The Power and Future of The Suit

[mishalak]

There are fewer suits seen on the streets of western cities today than fifty years ago. And so I got to wondering what the destiny of the suit will be. It gets its power not just from acceptance as a talisman of power, but also because they can make most men look very good. Once (upon a time) they were something people aspired to and desired while today people wish to get out of them as quickly as possible. The person wearing a suit was declaring, "I have made it, I can afford a nice suit made by a good tailor," or, "It is my intention to be part of that set. I aspire to be middle class."

I think that because people no longer see clothing as they did that the suit's future will be like the top hat. Worn at special events long after it has ceased to be part of everyday wear, eventually even the rich and powerful will not take them out except at funerals and weddings. And everyone doing business will be left to flounder about wondering what to wear to work and eventually settling on some variety of collared shirt with slacks that make us all look like Best Buy drones without the uniformity.

Comments

[johny--b.livejournal.com]

I wore a suit to my last three interviews, and to Dicken's Faire. :)

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

The last time I wore my suit was to my interview.

[cindy-reddeer.livejournal.com]

There is a chance the suit will turn into a fashion statement as opposed to a uniform. I think a man looks sharp in a well fitted suit whether he works in an office or pumps gas, when they dress up they look fine. Around here a suit is rare even at events that a suit should be worn. You get everything from jeans and shirt to suit. Seems anything goes now a days.

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I do not see that as being that different than the current situation of the tuxedo. Almost no one wears them except on the most formal of occasions and there are the occasional people who wear bits or the whole thing just out and about to make some sort of fashion statement. Mostly Goths.

The reason men do not wear a suit pumping gas is the darn thing is too expensive to put in a situation where it will be easily stained unless you can afford to replace it frequently. Which is precisely one of the reasons it was originally a statement of, "I've made it." Only a man of means could afford the risk or someone determined to be seen as a man of means given the day to day accidents and such. But people seem not to like making such statements so obviously with their clothes these days. Today when someone rich wears something more expensive than the hoi poi could possibly afford it is because of the subtle difference of having the "right label" and details rather than being of a different class of clothing. So the rich wear fashion jeans and tee-shirts rather than wearing suits.

And the history continues to be leisure and casual wear becoming business wear. The modern suit was a casual variation on the older business suit of the 1800s developed in America that gradually was accepted as business standard.

[cindy-reddeer.livejournal.com]

The reason men do not wear a suit pumping gas is the darn thing is too expensive to put in a situation where it will be easily stained unless you can afford to replace it frequently.

Silly rabbit, I didn't mean while they were working. *grins* Although, it does create a interesting mental picture. lol

Suits

[dave80203.livejournal.com]

Ironically, it's similar to western jeans, hat, shirt, & boots in that it can make an average man look good.

I've worked in a corporate environment for quite a while, and have seen the transition from formal shirt & tie to business casual. I've noticed a definite difference in differences in reaction to someone who's casually dressed vs. shirt & tie vs. suit & tie.

Suit & Tie states "authority" in a big way, both in the business and the legal area. Mode of dress determines how seriously you'll be taken and how much attention you'll get. Show counts for as much as substance.

Re: Suits

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

Be careful not to confuse the power of an outfit to show off a good body and the power of an outfit to make anybody look good. Properly cut a suit makes men look better, whereas something like blue jeans, shirt, and cowboy hat does very little for a man who isn't in shape. There are a lot of outfits that will make an average man look better and only a few that do the same for a bellow average man.

Re: Suits

[dave80203.livejournal.com]

Your take on it vs. mine is probably a cultural difference -- or maybe just what we find attractive. Other guys (and women) that I know who are into c/w have remarked on the difference a pair of Tony Lamas, a pair of well fitting wrangers, a nice western shirt, and a Stetson can make on a plain man. It works with someone who's average build or lean. I conceed that it doesn't work for the overweight.

I wonder if this difference is rural vs. urban outlook.

Re: Suits

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I grew up in a semi-rural area (rural becoming bedroom community). The thing is that I found all the people who wore cowboy boots and cowboy hats to be disagreeable in the extreme, both the actual cowboys dressing up and the wannabe cowboys who had office jobs and just wanted to appear rural. So I do not have any positive associations with such outfits. The few actual cowboys who I did not find difficult to deal with on a personal level tended to be the ones without the cowboy affectation, the ones who wore unpretentious workboots when working and actual suits to dress up. (My father was one of the wannabes, airline pilot with western shirts and ten gallon hats.)

The only problem I see with the tee shirt and blue jeans is that almost invariably men buy tee shirts that are too big. They shouldn't necessarily be tight, but they should not be so loose as to be shapeless. And of course as with most outfits the guy wearing them needs to be relatively in shape for this to be attractive.

Re: Suits

[cindy-reddeer.livejournal.com]

"the wannabe cowboys"
Here in Alberta we mock those guys and call them goat ropers (or gopher ropers).

Re: Suits

[mishalak.livejournal.com]

I should note that my dad isn't a total goat roper; he mostly would just wear his hat when he would be hunting or fishing where the wide brim and high crown makes it terribly practical and it was one of the hard straw ones rather than being a fancy felt one. And he pretty much never wore fancy cowboy boots (I think I saw him in them twice when he went dancing with my mum); he wore simple ones riding when we had horses. But he does love the big wide-open spaces and being mostly left alone so he's totally enamored of the mythology of the west. When I lived in the middle of nowhere I was more of a competent naturalist sort of westerner; healthy respect for nature and wearing simple and practical old REI type clothing when out in the great outdoors.