to Lady Astor, I'm sure she'd fix your coffee properly for you.

A3M0N said:

The theme is James Bond ...

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... well if you were looking for an excuse to wear a tuxedo ...

Doc, the musical selections are Bond themed. But when I do have the money and need, I plan to purchase a shawl lapel tuxedo.

Wear a nice white pocket square folded flat. That's what Bond would do.

The bond theme. Something to hear from time to time.
http://youtu.be/at3WVWOHqMI

A3M0N said:

Doc, the musical selections are Bond themed. But when I do have the money and need, I plan to purchase a shawl lapel tuxedo.

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Shawl lapel FTW. Those peak lapel guys are lame.

A lesson from a soon to be senior -- when it comes to attire, ask your wife. And do whatever she recommends. She'll love that you asked, and she'll be even happier when you take her advice. She may or may not have better taste than any of us, but she's almost certain to be more interested in what you're wearing than anyone else. Trust me on this one -- our 40th anniversary is coming up next year.

I'm assuming this is an evening event...I would wear the navy suit, white dress shirt, navy tie, black shoes and white pocket square.

I went to JC Penny today looking for this suit. But all they had in stock were the navy stripe and black. I'm look for a suit at JC Penny because its budget pricing and its 100% wool, so I figured with some tailoring it could be a pretty decent first suit.

On to ties. I found a faux grenadine, and this slightly quirky tie that I like. Or a nice stripe.

A3M0N said:

On to ties. I found a faux grenadine, and this slightly quirky tie that I like. Or a nice stripe.

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You got the idea. I'd skip the quirky one, but either of the other two would be fine. (Yes, a real grenadine would be better, but ... like they say ... for $15 ... that's pretty darn good.)

Suit ordered, hopefully it gets here in time to make alterations. The performance is on the 23rd, 4 - 7 days for delivery. We'll see! Now we gotta get the wife a dress.

You should pick up some shoe trees, they would really help to minimize the creases in your shoes. Spend some time conditioning and polishing your shoes, nothing worse than a nice suit with unkept shoes.