By Harriet Okonkwo-Fielding
My son Ezra is six years old and has, until recently, had strong opinions about exactly one item of clothing: his dinosaur hoodie. Everything else is negotiable. Everything else is, in his view, largely irrelevant. He gets dressed in the morning with the focused indifference of someone who has more important things to think about, which he does, because he is six and the important things are dinosaurs and whether the neighbour's cat will come into the garden again.
Then my cousin got married, and I needed to dress Ezra for a wedding, and the dinosaur hoodie was not going to be appropriate.
The Problem with Dressing Small Boys for Formal Occasions
I had underestimated how difficult this would be. Boys' formal wear, it turns out, exists in two categories: things that look like miniature adult suits and are priced accordingly, and things that look like they were designed by someone who has never met a child and will fall apart before the ceremony ends. I spent two evenings looking at options and becoming increasingly frustrated.
What I needed was something that looked genuinely smart without requiring a second mortgage, something that would fit a six-year-old who is on the taller side for his age, and something that came with everything included so I wasn't hunting separately for a tie and a waistcoat and suspenders at eleven o'clock at night.
The SUITLAB London Boys 7-Piece Formal Suit Set in Charcoal Grey solved all three problems simultaneously. Seven pieces: jacket, trousers, waistcoat with satin lining, adjustable suspenders with silver embellishments, tie, bow-tie, and a red handkerchief. Internal elastic waistband for fit. Adjustable silver buckle on the waistcoat. Soft polyester-viscose blend that resists dust and holds its colour.
I ordered it: SUITLAB London Boys 7-Piece Formal Suit Set in Charcoal Grey
The Morning of the Wedding
The suit arrived three days before the wedding, which gave me time to try it on Ezra and make sure everything fitted. It did, which was a relief — the elastic waistband meant the trousers sat properly without needing a belt, and the waistcoat buckle adjusted easily to his narrow frame. The jacket had enough room in the shoulders that he could move his arms without looking like he was trying to escape from something.
On the morning of the wedding I helped him into the suit piece by piece. The tie went on last. He looked in the mirror for a moment — the particular silence of a child encountering a new version of themselves — and then he stood up straighter. Not because I told him to. Just because the suit seemed to require it.
He wore the bow-tie for the ceremony and switched to the tie for the reception, which was his own decision and which I found quietly delightful. He danced at the reception. He ate wedding cake. He did not, at any point, ask to take the jacket off, which I had fully expected him to do within the first hour.
The Following Weekend
On Saturday morning Ezra came downstairs in the waistcoat and the suspenders over his pyjama top and asked if he could wear the suit to his friend's birthday party. The birthday party was at a soft play centre. I said no, but gently, and with genuine appreciation for the impulse.
The suit has been hung up carefully in his wardrobe — by him, which has never happened with any other item of clothing — and he has asked twice when the next occasion will be that requires it. I have a family lunch in August that I am now considering upgrading to a formal event purely to give him a reason.
The fabric has washed well. The colour hasn't faded. The silver embellishments on the suspenders are still intact. For something worn by a six-year-old at a wedding reception that included dancing, cake, and at least one incident involving a napkin, it has held up remarkably well.
Who This Is For
Any parent who needs to dress a boy for a wedding, a christening, a school concert, a family celebration, or any occasion where "smart" is the brief and you don't want to spend the week before it hunting down seven separate items. The fact that everything comes together in one set is not a small thing. It is, in practice, the difference between a stressful week and a straightforward one.
Browse the full range in our Outfit Sets collection, Clothing collection, and Apparel & Accessories collection — there's a full range of occasion wear worth exploring for your next event.
The SUITLAB London Boys 7-Piece Formal Suit Set in Charcoal Grey is available now. Buy it before the next occasion. Your son will stand up straighter. You have my word.
Harriet Okonkwo-Fielding is a speech therapist, mother of two, and the person responsible for ensuring Ezra does not wear the dinosaur hoodie to formal events. She lives in Coventry and is already planning the August lunch.
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