The Royal Park Hotel in downtown Rochester serves its afternoon tea in a conservatory of Belgian glass, floor to ceiling, looking out at Paint Creek. It is a beautiful room and it is merciless. Everywhere else a suit is lit from above, from one direction, and half of it stays in shadow where the eye forgives things. Here it’s lit from four sides at once and nothing is in shadow at all.
Where the light goes first
The shoulder. Side light rakes across the top of a jacket and shows every ripple in the cloth there, so a shoulder that was padded to a shape instead of cut to one announces itself. That’s the seam to spend on in this room.
What it does to color
It lifts everything a shade. A charcoal photographs as a mid gray, a navy as a brighter blue than the one you chose off the rack. If the intention was a dark suit, go a step darker than looks right under the store lights and it will land where you meant it.
And to shine
Anything with a sheen catches all four windows and throws them back. Ask the consultant to carry the cloth to daylight before you decide, which takes a minute and settles it.
Also for Rochester Hills: The Royal Grand Ballroom: Who Gets the One Extra Thing. More on wedding suits, or plan your visit to our Oak Park showroom.
