Alan Ruck and Justine Lupe on Succession, Episode 4.03 (“Connor’s Wedding”). Sourced from Justine Lupe’s Instagram: @mejustinelupe.
Vitals
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy, prospective groom and less-prospective presidential candidate
Jersey City, New Jersey, Fall 2020
Series: Succession
Episode: “Connor’s Wedding” (Episode 4.03)
Air Date: April 9, 2023
Director: Mark Mylod
Creator: Jesse Armstrong
Costume Designer: Michelle Matland
WARNING! Spoilers ahead!
Background
The Conheads made a strong showing to share how much they appreciated my first post featuring Alan Ruck’s style on Succession, so—in the spirit of Valentine’s Day tomorrow—”let’s just enjoy the sham marriage and the death of romance” as toasted by Connor’s younger half-sibling Roman (Kieran Culkin).
Despite the episode’s matter-of-fact title, the eldest son’s nuptials was hardly the most dramatic event in “Connor’s Wedding”, the third episode of Succession‘s fourth and final season. And despite the fact that the series had been centered around the circumstances of Logan Roy’s mortality since the first episode, Succession still maintained its penchant for masterful storytelling by catching audiences off-guard when the patriarch inevitably died several minutes into the episode.
Of course, had Logan put family before business and foregone his trip to Sweden, he may have spent his last minutes surrounded by loved ones at his son’s wedding and not receiving anonymous chest compressions at 35,000 feet after being dragged unconscious from the cramped toilet of his private plane.
Down at sea level, the Roy children are each respectively handling their grief. Roman, Kendall (Jeremy Strong), and Shiv (Sarah Snook) take some degree of closure as they share their goodbyes to the unconscious Logan via cell phone, but Connor—always the afterthought, even on his own wedding day—received the news after the call ended. His energy immediately redirected from his characteristic fussiness over small details, Connor is only able to muster in response:
Oh, man. He didn’t even like me.
Connor’s failing presidential campaign demonstrates his own self-delusions, but he’s at least farther along his journey of personal realization than his siblings, whom he’d damned as “needy love-sponges” in the previous episode. Logan’s death helps Connor realign his priorities, resulting in a very frank conversation with his bride-to-be Willa (Justine Lupe) about her admittedly pragmatic rationale for marrying him:
You’re young and you’re full of life, and… my father’s dead and I feel old.
After understanding her need for financial security (and perhaps appreciating her honesty about sharing that with him), Connor and Willa finally tie the knot at Liberty State Park. Even though most of the guest list jettisoned in the wake of Logan’s death, the abbreviated audience and Connor’s genuine joy make the wedding a considerably less pitiful event than his desperate proposal to her in Italy.
What’d He Wear?
Connor embraces a creative black tie approach for his wedding attire, anchored by a velvet jacket and straight grenadine tie rather than the traditional dinner jacket and bow tie. Several sources, including the great Instagram account @successionfashion, Trishna Rikhy for Esquire, and Louisa Ballhaus for Robb Report have all identified Connor’s jacket as the Hugo Boss Slim-Fit Tuxedo Jacket (which retails for $645), though an auction listing for the screen-worn jacket describes it as an Emporio Armani product—which would push the price tag closer to $2,000, more expected for the billionaire Roy family, even with the rising costs of Connor’s doomed campaign.
The jacket is made from a dark navy 100% cotton velvet with a diagonal rib, similar to corduroy. The round-bellied peak lapels are faced in black satin silk, matching the button coverings and the jetting straight across the top of each hip pocket. The jacket also has a self-welted breast pocket, double vents, padded shoulders, and four-button cuffs.
As the groom, Connor wears a baby’s breath boutonnière on his left lapel. According to Farmers’ Almanac, baby’s breath symbolize innocence and everlasting love… an ironic choice for this union borne from a less-than-traditional love story.
The new Mr. and Mrs. Connor Roy. (Photo credit: David M. Russell)
Connor wears a white diamond jacquard-print cotton dress shirt by Swedish brand Eton, designed with a spread collar and a fly-front placket that conceals the buttons. The double (French) cuffs are secured with a set of round silver skeletonized gear cufflinks from London jewelry designer Tateossian—hardly seen on screen but described and illustrated in the Heritage Auctions listing.
The color and texture of Connor’s dark navy grenadine silk Paul Stuart tie nicely coordinates with the sporty ribbed velvet jacket, better than such a dramatically textured tie would with a more traditional dinner jacket.
Note the extra layer of white fabric along the shirt’s placket, indicating a covered fly front.
Consistent with black-tie dress code standards, Connor wears black wool formal trousers, detailed by the requisite black silk side braiding that match its silk-faced waistband and the jacket’s lapels. Some of the confusion around who made Connor’s jacket could be explained as the Heritage Auctions listing describes his trousers (not the jacket) as Hugo Boss.
The flat-front trousers have a low rise and plain-hemmed bottoms, which bunch up over his shoes. (For a fix, I’d suggest lifting the trousers by raising the waistband to Alan Ruck’s natural waist and hemming the bottoms to be shorter.)
Black leather oxfords are unimpeachable footwear with formal attire. Connor wears well-shined black calfskin leather oxford shoes from Brioni, the same Italian luxury label that made his half-brother Kendall’s suit in the same episode. Their current iteration retailing at $1,500, these elegant, goat-lined oxfords have a straight cap toe and five-eyelet closed lacing. Connor appropriately wears them with black dress socks that continue the leg line from his trousers.
As mentioned several times throughout, Connor’s entire wedding outfit was auctioned by Heritage Auctions with Willa’s white Ted Baker midi dress as one of many Succession-used lots earlier this year.
Connor and Willa’s wedding attire, as auctioned by Heritage Auctions in 2024.
How to Get the Look
Alan Ruck as Connor Roy on Succession, Episode 4.03 (“Connor’s Wedding”)
Connor Roy pulled his creative black tie wedding apparel together from European luxury brands, perhaps not the best optics for a candidate posturing as an all-American “man of the people,” but an interesting and intentional look regardless.
- Dark-navy diagonal-ribbed cotton velvet single-button dinner jacket with black silk-faced peak lapels, silk-covered buttons, self-welted breast pocket, silk-jetted hip pockets, silk-covered 4-button cuffs, and double vents
- White cotton shirt with spread collar, fly-front placket, and double/French cuffs
- Silver skeleton gear cufflinks
- Dark-navy grenadine silk tie
- Black flat-front formal trousers with silk self-waistband, silk side braid, and plain-hemmed bottoms
- Black calfskin leather cap-toe 5-eyelet oxford shoes
- Black dress socks
Do Yourself a Favor and…
Check out the series, currently streaming on Max. The fourth season recently award the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Drama Series, with director Mark Mylod and writer Jesse Armstrong each also awarded Emmys for this specific standout episode.
For fans of the show’s style, I recommend following the great Instagram accounts @successionfashion and @successionfits.
The Quote
Mr. Scrooge just happened to be a huge wealth-creator. They don’t mention that in Mr. Dickens’ books, do they?
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