Making My Mark on My Outfit

I've been thinking a lot about how I want to handle my wedding attire, and one thing that keeps popping into my mind is that I want to use my outfit to really say something about me. The problem is, I don't really have a style or a look that is uniquely me. So, I know I want to go classy and clean for my suit, shirt, and tie, because when in doubt, go classic. Instead, I think I want to find small touches to modify to reflect who I am. Since my own interests are a hodgepodge that range from the geeky to the quintessentially traditional masculine, I guess I'm just going to have to have a variety of small touches in place around my outfit to reflect those. I'm kind of thinking of these like Hidden Mickeys, except they'll be Hidden Things Rodney Likes. The goal, though, is to make them small and subtle so that I don't look like I was hit by a fashion tornado right before the wedding.

First, the one I know I'll be doing: my fraternity badge. It's something important to me, and it pins just above the pocket on the left side of my dress shirt. Depending on what kind of suit cut I have, it probably won't be very visible in our wedding photos. I've worn it every time I put on a suit for the last 13 years, though, so I'm not about to stop now.

Robot Hoooooooooouuuse!

Next, I'm looking at some Green Lantern cufflinks. These have the advantage of being green, so they'll look just like any other part of my wedding attire. Only I will know that they are the ancient symbol of the Green Lantern Corps, protectors of the galaxy and oh my God I am a nerd. Still, they'll be a great representation of my love of comics.

In brightest day, in blackest night, no wrist shall be exposed to sunlight...

The tough one is how I'm going to represent my alma mater, the University of Tennessee. Complete fashion disaster that I am, I know that Volunteer orange is not going to mix well with the green and yellow in the rest of my outfit, so I need something that will be subtle to the point of invisibility. That's why I've been looking at these tie bars, since it's likely that such a clip would be hidden by my jacket.

It may clash with the rest of the outfit, but my blood runs orange.

I would be remiss if I didn't have something to represent my career and my true hobby, Dungeons & Dragons. Of course, D&D is neither subtle nor something that easily translates into formalwear. While I doubt Girl Scout Fiancée would be thrilled for me to show up in chainmail, I have definitely got her approval for this sweet set of d20 dress socks. Yet another Hidden Thing Rodney Likes, lurking safely under the shelter of a well-tailored suit.

All natural 20's, baby.

Girl Scout Fiancée has also been very excited (perhaps suspiciously so; I am beginning to suspect she may be intentionally setting me up to look like a hipster) about my ideas for a saddle shoe, and she did some digging to come up with an option in yellow.

I'm about 85% certain Goofy wore these shoes in a cartoon.

The only thing I haven't managed to work in is my love of classic video games. I wonder what the odds are that I can get an 8-bit Mega Man embroidered on the breast of my dress shirt...