Now you don’t think that Vic will be going without a wardrobe makeover do you? Everytime a box arrived I told him that his stylist had some things for him to preview. So here we go for the three Derby Events that we will be attending…
THE OAKS - Since pink is the color theme, Vic loves it. Pink he says is his power color. He will wear his Black Sports coat with a pink shirt and gray slacks. His tie will be black with small pink daisies. I found the pink shirt and tie at Nordstrom’s. Since the gentleman’s attire should compliment the ladies … I think this works!
THE GALA – Vic decided that he would finally buy a tuxedo since packing a rental seemed silly. He informed me that he needed 140 wool. Seems that the higher the count the lighter the fabric. So I decided to order one online. I found a site that had lots of tuxedo styles and had 140 wool or better. I ordered one that was traditional styling in 150 wool and the other was a mandarin collar. I knew that Vic would LOVE the mandarin collar, because one of he favorite shirts is collarless. I had to take it away from him, but that is another story. When the box arrived it was time to check it all out.
Here is the backstory. Vic does NOT wear anything that has polyester in it. He says it is too hot. Cut to him checking out the mandarin color tux. He really liked it. I wasn’t sure what the fabric was because it didn’t say what it was online. As I was telling him that we checked out the fabric … 100% polyester! I knew that was going back … but to my AMAZEMENT Vic thinks that it will be ok! HELLO??? Where did my husband go and who is talking to me! I knew he would love it … but that was a shocker. Plus all the tuxedos were 50% off, so that made them very reasonable. We did keep it and sent the others back.
You can wear this style with either a wing tip shirt or a traditional shirt. I really wanted the wing tip but could not find an ascot tie that I liked fast enough. A matching tie and vest were supposed to arrive on Tuesday but did not, so he will wear the traditional shirt with a traditional tuxedo tie. The twist will be …shoes. We are going for his boots instead. I love that look. Go figure! LOL
THE DERBY – Vic needed a couple of new shirts so he sent me to his favorite online retailer, Paul Frederick. In my web search I had not come across them yet. So I parused their site and found sale after sale. I just had to buy some other things, just to check it out. Knowing that finding Big and Tall sizes are NOT easy and the selection in the stores are slim picking. I found a light gray suit on their site that I just had to order for $138 !!! When we got it, we were both amazed. That turned out to be the deal of all deals. Vic wasn’t in the market for a new suit but at that price and the fact that DARK is not the desired color … remember Seersucker? Well this is as close as Vic will get to that!
I found a pale gray shirt and a tie that will look great with his Italian Borsalino fedora should he decide to wear a hat. Then I started to worry about his shoes. Now Vic will be the first to tell you that he owns more shoes now, that he has had in his entire life pre-Lisa! And I say YAY! is that a problem? Other than black there were no choices in his closet for a light gray suit. So when I was in Austin, I was at Nordstrom’s Rack (their outlet store) and low and behold I found a Calvin Klein white loafer. Joseph saw me pick it up and said “I have those shoes. They are the most comfortable shoes I own”. I stuck my foot in them and he was right. The felt like pillows. SOLD! Now to ease Vic into the notion!
Last night I pulled them out and he stared at them for a solid 30 seconds. Looked up and said “and for $99 down and $99 a month, you too can drive away in this car!” We were laughing so hard. He did try them on and sure enough very comfortable. Reminding him that he needs to change shoes for each event…wearing the same shoe all day long equals sore feet. (He’s done that in the past.) So we went over the attire list and the shoes have found a new home!
Vic’s Derby Attire, DONE! check!
You know what this has reminded me of? Putting together a wardrobe for the Miss Texas Pageant! Now that is a blast from the past!
We are off to Louisville. So stay tuned for pictures of us cavorting about Churchill Downs.
Tags: Churchill Downs, Living It With Lisa, Paul Frederick, The Derby, The Oaks