And Another Thing...

Well you definitely get the good along with the bad in this wedding business. And sometimes even both at the same time. Saturday was spent on wedding attire and accessories and provided my first opportunity to meet Milliner Man himself. A man to whom I would be reluctant to offer my patronage were it not for the fact that he is one of the best people in country at what he does and he can provide me with what I want. It seemed the far lesser of the two evils to walk the walk and hopefully end up with something I love than to cut off my nose to spite my face as it were. I now know exactly why The Boy was irritated previously however. Subtle is not a word that is in this man’s vocabulary. Which wouldn’t be a problem except for the fact that some of what comes out of his mouth I actually find somewhat rude.

As soon as I walked into Milliner Man’s salon, because really, after having met him it seems like too plebeian a concept to just call it a ‘shop’, I got the feeling that I was very quickly assessed. I’m still a little unsure though as to whether I was actually found wanting or not...I definitely wasn’t in the bottom echelon however because darling, I was able to name drop. I think the first words out of his mouth after hello were “Show me your left hand!”. Out of racing season I suppose the only people he really gets business from are brides so one could assume that this is one way of finding out whether his services might be something the prospective client might actually ‘need’ (which may be worthy of his time) or merely think were cool (which would not). So I proffered my left hand which he then proceeded to ooh and ahh over as you would expect before he asked me “so who designed that”. And I might as well have said that we inherited the ring which was a personal favourite of Lady Diana Spencer’s because immediately he was all be-still-my-beating-heart, “Class!!” as only a man who is camp as a row of tents can be. And thereby I just went up in his estimation. Now I picked the ring because I liked it, not because of who made it but whatever works. It was only then that he bothered to acknowledge The Boy.

By acknowledge however I mean “So is this the man or your little gay friend?”. An opening most definitely designed to put you in your place whether you’re homosexual or not. Milliner Man obviously does not see very many males in his premises (or does not care to) and thinks that it is equally likely that he might be in the presence of a fag hag’s friend as with the fiancé. If it is the former rather than the latter however, he makes it quite clear that there is only one Queen in this room honey and you can bet your booty that it is not you. Since he either did not remember that he’d seen The Boy before or did not care to make it known that he’d already brushed him off, I introduced my other half who then remained pretty much ignored by Milliner Man for the rest of the conversation. He did proceed to compliment me however on the gown (which The Boy chose), the jacket (the designer for which The Boy found), the wedding boots (which I actually found myself) and the roses we are contemplating having in my bouquet which is neither here nor there really.

Overall, as much as I don’t like to admit it, the vain side of me must confess that I was flattered when he seemed to like the choices that we had made so far. He seemed to have no qualms whatsoever about telling me what sort of headpiece would look good on me as opposed to just plain ridiculous or tending towards ‘costume’ so I did believe that he was relatively honest about the rest. What we were able to show him or tell him however may have given the indication that we were made of money though because the fascinator I want is damned expensive! Oh well, I suppose its marginally more useful than a veil would be because at least it could be worn to a party or to the races or some such affair later on. Much like The Boy’s suit which is far more versatile than my wedding dress (even though said dress is not traditionally ‘bridal’). And the suit is looking pretty damn fine at the moment I must say. We got to see it when we went for a fitting Saturday afternoon. Tailor Man has almost finished the suit so he needed The Boy to try it on and see what still needed tweaking. And this was a much more pleasant experience. Mostly because the Tailor Man is a dude.

Over the past couple of weekends we have been to fittings for the grooms outfit but they have been so relaxed that it almost feels like hanging out. We often end up chatting for a bit before we leave and all three of us seem to have that somewhat dry sense of humour which I love. We do also spend time discussing the suit or the fit though and its great that Tailor Man is always willing to explain what he’s doing or why he’s doing it. Cause really, I wouldn’t have a clue about mens fashion. Our tastes seem pretty much in line too so its been fantastic for The Boy and I to get his advice on adjustments or accessories and know that if we really don’t haven't the foggiest, we can pretty much assume that we would be happy just trusting his judgement. I think the shoes are going to be a case in point on that. Given that the suit is a dark brown, I think The Boy was initially going for dark brown shoes as well but has now decided to make more of a statement with some tan shoes which is far less of a ‘safe’ choice. I think they will look good though. Of course, now The Boy is worried that his outfit won’t look formal enough for a wedding but thats a hurdle for another day. I tried to tell him that he looked hot in the suit and outfitted as he was, no one was going to think he was underdressed on the day but I’m not sure he totally believed me.