Elusive Tuxedo No More
The Inspiration
So Dennis has had this vision of his perfect tuxedo, but unfortunately it could not be found anywhere. His ideal tuxedo would look very similar to the one on the left. It should have a thin shawl collar (to match the width of his skinny tie), a very very slim fit, and satin lapels.
The Hunt
Honestly, we felt that we’ve been EVERWHERE to look for this tux and we were at our wits end. We were finally at that point when we realized we would have to get it made to measure if Dennis was planning on wearing this to the wedding.
When we went home to Toronto to select the groomsmen attire, we were also in search for an outfit for Dennis. We stopped at Hugo Boss, Holt Renfrew, Harry Rosen, Armani, and the list goes on… The salesperson at Harry Rosen in Yorkdale mentioned that they had the exact Dolce & Gabbana suit in a few months ago, but were now all sold out. And the price wasn’t exactly afforadable…
We were told they could replicate the suit, but it would cost us quite a bit to do so and we’re better off finding something off the rack. We were also warned that purchasing a suit or having it made in Ottawa would run the risk of it being too bureaucratic and never have the right slim fit feeling.
We came back to Ottawa and yesterday we had made up our minds and decided to go with Holt Renfrew Made to Measure Services. The guy from Harry Rosen was right; They would never be able to get the fit that Dennis was looking for. We also found that they couldn’t modify any of the patterns they already had. The salesperson at Holt Renfrew said “you’re better off going to Montreal, Toronto or New York, because you’re not going to find it here”. 
And on a whim, we decided to go to Montreal yesterday… Apparently Dennis thought New York was way too inconvenient to get to (lol).
The Capture
Okay, it wasn’t an easy capture. I called up one of Dennis’ groomsmen, Nathan, and asked him if he wanted to take a short trip to Montreal. He decided he was in, so I looked up some places we could go to. Actually it ended up only being on place I found called Michel Brisson. They had two stores in Montreal. I called the first one and started speaking in English and I got the big hangup. The second store I decided to ask if they spoke english en francais and then proceeded to ask if they had any shawl collar tuxedos. The man on the phone said they did and also mentioned they had many other tuxedos as well.
So off we went to Montreal. Two hours later and we were there. Unfortunately the man on the phone had made a mistake and they did not have any shawl collared tuxedos. Actually he had no idea what it was. But thankfully his superior was honest with us and told us that we’re not going to be able to find it off the rack and we only had one option, to get it custom made. He made a phone call and got us an appointment with with an very important man named Billy Waxman, from the Waxman Tuxedo House. Apparently this man was our best hope and possibly our only chance at this tuxedo. We didn’t know what to expect when we drove up to this place.
The exterior of the shop was in Mahogany Wood with motorcycle in the window. The interior was like we stepped back into the past. It was incredible. This place had been doing formal wear since 1927 and has received numerous awards. We knew when we finally spoke to Billy, he could make it happen. This guy pays very close attention to detail. He also commented that not many people could pull this tux off, but he knew that Dennis could. Who knew Dennis was edgy and fashion forward? lol. So now, it’ll be a few more trips to Montreal this year. Time to use up my Marriott Reward Points!