I love a man in a suit, but I find it hard to explain why. I’m always smartly dressed, and I like a man to be the same. I like a man to make an effort for me in the way he dresses. But there’s also something very sexy about a man half-wearing a suit - jacket off, tie loosened, sleeves rolled up - mmmm. It suggests he’s been working hard and needs to relax.
Believe it or not, I’m not interested in power or status. I don’t think I’ve ever dated a guy who made more than me or had a brighter career future than me.
But guys can look really nice in a good suit. Most everyday’s men’s attire is just so sloppy and shapeless- loose tee shirts, loose jeans, knee-length shorts- that a suit really does remind you that a guy has a body.
Not really a fair example, though. That woman would be insanely hot from a quarter mile away and concealed in a tent.
In the dark.
Straight female here: I think men look better in suits than in casual wear. I also think women look better in business suits than in casual wear. This is not because it makes them look rich and/or powerful, as most of the men I was involved with during my dating life made less (in some cases significantly less) than I did. I just like the way they look. I have been known to threaten to swoon over a man’s particularly excellent tie. I got a group of college interns to wear ties daily because of my genuine appreciation for their look, and no, they were not out to bed me (they were twenty-plus years younger than I, and I’m not Miss America, to put it mildly).
That said, it has to be done reasonably well. A rumpled or badly fitting suit, or one clearly made out of very cheap material doesn’t work for me (like if it’s kind of shiny because it’s clearly polyester). The person has to show some indication of good taste. If we’re talking about a man, my typical assumption is that his wife chose it, because generally men of my generation (born 1956) and field (computer programmer), if they’re American and white, are mostly indifferent to their dress. I used to notice that some other nationalities and some black American men were more nice (in the original sense of the word) in their choices, but for my generation and culture, caring about what you wore seemed to have been viewed as somewhat effeminate for a man (or something. I don’t understand how men think.)
I would always wear suits, or at least skirts and jackets to work, even though most places I worked were business casual. The great thing about them was that no matter how lousy you felt, no matter how little you’d slept, you put on a suit and you look professional. Plus, you were dressed for anything that might arise - a meeting with customers or a presentation to a corporate big-wig or whatever.
That being said, I don’t think I ever chose or didn’t choose a man based on what he was wearing. A suit looks good, even sexy, to me, but I don’t think it was even remotely a deal-breaker if he dressed casually. Displaying monumentally poor taste, yeah, but not dressing casually.
Woman here. Voted as straight/less attractive thus, but I am really bi. I like to see the shape of people’s bodies. Since we’re only talking about ‘attractiveness’ I will only apply this to few people I am sexually attracted to:
Men’s suits are meh. From an artistic (I like clothes and fashion) standpoint I can admire a nice outfit, and a well-fitting suit (as opposed to the horrendous baggy ones most men wear). And I can certainly admire a good-looking man’s head sticking out the top of all that cloth, but it’s not my favorite look. Neither is most casual clothing (which also tends to be horrendous and baggy). A fitted, somewhat stylish (to my eye) casual shirt and pants are my pick. Or underwear, if that’s a choice. Can’t beat a hot man in his underwear. Full nude I don’t want to see unless we’re going to do it.
I loathe most women’s business wear even more. ‘Professional’ kind of means ‘hiding all the good stuff’. Anything non-structured and formfitting on a nice body is more my thing.
As other women have said, a well-fitting suit on a man makes my knees weak. My favorite look will always be low-slung jeans with no shirt, though.
I was going to check “It doesn’t matter,” and then I looked at the men in the links and . . . yeah, they look HOT. Now, the guys in the links are good-looking models, but even an “average” man looks hotter–most of the time–in a suit. I’m not sure why, though. I like the clean shave, the groomed hair, the white shirt, the way the pants fit. Yes.
Oh, my, yes.
A woman’s going to look good in any clothes that fit her well.
In my experience, in most workplaces, the women (and the men, for that matter) are wearing pretty cheap stuff and it doesn’t always fit well or look good.
But go into downtown Toronto and check out the women wearing SUITS, the Bay Street lawyers, media execs and such. There are some ferociously hot women in expensive business attire, I’ll tell you.
even sven points out that casual wear today isn’t very good. She is right. I’ve said this before and will again; we are at an absolute nadir in personal fashion in North America, the UK, and indeed much of the Western world. Just as there are times when the architecture isn’t very good, or music isn’t very good, or decor isn’t very good, we’re right now in a time when people dress like absolute shit. It’s now accepted amongst educated people with good incomes to leave their homes dressed in attire that not long ago you wouldn’t have worn to a neighbour’s barbeque. You’re actually dressing a few levels above that if you wear a pair of jeans that fit, a button up shirt that isn’t tucked in, and shoes that are not sandals. The official summer dress around here - and most everywhere I go now - is a shapeless T-shirt, a shapeless pair of shorts, and flip flops, all in an ensemble that looks as if it was stolen from a homeless person who wasn’t the same height or weight as the thief.
So when I see a woman who’s got it goin’ on in a business suit, that’s hot in part because it’s one of the few occasions anymore where you see a grown woman wearing clothes that actually fit and complete an outfit.
Mark my words; 20-30 years from now people will look back at this era as the Bad Fashion Days, the way we look at the 1970s as having amazingly terrible interior decor sense.
It will only get worse. Sweat pants and PJs will be the norm for leaving the house. Shirts 3X too big or too small. Those no shirts, no shoes, no service signs? They weren’t originally about being topless and barefoot. They were talking about tank tops and sandals.
I don’t really care for those particular examples you gave, but a man in a nice suit is really hot. Well tailored suit pants accentuate the butt nicely…hmmmm…what was I saying again?
I don’t care for dark suits as a general rule, but a lot of guys look great wearing slacks and a button down shirt, with or without a tie.
Seeing the poll I supposed it was regarding people rather than the opposite sex ( which casts another dynamic over the answer ) , however regardless, I consider anyone who wears a suit to be untrustworthy and formalistic, and probably an idiot who masks his or her numerous deficiencies with despicable conformity and subservience to social dictates no matter how hideous.
Women look particularly silly.
Wow, judgmental much?
Gay woman here, and I think women in business suits look seriously HOT, provided they are well tailored and fitting. Shapeless navy blazer, not so much.
Confession: I met my SO when she was my client, working in a pretty high powered job in a corporate environment. Seeing her in an expensive, tailored suit with pressed white open neck blouse made me go weak at the knees. Hot giggerdy 
Sadly, she no longer works in a corporate environment. Sometimes I make her play dress up just to get me going.Sexy as hell. 
Compared to a club? Hmmm… I don’t know about that. As long as the make-up’s overdone, clubbing outfits are mighty-hot.
When I first read the thread, I thought you meant compared to normal clothes. That was a slam-dunk. Especially concerning Japanese style is somewhat akin to wearing a drab-colored circus tent.
Oh, and I was distracted and accidentally voted less.
Agreed!
Ironically I know several women who wear a uniform for work and they complain that it makes them feel unfeminine and unattractive despite my heart-felt protestations to the contrary. I think its something to do with attitude as well as just the clothes, police, military and medical personelle have a certain training, background and pride in their appearance and demeanour which allied with a pleasant personality is always attractive.
As for business attire an attractive businesswoman wearing a smart outfit with skirt is always a good thing.
To me, business attire is dehumanizing. It is work clothing, just another variation on the paper hat. The work is generally a step up from “Would you like fries with that?” but what work clothing says to me is, “I am here to do business with you, not relate to you as one person to another.”
Not. Not over-done. Stupid blood loss to brain…
I should probably be shot for saying this, but depending on the situation, I think women look beautiful either way. Granted stiletto heels on a beach or flip-flops during a business presentation might not be the best ways to go.
There’s something subliminal and sexy (adds to the confidence=sexy meme) when a woman enters a room dressed perfectly for the situation, and goes right to what she’s there for, seemingly oblivious as to how she looks.
A man in a well tailored suit versus a man in nice fitted jeans and well worn flannel shirt - flannel wins every time.
I tend to date blue collar guys, anyways. One guy I dated did look amazing in a tux; however, the total look of discomfort on his face made it not so hot.