Green suits gain popularity with Long Islanders

The groom wore green. That was the case for Dr. Zach Singer, 36, of Port Washington, who got married a couple weeks ago atop Mount Baker in Seattle, where he sported a smart forest-green suit. Initially inspired, he said, by the leafy color of a Toyota truck, the anesthesiologist began searching for a wedding suit in the summer, just a few months before his nuptials.

"I started looking online and there were one or two pictures, and I thought, ‘Oh, it’s possible.’ ” He first shopped at a mall in Seattle. "I went to a couple of stores and struck out," he said. Then on a visit back home to Long Island, "I went to all the stores on the Americana [in Manhasset] and people told me, ‘You’re ahead of the curve. In the fall we’re getting green.’ That’s how I got keyed into knowing it really was a thing."

Indeed, green suits for grooms at weddings and beyond really are "a thing." So said Warren Cohn, owner of the Amityville Men’s Shop. "I think the fact that people are having their weddings on mountaintops, in barns, in tents and upstate is about getting back to the earth, and that’s why we’re seeing ... earth tones. It’s replacing a lot of gray that men used to wear. It’s very handsome, and I’m ready for it."

A confident color

Bloomingdale’s fashion director David Thielebeule views the hue as a  new staple, calling it, "a confident alternative to navy or black. The color feels bold without being loud. [It’s] versatile enough for weddings, parties or the office; it delivers a sharp stylish statement that stands out while still feeling timeless."

Likewise, at The Black Tux in Nordstrom at Roosevelt Field mall in Uniondale, where customers can rent or buy modern formalwear and get in-person fittings, green is having a moment. "It’s a really popular color and it’s been moving quicker than anticipated in terms of restock," said Karen Graham, vice president of marketing. "It’s outperforming expectation."

Adds chief merchandising officer Tina Sroat, "We’re buying more of this emerald tuxedo and amping up the rental inventory." She also noted, "I pay attention to bridesmaids' trends and earth tones are an overarching story continuing forward."

Sroat said that this year the company included an olive suit in its lineup which dropped in July, "and sold through." In the same vein, the company has added "saturated green neckwear over the last couple of seasons."

Birth of the trend

What exactly spawned the lean toward green? Men’s fashion expert and style adviser Jim La Du believes the color itself has gained favor by way of a decorating trend. "It’s called millennial green and refers to a muted earthy shade of green, popular in interior design," he said. "That translates to fashion in the clothing world."

La Du’s son, Christian La Du, 34, of Westhampton, also married on a mountaintop, in Sedalia, Colorado, early in September wearing, yes, a green suit.

It wasn’t necessarily easy going green for Christian, who did an extensive search before landing on his custom, heathered forest green number from Suit Supply, a menswear company in Manhattan. "I knew my color palette was going to be autumnal, woodsy," he noted in an email. "My wife is from Colorado, and it was important to her for us to get married in the mountains. I knew I didn’t want a sleek suit giving a slick, urban feel which would be out of place in the foothills of the Rockies."

Though he called his son’s suit "spectacular," the senior La Du isn’t totally ready to give the green light for green to be a wardrobe mainstay. "Green is not the norm in terms of suiting," he said. "I think it depends on the profession. There’s a certain levity to a green suit. I wouldn’t wear it in front of a judge. But if you’re a speaker or a newscaster, they have a little more leeway."

Somehow, TV personality Willie Geist unknowingly got the memo when he wore a dark green suit on MSNBC’s "Morning Joe" talk show. "Green is about as brave as we get in news, stepping away from shades of blue and grey," he wrote in an email. "I genuinely didn’t realize it’s a trend ... just that my wife said she likes that color on me."

For Singer, waiting for that green suit to arrive in time for his nuptials was iffy. And pricing was worrisome. "I found places where you could either get a green suit not of good quality and supercheap, or something that cost $3,000. There was nothing in that middle range," he said.

Finally, he found a winner at online tailoring workshop StudioSuits.com, where a range of custom, made-to-measure garments are offered. He had the suit lined in light brown and purchased a matching tie and pocket square. He recalls that his now-wife, Rebecca Walker, 35, said, "Zach, you look like a tree," which, he felt was absolutely perfect for the setting.