Adlai E. Stevenson High School has been on West Six Mile since 1965, with about 1,590 students in it, and every spring its seniors run the same gauntlet: prom in a tuxedo, graduation in a suit under a gown, then a summer of cousins’ weddings and first interviews. Families try to solve all of it with one purchase. It’s two decisions, and they go different ways.
The tuxedo is a rental
Prom is one night and black tie is its own uniform, so he rents, fitted here at a mirror rather than sized from a chart. The consultant puts the jacket on him and swaps it if the shoulder’s wrong, and the trousers are pinned to the shoes he’ll dance in. It goes back the week after and nobody thinks about it again.
The suit is a purchase
Everything after prom is a navy suit: the ceremony, the July wedding, the August interview. One suit does all three if it’s bought to fit, and an Everyday Classic at $139 to $159 is honest money for a boy who’ll be a size bigger by the time he’s home for Thanksgiving. Signature Wool, $259 to $299, if he’s done growing.
Both, together
Bring him in once for both, with the shoes. Roman, master tailor at Lincoln Tailor, on site in our store, hems the tuxedo and the suit to the same pair if that’s what he owns, and a hem is a small job he can often do while you wait.
Also for Livonia: Black Tie at Laurel Manor: The Guest, Not the Groom. More on tuxedo rentals, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
