Whatever Suits Your Fancy

(From the Janesville Messenger, 4-19-09)


America has gone casual.

Maybe you’ve noticed it over the past decade. Where you used to see business people like bankers and sales representatives dressed to the nines in suits every day, now you’re just as likely to see them in polo shirts bearing the company logo.

In some cases – like my wife’s place of employment, the United Way of North Rock County, which just updated their dress code - blue jeans are even considered acceptable. I don’t know what it says about our society when we go from doing business dressed like Donald Trump to doing business dressed like a bowling team.

A good example of the transition is the group of Goodwill Ambassadors at Forward Janesville. In the 1980’s, the official Ambassador uniform was a maroon blazer and silver slacks. Yes, you read that right, and it looked just as bad as it sounds. It is some kind of federal law that Chamber of Commerce Ambassadors must dress in colors not found in nature.

In the 1990’s, the Ambassadors dropped their drawers – that is, decided to not mandate official slacks - and donned green suit jackets, making them all look like they had won the Masters golf tournament. But now, even that last nod of formality, the green jacket, is being shoved to the back of the closet in favor of green polo shirts.

For me personally, I have been going through this same reverse metamorphosis. Once upon a time, I used to wear a suit and tie every day. Being in sales, it was my professional attire. This started when I bought my first “real” suit after college in 1984, and continued unabated into the 21st Century. (Side note: I call it a “real” suit because I refuse to count the powder-blue leisure suit that pre-dated it. The 1970’s never happened.)

Then, like one of those Darwinian evolution charts, except at a much more rapid pace, the suit disappeared in favor of a shirt and tie with slacks, and then the tie went away, too. And then eventually, on days when I did not expect to see customers, I even wore jeans and work boots to my office. And frankly, I was fine with that. I liked being freed from the suit culture after all those years.

Ironically, it was Forward Janesville that reeled me back in from my relaxed state of garmentry. Since their annual dinner is a somewhat formal affair, I always like to wear a suit. Knowing I would not have time to change clothes between work and the event, I wore my formal attire to my office.

The reaction I received was amazing. It seemed like every one of my co-workers inquired about where I was going that day, what important customer I was seeing, or even whether I secretly had a job interview.
Third degree aside, it felt good being back in a suit again. I felt important. I felt virile. I decided that I was going to go back to wearing suits every day. And why not? They say clothes make the man, and I need all the help I can get.

If I thought I got questioned the first day, the second day was even more fun. I deliberately played coy, simply explaining that I was trying to “class up the joint.” This went on for several days, co-workers casting a suspicious eye at me when I walked in with the latest suit and tie combination.

Eventually, one of my co-workers started to follow suit. As he and I stood conversing the first day he was similarly attired, another co-worker walked in, gave us a puzzled look and asked, “Did I miss the memo?”

Now, after several weeks, co-workers are still trying to figure out exactly what I am up to with my parade of formal apparel. They don’t buy my explanation that I just feel like wearing suits, especially when I answer with a devilish look in my eye that seemingly confirms whatever they suspect.

There is something to be said for life’s simple pleasures.