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Primark X Soccer Aid Suits: The Tailoring Touches

Oh what a night... It was a third successive victory for the World XI and a whopping $16+ million was raised for UNICEF. But the real social media stars of the show? The pre-game team suits chosen by Primark ambassador Kem Cetinay. Scroll down for a behind-the-scenes look at the pre-game prep.

We’re giving you an access-all-areas look at the Primark X Soccer Aid 2021 pre-game suit fittings. The suits were hand-picked by our Brand Ambassador, Kem Cetinay, with a little help from our Head of Menswear Buying, Matt Roberts—and Matt's here to give you the lowdown on formalwear dos and don'ts.

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Gray Check Suit Pants, White Cotton Textured Shirt

Don’t have a tailor to alter and fit your suits like the celebs did? Matt tells you what to look for when trying to find the perfect suit: "The suit jacket should fit well on the shoulder without the pad breaking. I also believe sleeve length is really important. Ideally, it should show about an inch of the shirt sleeve; if it’s too long, it makes the jacket look big.

Also, you should be able to do the button up without too much excess fabric."

All our Soccer Aid stars wore the same suit pants, chosen by Kem and Matt, but had them specially tailored to them:

"Traditionally, pant length is guided by where the leather meets the sole on the shoe. But these days the width is much slimmer, so each pair of pants is different depending on the type of shoe. An easy rule is a single break in the front, and straight at the back.

When it comes to suits, it seems unimaginable that mistakes can be made—they make everyone, especially our Soccer Aid stars, look so good... But Matt has seen his fair share of mishaps, so he's here to save you from making the same mistakes.

"The most common one is wanting a slim fit jacket and going for a smaller size. Although the waist fits, the rest of the jacket doesn't.

"Also, the belt MUST match the shoes. If you’re wearing a black or gray suit, go for black shoes. A brown suit needs brown shoes. And if you’ve chosen a blue suit, then either black or brown shoes will work.

Kem added a bomber jacket to each of the team’s suit layouts, to give the players a more casual piece for their suit pants and white tee/shirt as they arrived at the Etihad Stadium. When we caught up with Kem, he told us the jacket option was a real winner as he sat in on the suit fittings.

So with this in mind, we asked Matt what his top five essentials are to dress down a formal look and make it work for more relaxed events:

"Okay! So I’d go for a knit tie , a T-shirt like we did for Soccer Aid, plain white leather sneaks, a loud pocket square if you’re not wearing a tie, and lastly some chinos— just switch those out for the suit pants and style with the suit jacket.

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Navy Herringbone Suit Jacket, Navy Herringbone Suit Pants

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Gray Check Suit Jacket

Now, we get it: shoes and suits can be kind of a minefield. So we asked Matt what the rules are if you’re going for casual shoes like our Soccer Aid stars, or maybe something dressier for special events. His advice: "If you’re going for loafers or sneakers, have the pants shorter and cropped—and no socks. More traditionally, with oxfords or wingtips, have a single break in the pants."

Want to look as cool as our Soccer Aid stars? Head in-store now, where the World XI and England Soccer Aid team suits are available to buy...