Y11 prom... clueless on what DS should wear

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I have zero idea about fashion and DS isn't much better. Tomorrow we're off to buy him a suit, but having just looked online it's a minefield!

Should he be wearing slim fit? Regular fit? Tailored fit? Skinny? I had no idea there'd be so much choice... He's quite slim so is slim fit the best option? And are brown shoes best - regardless of the colour of suit?

Also, I'd quite like him to be able to wear the suit again.

Please help... I don't want him to be the laughing stock!

Black trousers, shirt or his choosing and optional tie.

I bought my DS a slim fitting suit (dark navy I think) from Next .. he wore DH's brown shoes with it. Brown shoes seem to be a thing.

He looked really lovely in it .... but never wore it again ... I once insisted he wore the jacket to a semi formal lunch.

Probably too late now but loads of charity shops sell nice suits (that's where my DS's ended up!).

Mine is going in his black school trousers, black shirt, black jacket and silver tie. Also not a clue about fashion but also never fussed about what others think about him so going in what makes him comfortable!

Ds wore a tux with converse. He looked really cool. He’s actually worn the dinner jacket loads since with jeans to parties.

Mine is going in a gold suit 😁

M&S and Next have a decently large range of styles if you go to a good sized branch. Maybe go try some stuff on and see what makes hom look and feel good. That's where style lies.

Thank you! I don't think DS is too bothered but he'll rely on my judgement - which will be a mistake, hence me relying on the judgement of MN

I'll aim for slim fitting. And brown shoes.

Mine went in black suit jacket (his brother’s old suit), black jeans, snazzy shirt, black tie, and smart trainers.

There was a wide range of clothing on the night.

My DS missed out due to Covid lockdown, but I really like user79 idea of tic and converse. My DS would have gone for that sort of look. Look on eBay

A wide range on the night bodes well, hopefully he won't stick out for the wrong reasons

Can you have a look to see if there are photos of last year's prom online?

Buy cheap as you can as they will outgrow quickly, might be worth hiring if you can reasonably. Cultures vary between schools so worth him asking his friends. Slim fitting suit suits most teens, black (doesn't need to be a proper dinner suit) covers him if others are doing black tie. Never heard of brown shoes with black, such a fashion faux pas! Can't go wrong with classic style black shoes and as his feet are likely to be fully grown, they will do for interviews too

Just had this conundrum with my 18 year old so got some advice from a much younger male work colleague as I have zero clue about the fashion.

He gave 2 options: burgundy suit, white shirt, brown belt and shoes or navy suit, white shirt, black belt and black shoes. Slim fit is apparently the one that is in fashion. We ended up going to next and trying a mix of sizes to get the perfect one and son decided on navy so ordered on line as they didn't have the right size in store. Oh and he chose a burgundy slim tie

Matalan do surprisingly nice cheap suits.

No prom for the last 2 years to guide me!

That's massively helpful, thanks!

(A friend once accused me of dressing just to avoid being naked - which pretty much sums up my interest in fashion... So this is all really useful)

Got ds2 a gorgeous suit by some fancy brand but tbf he wore it 2-3 times a week in sixth form. Try on a few and see what fits.

Got ds another sixth form suit as well from M&S and it was washable so all good. He took them to uni as well for formal meals and the like so has got good wear out if both. If sixth form does not ask for a suit tho it is less useful.

Meant to say ds smarter suit was pale grey and M&S one was dark navy; both with white shirt and brown shoes plus maroon tie. Hth

Mine has a French Connection tux which was massively discounted on ASOS, which has a great tall range which is impossible to find in shops. He wanted a green suit to go with his girlfriends dress, but we couldn't find one. His normal suit for weddings is navy with blue suede desert boots

Hi, We got a dress from a site called missbliss.uk - they have some nice selections. Not sure about if their dresses go to prom size.

It depends on what you can afford;Asda do some nice stuffs but M&S usually has someone who can help with the fit.

My son wore his late grandfather's tux, which we had tailored to fit. He was going to wear a bow tie to match his girlfriend's dress, but she picked lime green so he wore black. Most boys wore tuxes (middling private school).

Both mine wore dinner jackets as did quite a few of the other boys (comp). I think we got them in a vintage shop. Brown shoes with blue/grey suits is an absolute no in "polite society" but for all I know may be fashionable.

@Definitelyrandom I agree about the brown shoes, I think it looks awful but lots of boys and men seem to wear them nowadays so I assume it's the fashion...

I ended up looking in Next with DS at the weekend - the sizes were wrong so we went to Matalan and got a jacket and waistcoat and were told we could order the trousers online....but they don't have any! If they don't come in within the next week I'm going to have to return the bits I've got and go to M&S. It's all quite stressful!

All the sixth form boys at my DSs independent school wear brown brogues with their suits. It’s definitely fashionable