BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer
JERRY WOLKOWITZ staff He hasn’t played Cupid, but the manager of Love Lane Tuxedos in Red Bank has been called on every now and then to help a couple tie the knot.
“A groom came in with the bride-to-be on a Friday night and they were getting married the next morning,” recalled Vincent Woods, whose job sometimes entails heading off wedding-day disasters. “He had gotten his tuxedo at a competitor’s store and the pants were about 5 inches too short. The couple was told there was nothing they could do. We had the groom out the door in 10 minutes, with a pair of hemmed and pressed pants.”
“That’s our criteria,” added Josh Sanders, assistant manager. “In order to work on the floor, you must know how to tailor. The store has a tailor shop in the rear and every employee is trained to tailor.”
Last week, the duo sprang into action to help out the father of a bride, who had called in his measurements and had someone pick the tuxedo up for him.
“When he tried it on, the shirt didn’t fit,” Sanders said, “so here I am driving to Holmdel with another shirt style for him. I got to the house in time for the wedding. We do it about half a dozen times a year.”
Celebrating 50 years in Red Bank, Love Lane recently moved to 66 Broad St. from 21 W. Front St.. Founded in 1954, the shop will have a grand reopening at its new location Oct. 30.
Renovations have transformed Love Lane’s new space into a stylish men’s formal wear shop with oak flooring, track lighting and brass accents.
Love Lane is open Monday, Thursday and Friday from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., Tuesday and Wednesday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
To capitalize on the increased foot traffic in its new location, Love Lane has added a new retail component — men’s dress shirts.
“There’s no place in town where you can buy an affordable dress shirt,” Woods observed. “If you go out for lunch and spill something on your shirt, you can get a white dress shirt here for under $40.
“We’re doing a lot more retail already,” he said, “there’s a lot more foot traffic.”
Customer count was one reason Love Lane moved back to Broad Street, where it was originally located; the other was aesthetics, he said.
“We wanted to be more upscale in appearance but still have the lowest prices around,” Woods said.
Founded in 1954 by Bill and Anita Robbins, Love Lane was acquired in 1996 by the Savastano family, which operates Cozy Tuxedos, Nutley and three other locations.
The four-store chain stocks tuxedos in sizes ranging from a miniature tuxedo for a 6-month-old to a men’s size 60, and styles from the classic black notched collar model to the latest designer versions by Ralph Lauren, Liz Claiborne and other fashion luminaries.
According to Woods, Middletown, the groom wears the tuxedo, but picking out the style and accessories is a process that should include the bride.
“I prefer that the bride and groom come in together and pick everything out,” he explained. “It’s important to know what the bride is wearing, whether it’s an ivory gown or white, for example. A lot of times the groom will come in and I ask what’s the dress color the bride and bridesmaids are wearing.”
“If the bride is wearing an ivory dress and the guys show up with white shirts, it makes her dress look dirty,” offered Josh Sanders, assistant manager. “Everything revolves around the bride. It’s Weddings 101, and it takes about an hour and a half.”
Love Lane outfits up to 10 wedding parties a week, Wood said. But weddings account for only half of the rental business. The other half is in single rentals for proms and black-tie affairs.
“We do anywhere from 50-300 rentals a week, depending on the time of year,” he noted.
“A lot of organizations around here have black-tie balls. Guys come in at the last minute and we can accommodate them. We have plenty of stock on hand.
“During prom season, they literally line up out the door and down the sidewalk in April, May, June,” Woods said.
“A lot of them need a lot of help,” explained Josh Sanders, assistant manager.
“They want an orange tuxedo, they want the pants sagging down. We’re here to show them exactly how to do it — and the moms are happy.”
This season, a form-fitted model with a mandarin collar sans lapels and buttons was popular with prom-goers, who got to express their individuality with accessories like shirts and vests in an array of vibrant colors — including pink and purple, Sanders said.
In fact, the Red Bank location stocks 500 tuxedos and 200 pairs of trousers in a wide range of styles and sizes, he said.
“A lot of stores don’t have anything to try on. Here, when you come in we put a pair of pants and shoes on you right away, then the jacket. You’re trying on the exact style you’re going to get.”
Then Woods and Sanders go to work accessorizing the tuxedo with shirts, vests, cummerbunds, and ties in colors and fabrics ranging from neutral to bold, plus shoes — grosgrain slip-ons are big right now — and cufflinks.
A typical rental runs from $95-$150, and Woods pointed out that nowadays buying a suit is a $300-$400 investment.
“Some gentlemen don’t want to buy a tuxedo, they want to rent it,” he said. “But if you wear a tuxedo more than twice a year, you’ve already bought one, literally.”
To accommodate that customer, Wood explained, the store keeps on hand a moderate-price tuxedo. The price for a tuxedo, shirt, tie and cummerbund is $280, “tailored and out the door,” he said.
Woods began his career in menswear right out of high school in 1979 — the last year ruffled tuxedo shirts were in fashion — at the Do Right tuxedo store in East Brunswick. When he saw Love Lane’s ad for a formal wear specialist, he joined the Red Bank store in 1996.
Sanders, of Red Bank, came into Love Lane in April 1997 for his prom tuxedo and has been an employee of the store since.
“There was a $50 special for that day,” he noted. “The manager said, ‘Are you looking for a job?’ I said, ‘Not really,’ but I’ve been here ever since.”
The classic black tuxedo with notched lapel and one to three buttons is a style that has stood the test of time and is still popular.
“It’s still the standard,” Sanders said. “A guy can bring in an old tuxedo, a classic notch collar, and it’s still in style. We bring it up-to-date with accessories like vests and ties. Even the old bow tie is still a classic, but the size is considerably reduced.
“The tuxedo hasn’t changed radically, the accessories have. They’ve become more colorful.”
Last minute dashes to get the groom to the altar are all part of a day’s work for Woods and Sanders.
“You meet new people every day, and you’re meeting them at the most exciting time of their life. There’s nothing down about it, they’re happy,” Woods said.
“What I really like is when a father comes in with his son,” Sanders said, “and he says, ‘I got my tuxedo here when I married your mother.’ That happens a lot.”
Above, Josh Sanders, assistant manager, fine-tunes a display at Love Lane Tuxedo’s new location on Broad Street in Red Bank. At left, manager Vincent Woods measures Frankie Fazio, 6, of Congers, N.Y.