Looking back, a lot of recent years seem to have had inofficial themes. 2006 & 2007 were choc full of weddings, our own and those of friends and family. Dresses were on my mind a lot back then. During 2008 and 2010 the babies arrived – our own as well as a niece, a nephew, a godchild and several others. New baby gifts and the perfect baptism keepsakes were what I was keeping an eye out for at the time.

Now that those babies have grown up a bit, the theme for 2017 is first holy communion. Just as eleven years ago my mind was filled with wedding plans, right now Number One’s communion takes up a lot of my thoughts. From ensuring he understands the meaning of it all, to taking him to mass regularly, to letting friends and family know the date of the ceremony and planning our celebration for the day, there is plenty for me to mull over and make lists about.

Then there’s the issue of what to wear. Just as I was wondering where to begin looking for a suitable suit, Roco Clothing got in touch and very kindly sent us two communion suits. We’ve a family wedding coming up and the lovely people at Roco thought that Number Two might appreciate a suit to wear at his auntie’s wedding. Belive me, he did!

Choosing A Suit

Even before the parcel arrived he was highly excited at the thought of having a suit, just like “a Prime Minister” as he said himself. When we looked at the online communion range, there were several suits we liked the look of. We ordered the Henley suit in grey and the Philip suit in navy. The suits are are especially made for communions and both came with a communion tie. The Philip came with a shirt too.

The range is varied enough that we were able to chose a well-fitting suit for each of the boys, even though they are as different as they get in terms of stature, looks and colouring. Something I find tricky about ordering clothing online is choosing the size. None of my children are the typical size for their age group, so I tend to buy from brands with the height in cm shown on the clothing label. It makes life a lot easier. What really impressed me about the Roco site is that even though the suits are sold by age group, there is a sizing chart with all the relevant measurements to use as a reference. On top of that there is a guide to measuring your child for their suit.Before ordering, I pulled out my tape measure from my sewing box and began measuring – inside leg, outside leg, waist, chest and all the rest. Then I checked the size guide, put in my order and hoped that I hadn’t messed up.

So, How Did They Measure Up?

The parcels arrived and we were all very impressed when we opened them up. If you caught my Instagram stories on this, you’ll know that the boys were dying to try them on. The suits arrived in little suit bags – just like the real thing. On further inspection we saw that the suits themselves were perfectly finished with beautiful lining and kick tape on the inside of the trouser leg hem.

Once dressed, the boys were quite impressed with how they looked in the mirror, as were The Bavarian and I. The suit fit is ideal for the boys. There were a few stray threads here and there, on the shirt button holes for exampe, but nothing drastic.  I’ll buy them new shirts shortly before the big occasions since the ones we have are a bare fit. The trouser length, waitcoats and jackets are ideal as they are. The waitband of the trousers is elasticated and adjustable too, a feature I have come to love over the years, given that I have one very slim child.

Suited, Not Booted

Shoes are still on the list, but now that we have the suits, choosing shoes to go with them should be easy enough. I haven’t had to buy formal wear shoes for the children before, so if anyone has any suggestions for me, I’m all ears. As with the suits, comfort and a good fit are what I am looking for.

[Disclaimer: We were sent suits by Roco Clothing free of charge for the purpose of reviewing them. If you are interested in their formal wear, you can find it here.]