Will men ever give up suits and ties?

Cafe Society
61

I wear a suit and tie to work every day. It’s just the expectation for the role and industry.

While I don’t like ties, it does mean that trying to work out what to wear on any given day is easy.

4 suits hanging on the back of the door. Select shirt, chose which suit to wear with it (nope, wore that one yesterday, grab another one), grab tie that matches and done.

1 pair of work shoes, one matching belt. Too easy.

If I had to try to buy clothes to fit some other workplace I’d be buggered, the only pants I own other than the suits are jeans and tracky dacks.

62

With respect to Japan, there have been a lot of changes since I first worked there in 1992. A lot of big companies are biz-casual all the time. I visited Honda in 2010, and I really stuck out like a sore thumb in my suit.

I’m also an interpreter, so I frequently work with Japanese people visiting on business. I see everything from suits to business casual with the latter more common these days. For biz appointments, I will ask what is expected and am prepared to be as formal as they want. Often I will wear a jacket, less commonly a suit, even less commonly a tie with the suit.

I do a lot more medical interpreting. I wear different things based on the particular appointment. Personally, I don’t like wearing shirts that tuck in, so in summer I actually end up wearing a jacket more (with a shirt that tucks in), since I find that more comfortable than without the jacket. I don’t own any polos at all; hate 'em.

In winter, I will try to get away with a sweater over a t-shirt.

Some points about suits and ties:

  1. I’ve had jackets and suits custom-made several times, and while I agree that these are better than wearing shit that doesn’t fit, I don’t find them particularly comfortable. I don’t like tucking in a shirt. I don’t like having a lot of cloth on my upper body. I like fabric that stretches. I like being able to dress in removable layers (my uniform in winter is a sweater or sweatshit over a t-shirt). But I don’t mind wearing a sport coat over a t-shirt. I guess the tucking in the shirt thing is the real problem I have.

  2. Ties suck. I like t-shirts; I don’t like having cloth on my neck, especially the front of the neck. I don’t like buttoning the front of a shirt, even if it fits.

  3. I don’t agree that a suit looks stupid without a tie. That’s it’s own look, and it can convey a kind of insouciant formalness. I like it.

  4. No one’s mentioned the thing I really hate about suits: they cost a lot (good ones) and can be ruined all too easily. I don’t like having to worry about my clothes as I wear them. Jeans are basically indestructible. T-shirts can be tossed in the trash without regret. And I can’t tell you how many times I’ve gotten moth holes in my suits. That really pisses me off!

63

I just want to see ties hanging loose, and undone top buttons, like Brian Burke does, as well as more of his hairstyle:

http://www.calgarysun.com/2014/11/18/brian-burke-defends-kessel-calls-media-pukes-and-speaks-up-about-calgary-flames.

An uncle used to sport an ascot (or cravatte?) many moons ago and even back then I thought uh, yeah, ok I’ll bet he didn’t have any luck passing that on to any of my cousins.