Zoot suit, white jacket with side vents five inches long
I'm out on the street again, and I'm leaping along
Dressed right
For a beach fight
But I just can't explain
Why that uncertain feeling is still here in my brain
The Who 1973
Recently, my midnights have been spent watching the original Star Treks on Netflix. So let’s use some Vulcan logic for comparison purposes:
-A suit and tie look pretty slick; a sweater or polo and slacks look at least as good, and to my eyes usually better. If you’re in shape, there’s no comparison. The sweater shows off your body, while a suit was mainly designed to keep fat, middle-aged guys from being embarrassed.
-Suits take longer to put on.
-It’s virtually impossible to be comfortable in a suit. In the winter you freeze, and are left with the choice of, do I keep my suit jacket on and be kind of cold, or take it off and really freeze. In the summer you fry, and are left with the choice of, do I look silly and wear a white short sleeve dress shirt, or man up and sweat profusely for three months. Look, there’s a reason guys come home and change out of their suit into something more comfortable. It’s not like I come home on Sunday and change from one sweater to another.
So I’m never wearing a suit again.
This has been a gradual transformation. Even though I’m a lawyer, I haven’t worn a suit to work in over 15 years, except when I have to go to court. That’s one of the beauties of being your own boss, there is no dress code. I remember when I was 24 and started my practice, buying tons of ties. I especially had a thing for whimsical ties, like Disney and Tabasco ones. Man, did I think I was cool. Man, was I wrong. Now the ties sit in my closet, lonely and looking hopelessly idiotic.
The one place that I have continued to wear suits has been synagogue. Just about everyone there wears one, and I didn’t want to be sacrilegious. No one gets angry with me if I don’t wear a suit at work, but I don’t exactly want to make God angry. But then I thought to myself, why does God want me to be uncomfortable and wrap a noose around my neck? No more suits in shul, either.
The only exception will be if not wearing a suit will make a friend or relative angry, or make a spectacle of myself. So a friend’s wedding, or his kid’s bar mitzvah? Unless he gives me a pass, I’ll wear one.
By the way, for the reasons I just said, I predict that within 25 years no one else is going to be wearing suits either. Look at old pictures of the Great Depression, with men standing in the soup lines wearing a suit and hat. In the 50's everyone used to wear a suit to go to the movies or on an airplane. Syles change. Times change. Comfort rules.
Have a good night everyone.
JR
