Suit Up!

I look good in a suit.

Now, there are a lot of points on which I am willing to cede ground, but this is not one of them, so it was with more than a little joy that I went all Barney Stinson for an off-site client meeting this week and appropriately suited up.

My day job is in Corporate America, so you wouldn’t think it particularly noteworthy that an individual in a professional organization would actually get snazzed up for a day, but down in the land of personal cube space and shared fluorescent lighting I might as well have been an invader from the Planet of the MBAs. Apparently the only reasons to wear a suit are if you are attending a funeral or a job interview.

It is a little disheartening to realize that in most cases dressing up has become as simple as wearing a pair of wrinkled Dockers and a golf shirt with faded pizza sauce stains.

I am a writer, and an occasional writer of video games at that, so I realize the bar of professional appearance is not exactly astronomic. People seem generally satisfied that I arrive at most functions without a family of possums living in my tangled hair. But, when I wear my suit of single breasted armor I just feel different, like maybe I should be watching sports while complaining to strangers about diversifying my portfolio.

Am I the only one who feels different wearing a suit? I slip on the jacket over a crisply pressed shirt, choke up that tie and this confidence washes over me. A guy like me, wearing an outfit like that, is clearly going places. I am stuck in traffic with gusto! I am ordering lunch like a man! I am totally owning this elevator ride to the sixth floor! See that penny there? You can have it, because a man like me wearing a suit like this don’t need no stinking, lucky floor-penny.

And, it’s odd because even as I was an overdressed anomaly at work, it seemed that I was also a defacto source of dependable information on topics I was not equipped to address. I understand now how people in suits becoming spouting mouthpieces of nonsense, because there is a strange synergy (Suit Word!) between the unrealistic confidence the wearer has in his own omnipotence matched only by everyone else’s desire to pass the buck.

It is thoroughly addicting. Even now as I am back in the team uniform of low level employees (jeans and a buttoned shirt) I miss the allure, the power of the suit. I start thinking nonsense like, “maybe I could rock the sport coat and jeans look?”

What am I, a sports reporter from a late-80s baseball movie?

No, it is an armor too powerful and too corrupting to wear everyday. It would be just weeks until I was figuring out how I could leverage my home equity for a BMW loan and cheating at business school entrance exams. I would wile away the hours between spreadsheets and Powerpoint presentations watching internet videos on how to improve the distance on my nine-iron. I would finger gun and fist bump.

And yet, it calls to me.

Comments

If you wear a suit please please please for the love of all things dapper... Get it fitted. I cannot stand people that let a suit wear them.

I've never enjoyed wearing a suit because of the tie. They don't look very good without a tie, and I just don't like things with knots near my neck. I also don't like it when people stand in a line and point rifles at me. It's true that a suit is lots of fun, in small doses, but ties weird me out so much I end up staring at other peoples' ties, thinking, why?

Certis wrote:

I'm going to go ahead and quote Kanye West, just to be a dick.

Dressed smart like a London Bloke.
Before he speak his suit bespoke.
And you thought he was cute before.
Look at this Pea Coat, Tell me he’s broke.

I actually DO want a good Pea Coat some day. I can do without the suits, though. It's mostly the tie that weirds me out, I can never shake the feeling that it wants to kill me.

The tie is all about signaling. You're so confident you don't care about that thing around your neck trying to choke you to death.

Certis wrote:

I'm going to go ahead and quote Kanye West, just to be a dick.

Dressed smart like a London Bloke.
Before he speak his suit bespoke.
And you thought he was cute before.
Look at this Pea Coat, Tell me he’s broke.

I actually DO want a good Pea Coat some day. I can do without the suits, though. It's mostly the tie that weirds me out, I can never shake the feeling that it wants to kill me.

Certis! What the - ??? This is nuts! I am not going to type anything ever again.

By the way, I inherited a great peacoat from a Korean tailor and wear it as soon as the weather gets cool enough. It's great! The best part is the way my hands go into the pockets, it angles my arms in a way that just feels warmer.

Yeah, like I'm going to take a whiz through this $5,000 suit. Come on!

I've worn a suit twice in the past year. First, to a wedding in Vegas (black suit, black shirt, red tie). Second to a baptism (black suit, blue shirt, gray pattern tie). I had the suit jacket tailored, however it's a cheap suit and the fabric doesn't flex like it should.

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Yeah, like I'm going to take a whiz through this $5,000 suit. Come on!

Oh, that's great. Quintin, who's dirty dancing with his niece, is telling the guy in the $3,600 suit how to wear a suit...

Come on!

Pea Coats are quite fantastic, always my go-to for winter wear.

When I read this article this immediately came to mind:

Liz Lemon: “Why are you wearing a tux?”

Jack Donaghy: “Lemon, it’s after six. What am I, a farmer?”

However, being inside the Beltway, everyone and their brother wears a suit, so its almost to the point down here (I even work on K Street--but not in the legal/lobbying/corporate world) that its become the standard dress code anymore and its even the point of entry to do business here. (I interned at a think tank that had a (small-c) conservative dress code, men in suits, women in suits or dresses, so even the IT people and interns wore suits!)

I think when suit saturation (perhaps also a Suit Word?) occurs like that, its the people with the fancy ties (Certis' favorite) and the extra accessories (french cuff shirts, tie bars, bracers, etc.) that cause the other suit wearers to acknowledge that person as ruler of the roost and source of all things informative. These accessories are the epaulets and medals for the government/corporate world.

I got out of the single breasted armor wearing business almost two years ago and while I do miss the way I look in a suit, I'll gladly trade it for becoming an "empty suit." I'd rather reserve my "armor" for when I do need to do battle or impress, rather than having it become the norm.

Though I am all about the potential of a Gamers With Suits meeting...

I wear suits almost every day. Part of it is because my role requires dressing well, part of it is because I like the feel of a good suit. I also agree with what was said before about 'dressing for the job you want, not the job you have', and I will add that what you wear shows your respect for the occasion at hand. Wearing jeans to something says you don't care enough to try harder. So, if you are going to something that is important to someone, you should show your respect by dressing nicer (nothing annoys me more than seeing people show up late and in jeans to an event with importance to the participants).

Suit up Ely...suit up.

I love wearing suits. Unfortunately I am too poor and uncivilised to own a properly tailored one, nor probably one that even fits me. But I don't care. I put on a suit, and feel awesome. I stand taller, straighter; my movements are confident and easy.

I thought it could get no better. But then I found out I was wrong.

I got a hat to go with my suit.

"Look," I said in my head to any passers-by; "Look, I am wearing a hat. It goes with my suit. Don't I look great? Don't you wish you were me? I would, if I were you."
"Posh tosser," they replied, somehow capable of hearing my inner self-congratulatory monologue.

But of course, their words were meaningless and void. After all, they weren't wearing hats.

I wouldn't mind wearing suits daily for work, but I'd expect a pay raise to go with it.

Suits are awesome, and I do look awesome with one, so there you go.

If you wear a suit please please please for the love of all things dapper... Get it fitted. I cannot stand people that let a suit wear them.

I cut the paragraph on how much I spent making sure I got a decent suit, mostly because it was a terribly boring paragraph, but your words are well heeded.

What I hate is seeing someone in a nice suit but then they couple it with cheap shoes that haven't seen a shine since they were purchased.

If you are going to spend money for a decent fitted suit, don't skimp on the shoes!

Quintin_Stone wrote:

Yeah, like I'm going to take a whiz through this $5,000 suit. Come on!

It took 'til the second page for someone to quote Gob? Everyone's post before QS fails. That goes double for the OP.

Apollo0507 wrote:

When I read this article this immediately came to mind:

Liz Lemon: “Why are you wearing a tux?”

Jack Donaghy: “Lemon, it’s after six. What am I, a farmer?”

This is also acceptable.

McChuck wrote:
Quintin_Stone wrote:

Yeah, like I'm going to take a whiz through this $5,000 suit. Come on!

It took 'til the second page for someone to quote Gob? Everyone's post before QS fails. That goes double for the OP.

It's because they're all chicken.

I had to wear a suit and tie to high school.

For the Americans in the room, I'm going to repeat that - I had to wear a suit and tie to high school. A school that was established 180 years prior to the Declaration of Independence, and clearly still had some stodgy backwards style to it.

As a result, I had no love for the outfit, and I like the fact that I don't have to dress nice for work. Currently, I'm rocking a pair of scruffy jeans, a white shirt and a kickass pair of green and yellow retro Nike's. The shirt is about as smart as I go - usually it's a T-shirt.

All that said, I've been meaning to get a tailored suit for occasional wear for a while now. Off the shelf suits don't look good on me, and the issue is further complicated by my stupid fat neck, meaning that if I want an off-the-shelf shirt that does up at the top so I can wear a tie, I end up getting one with sleeves that go down to my knees. But being able to slip something on that instantly makes me look more intelligent and sophisicated would rock. What I really want is a tux that I'd wear to places where tux's would look radically out of place.

Elysium wrote:

Am I the only one who feels different wearing a suit?

Hell no. There's confidence and power in a good suit.

With the right suit, women want you and men want to be you.

IMAGE(http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn50/ColdstreamGWJ/model1.gif)

You wear suits (or trousers and shirt) to most places of office work over here.... i can't imagine wearing jeans to an office job... it's just.... just wrong!

It never filled me with some sort of confidence though. I know a lot of people who suggest wearing your suit/glad rags for phone interviews and such but it's not the sort of psychological crutch that i need otherwise it might help.

I'm a software test engineer working for a defense contractor. I've found it interesting that, from my experience, the most competent, most valuable people are the ones that dress how they like to, without regard to what image they are projecting. The ones that go out of their way (i.e. wear silk shirts, ties, and cuff links) have been almost univerally worthless with more concern for appearance over function. But the defense industry can be a weird place.

Right out of college I went work at a bank that required that all of it's IT staff wear suit and tie, even though 99% of us would never, ever see an outside customer of the bank. Even the computer room operators on 3rd shift wore a shirt and tie. Shades of IBM circa 1960................

After about 5 years of that I went to work in the IT dept. of an insurance company that was pretty much business casual, although a lot of management still wore suit and tie. And on Fridays we could wear jeans!

For the past twelve years I've been at a place where we have a uniform of sorts. The company gives us a yearly stipend to purchase our work clothing that is either shipped to our home or picked up from a 'uniform shop' within the building. It works out OK, and it doesn't take much thought into what I'm going to wear that day.

Minarchist wrote:

I'm with you, Elysium. Suits just feel great. I'm picking up an old Fedora in a short while to complement the ensemble. We may see the pendulum swing back this direction, as well, thanks to the economy. I wouldn't mind; as of right now, I'm always overdressed for the entertainment industry — of course, the mere fact that I shaved this morning puts me ahead of 90% of the entertainment industry.

I'm a big fan of the Art of Manliness blog, and their dress and grooming section has a ton of great articles to get anyone started, if they're interested.

Yea, same here. For the longest time though, the only suit I owned was my Service Dress uniform; a blue USAF suit, for all intents and purposes. Here's a shoulders up photo, complete with awful Grad Stache:

IMAGE(http://i717.photobucket.com/albums/ww176/angiethelen/168.jpg)

Recently, I picked up a more normal suit. After the fact, I found out that the coat is in a style I can't stand; it's got this weird flap on the back instead of being sewn down or split down the middle. Drives me nuts, but it's a good suit and it fits well. Can't complain too much, I suppose and I can always have that sewn down.

Coldstream wrote:
Elysium wrote:

Am I the only one who feels different wearing a suit?

Hell no. There's confidence and power in a good suit.

With the right suit, women want you and men want to be you.

IMAGE(http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn50/ColdstreamGWJ/model1.gif)

So is that actually you Commander?

I love wearing a suit, but that's probably at least partly the lack of opportunity. The dress code in a lab is "scruffy" by necessity - or to be more explicit, "only wear clothes that you wouldn't mind getting bleach/blood/coomassie blue/phenol red" on.

I would finger gun and fist bump.

I like fist bumping.

On the one hand, a suit is usually coupled with good grooming and a display of proper personal care. Wearing one can instill a sense of self-confidence and project that aura to others. On the other hand, the suit is not the person, and clothing is not a substitute for ability or demeanor.

That is, there are some people who command respect, and they don't need a suit to do so. They stand out in contrast to those who wear the trappings but cannot deliver.

I've been working a temp job at in a software department for the past three months. A rule of thumb that I have is to wear dress shirt, tie, and a nice pair of slacks. It's a way of making a good impression by shooting over the bar instead of under when getting a feel for a company's dress code. I saw dress shirts, polos, and the like, but no ties so I stood out. One full time employee from another department made a comment after the first half of the day,

"Why are you still wearing your tie?"

and I decided to wear one for the rest of my stay (minus casual friday). Without out a doubt, suits change me. The act of dressing professional makes me feel professional. That mindset makes me want to work harder for myself and for the better of the company, no matter how bad things may be. That ethic helped me get exposure, helped me make hard decisions to go slightly out of line to propose an idea that could increase efficiency or at the very least, save others from terrible redundant tasks. It worked in my favor and I gained more and more responsibilities.

Suits (and dressing professional) are a power that needs constant attention. Step too much out of line and something bad could happen. However if you can control yourself, they can help you move ahead.

Tsk Tsk you non-suit wearing heathens.

IMAGE(http://img17.imageshack.us/img17/526/img2171y.jpg)

KrazyTacoFO wrote:

Tsk Tsk you non-suit wearing heathens.

Yeah, but your suit is a taco suit.

Quintin_Stone wrote:
KrazyTacoFO wrote:

Tsk Tsk you non-suit wearing heathens.

Yeah, but your suit is a taco suit.

A taco suit of awesome maybe.

AnimeJ wrote:

So is that actually you Commander?

I wish. No, I'm just a lowly Ensign at the moment, but I'll get bumped to Lieutenant once I graduate med school. I'd definitely like to stay in long enough to make Commander though, both for the scrambled eggs on the cover and because I think it's the coolest rank name in the military.

I notice that the U.S. symbols on your uniform are the old style. Older photo? Makes me miss the USAF.

I *just* suited up for a job interview, I think it went fantastically and I felt safe inside my suit armour. Now I am home and out of my suit protection and the fear sets in

I get this in a dinner jacket, where you feel like Bond, but not so much in a suit. Alas, I can reveal that the effect tops out there. I've worn White Tie a couple of times (tailcoat, silly fake waistcoast), and you feel like a Twat rather than a Lord.