Affordable black tie in Dublin?

DublinArnie

Hey!

Anyone know where you can buy an affordable black tie (jacket, pants, vest, shirt, bow) (<€80) or would people recommend renting one for the day?

Around city centre.

eviltimeban

You won't buy all that for less than 80 quid. That'd be the rental price if anything.

B.A._Baracus

I know it's the obvious answer but go to Pennys.
If your budget is around €80 then you're more likely to be in that range there.

Say...
- 20 for pants.
- 20 for vest
- 10 to 20 for shirt (depending on if you just want a basic one or a bit better)
- Only 5 to 10 for a bow (I got one for 5 euro there at Christmas)
- Jacket will cost you the most at an average price of 40.


You are talking about the 100 mark here. Not going to get any cheaper but don't decide to rent as you'll be paying at least that price too. So why not just buy.

seamus

I'm not sure if you'd even rent for less than 80 quid?

Penneys might be the way to go, though M&S do cheap formal suits too;
http://www.marksandspencer.ie/Black-Regular-Fit-Suit/DS80ed25238f7390c84175c35a14f51f38,en_IE,pd.html?start=#.WIh9UhuLRhE

Handy to have one in the wardrobe for the once-in-five-years occasion you need it.

Boom_Bap

Try Debenhams, they have a small black tie section, I was suprised at how low the prices where...alhtough I can't remember exactly how low they were now.

baby and crumble

€80 for all of that is pushing it, but very possible in Penneys, but most likely it'll be a black suit rather than proper black tie. It'll work in a pinch but if you're looking to do black tie on a budget I always recommend this blog post for an idea. In particular the very first option.

DublinArnie

I think my best option would be to save up for something better?

I'll most likely be going to more than one event over the year, so renting could end up being costly. I've never explored the market of black tie attire, so I don't know what to expect with quality and price.

Any pointers? I could probably cap the whole thing at €150 in the foreseeable future.

baby and crumble

I would actually really recommend going for an ex rental tux in that case. If you're in Dublin I'd highly recommend going to Tangos Dress hire in Temple Bar. My dad got a fantastic 3 piece suit there ex rental for around the €200 mark but he was an unusual size and wanted something very specific. The tailor there will find what you need from their ex rental stock and fit it to you. If you buy in a store like Debenhams you might have to settle for what you can get off the peg, or the salesman will pin you for alterations and they'll send it out to an alterations place.

eviltimeban

Well... black tie is dressing in a formal jacket (though not as formally as a tailcoat) with trousers, bow tie, patent leather shoes, etc.

The whole point of that is to look smart, extra smart than you would do in a regular suit.

We all know what cheap suits look like - not good. Cheap black tie, whether rented or bought, will only look worse.

If you could get about 150 together, how long would it take to get another 150 together, and get something like this? OK, it's a little more than you were thinking of spending, but you'll look 100% better, and if you go to, say, three events over the next year it'll end up costing the same as renting. Plus no one else has worn it before, and it won't have that "rental shop" smell.

melekalikimaka

Don't make the mistake of thinking a black suit is black tie, nothing looks worse than the half effort

ceegee

M&S is usually a good bet for decent suits at low price.

mailforkev

Have a look on ASOS, probably get one for 150 quid, so you'll have your money made after a couple of wears.

DublinArnie

eviltimeban wrote: »

Well... black tie is dressing in a formal jacket (though not as formally as a tailcoat) with trousers, bow tie, patent leather shoes, etc.

The whole point of that is to look smart, extra smart than you would do in a regular suit.

We all know what cheap suits look like - not good. Cheap black tie, whether rented or bought, will only look worse.

If you could get about 150 together, how long would it take to get another 150 together, and get something like this? OK, it's a little more than you were thinking of spending, but you'll look 100% better, and if you go to, say, three events over the next year it'll end up costing the same as renting. Plus no one else has worn it before, and it won't have that "rental shop" smell.

Woah that looks really good!

Maybe you're right. It would be worth it in the long run to save up for something like that.