# Why do men wear suits?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [July 23, 2015, 9:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934 "2015-07-23T09:34:33Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2015, 10:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/81 "2015-07-23T22:41:48Z")
I’ve always worked tech jobs that didn’t require a suit.
Maybe someday the world will get rid of them at workplaces.
Suits are fine for special events. Church, weddings, or a night out with the wife. I don’t want to work in one.
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### Author:  [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)
#### Post date: [July 23, 2015, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/82 "2015-07-23T23:57:36Z")
I own one suit and one tux. It’s been 10 years since I wore the suit, and about 4 years since I wore the tux. I kinda enjoy wearing the tux; not so much the suit.
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### Author:  [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/83 "2015-07-24T00:03:21Z")
> [@DrFidelius](#):
>
> I find myself wearing a bowtie on tie-wearing occasions more than a long tie these days. They are jaunty.
I just bought one, and a vest as well, to wear to a wedding next month.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/84 "2015-07-24T00:29:20Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#):
>
> Dunno, I’m at work at a Fortune 500 company on the West Coast, making six figures, and I’m barefoot, wearing shorts and a t-shirt.
I wear khakis and button down shirts and I’m way overdressed here. but I’m old.
> [@](#):
>
> So I think that the answer is to the OP’s question is, “Because you live on the East Coast and the East Coast is behind and you aren’t doing anything to push it forward.” I don’t even dress up to go to an interview.
To be fair, nobody but elderly manager types wore suits at Bell Labs either. So it might be the industry.
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### Author:  [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/85 "2015-07-24T00:52:35Z")
One thing that can be difficult for us guys, is how much room a suit takes up when traveling.
My Wife’s dress will take up the same space as a shoe box. I’ll need the whole garment bag for my suit. For a summer occasion, my size 13 dress shoes take up nearly as much space as my wife’s whole outfit 😃
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### Author:  [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/86 "2015-07-24T01:11:33Z")
> [@Voyager](#):
>
> Outside the Valley things are different, true. I’ve actually given a sales talk to NSA, a long time ago, and wore a suit though it probably wasn’t necessary.
> (They didn’t buy, thank Og. I’d hate to think what their reaction to software bugs would be.)
I have it on good authority that they’re a surprisingly good customer. Also they like what you’ve done with the living room.
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### Author:  [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/87 "2015-07-24T01:14:21Z")
Yeah, that rug really pulls the room together.
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### Author:  [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/88 "2015-07-24T05:02:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#):
>
> I have it on good authority that they’re a surprisingly good customer. Also they like what you’ve done with the living room.
Well, since I just posted about that in the hardwood floor thread, I’m surprisingly undisturbed.
And I _love_ Big Brother.
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 5:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/89 "2015-07-24T05:29:57Z")
I’ve worked in white-collar jobs, at big companies, for a quarter-century. I wore a suit every work day until around 1995; at that point, the adoption of “business casual” in the US was a lot more rapid than anyone expected. Even companies and industries which were long bastions of business suits (law firms, companies like IBM) eventually made the switch.
I currently work at an advertising agency (one of the biggest in the US), and my usual attire in the office is a polo shirt, a pair of jeans, and sneakers.
I still always have one or two business suits in my wardrobe, but I don’t wear them often – they tend to be limited to attending big meetings, to visiting clients who still maintain a “business attire” dress code (and there aren’t many of those left), and to attending weddings and funerals.
TL;DR: IME, in the US, the OP is proceeding from a faulty assumption.
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### Author:  [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 12:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/90 "2015-07-24T12:09:15Z")
For those of you in more casually attired businesses/environments, do your firm’s lawyers and bankers wear suits? Seems those 2 occupations are more resistant than others to casual attire. Probably more conservative the larger the firm/bank.
Haven’t read them in a while, but the 7th Circuit’s Rules (Guidelines?) used to specify that male lawyers were to wear dark colored business suits.
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### Author:  [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 12:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/91 "2015-07-24T12:18:48Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> For those of you in more casually attired businesses/environments, do your firm’s lawyers and bankers wear suits?
My lawyer wears a suit. The lawyer who handled my divorce was a woman who did not wear a suit. My ex’s lawyer wore a shirt and tie, but the shirt seemed to always have ink stains and food stains; almost as if he bought them that way.
At the local bank, all of the “bankers” (tellers, loan officers, etc) are women.
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### Author:  [@QuickSilver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/QuickSilver)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/92 "2015-07-24T12:21:21Z")
I take it a generally bad sign if my lawyer is dressed worse than me.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 1:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/93 "2015-07-24T13:32:54Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> For those of you in more casually attired businesses/environments, do your firm’s lawyers and bankers wear suits?
I work at a midsize insurance defense firm. We very rarely have clients in the office, and nobody wears a suit except to go to court/depositions or for client meetings.
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### Author:  [@swampspruce](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/swampspruce)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 2:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/94 "2015-07-24T14:37:02Z")
> [@Johnny\_L.A](#):
>
> Indeed. We have an occasion coming up in a few weeks, and I have been told by the SO I will **not** wear a bow tie.
>
> (I didn’t tell her, ‘Well, at least I can still wear my fez!’)
[Revenge.](https://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1ac0/)
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### Author:  [@kenobi\_65](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kenobi_65)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/95 "2015-07-24T15:03:47Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#):
>
> I work at a midsize insurance defense firm. We very rarely have clients in the office, and nobody wears a suit except to go to court/depositions or for client meetings.
IME, that’s what I’ve heard from lawyers, too – if they’re going to be meeting with people outside of the firm, they’ll still “suit up” (and they certainly will if they’ll be appearing in court), but not on a daily basis anymore.
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### Author:  [@Drunky\_Smurf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Drunky_Smurf)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/96 "2015-07-24T20:00:59Z")
> [@ZPG\_Zealot](#):
>
> Why do women were dresses or skirted suits and pantyhose (arguably one of the least durable item of clothing ever invented) and shoes with heels? Because these are the accepted formal business attire of western culture.
Because they’ve been brainwashed by The Patriarchy to visually appeal to men since they were little children, even babies.
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### Author:  [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 8:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/97 "2015-07-24T20:15:56Z")
> [@swampspruce](#):
>
> [Revenge.](https://www.thinkgeek.com/product/1ac0/)
Ha!
FWIW, I don’t have a solid burgundy bow tie. I also have never worn a bow tie and the fez at the same time.
I took the tassel off of the fez, BTW. It kind of came unravelled about 20 years ago, and I never got a replacement. Don’t really want one.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 8:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/98 "2015-07-24T20:24:36Z")
> [@Drunky\_Smurf](#):
>
> Because they’ve been brainwashed by The Patriarchy to visually appeal to men since they were little children, even babies.
And I think we all know there’s nothing that gets us hotter under the collar than a good skirtsuit and pantyhose. Rawr.
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### Author:  [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)
#### Post date: [July 24, 2015, 11:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/99 "2015-07-24T23:29:24Z")
> [@Doyle](#):
>
> Guaranteed sex from my wife that night.
Well, okay. But I’ll need to see a picture of her before I go have another suit made.
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### Author:  [@Urbanredneck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urbanredneck)
#### Post date: [July 25, 2015, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-men-wear-suits/725934/100 "2015-07-25T05:30:54Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#):
>
> Another possible subtle point - wearing a suit conveys that you make/have enough money to afford the clothes and have them dry cleaned. Also that you employ other people to clean your clothes rather than doing your own laundry. Of course, many nonprofessionals have their uniforms provided by a service…
Well a good bikers leather jacket is also very expensive. High quality athletic shoes cost more than the best dressy leather ones.
So I dont always see the connection.
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