My friend Mark flew down from Connecticut last month. He was the featured speaker at the joint meeting of the IABC, PRSA and FPRA. 5 minutes before Mark took the podium, he scanned the room, noticing that all the men were in jackets and ties. He came up to me and asked, “Jacksonville is a suit and tie culture?” Mark wasn’t wearing a suit. He looked sharp, as usual, in a crisp white shirt and navy blazer. But no suit and no tie.
I told him Jacksonville folk are usually dressed pretty casual. It’s just a sign of respect to dress up when we get a speaker in from out of town. I said, “Hey, don’t worry about it. You’re an author. You can dress any way you want!”
He replied, “Hey, you’re in advertising. Why the hell are you wearing a suit? You can dress however you want, too.”
Good point.
Why do I wear a suit? Jacksonville really isn’t a suit culture, and there’s no dress code at Brunet-Garcia. And it’s not as if I’m a fashion plate, pouring over the latest issue of GQ or anything. Maybe I should listen to my son when he asks, “Who cares?” whenever I comment on his clothing selection. It got me thinking about why I dress this way, and here’s where I am with it. There are (at least) 7 reasons I wear a suit and tie every day.
1. There’s some practicality to it. I’m in business development and consulting. At the drop of a hat, I might have to give a presentation to a client or lead a planning session. I guess I’m not all that comfortable doing that in jeans and a t-shirt. I need my Calvin Klein armor. And, I live in St. Augustine. It would take too long for me to go home and change.
2. I also think it’s a sign of respect to dress for our clients. It’s kind of like my friend in real estate who drives a Lexus. I know for sure he’s much more comfortable in his old pick-up than the Lexus. So, why does he drive it? He told me once that the car wasn’t for him. It was for his clients. “I like them to feel special. They’re making a big purchase. Buying a house is exciting. Being driven around in a nice car adds to the experience, and I think they appreciate it.” Maybe it’s the same thing with my suit.
3. And let’s not forgot one of the most practical reasons: I can hide a lot of spare tire under a suit jacket.
4. There’s also some history here as well. I mean, I’ve always worn a suit. One of my first jobs in high school was in the Men’s Department at Dey Bros. Department Store in Camillus, NY. I had to wear a suit, and helping guys pick out ties was a lot easier than stocking groceries at the Big M down the street … and more money. So, if I had to wear a suit, so be it.
Then, in college, I worked full time at the Paul Revere Insurance Group (now part of UNUM). Sure enough, jacket and tie at the office. I think I was the only undergrad at Clark in a tie every day. I then went on to become a sales rep at Paul Revere after college, and that was the definition of suit culture. Those Paul Revere guys like Don Riedel, Phil Meyer and Kyle Mercer — they dressed to the nines every day. It was a competitive sales culture, and even how the reps dressed was competitive. This was back in the late 80s and early 90s—everyone was trying to look like Gordon Gekko from Wall Street. I admit, I slicked back my hair and even wore suspenders and French cuffs with power ties. But I never once put taps on my shoes.
5. Growing up, almost all my heroes wore suits. Clark Kent wore a suit. Bruce Wayne wore a suit. James Bond wore a suit. Hell, even Indiana Jones wore a suit! That probably plays into this somehow, too.
6. ZZ Top said it best: “Every girl is crazy about a sharp dressed man.” Well, maybe not every girl, but my wife thinks I look good in a suit, and that’s all that matters.
7. But, if I’m really honest about it, I have to admit there is something else a little below the surface that reveals something about our culture and how it affects the way I dress. You see, my family was very poor when I was growing up. As a kid, there really wasn’t much I could do about it. I hated having the worst house on the block. And, it didn’t take long to figure out the class structure of our small town public school system. In the 70s in upstate NY, many kids, parents, and even some teachers and school staff treated the kids of poor families differently than the kids of better off families. Don’t get me wrong, there were many excellent teachers and school leaders that truly cherished all their kids and rose above it all, and I wouldn’t be where I am today without them, but, there is no denying the economic class system that existed then.
Until I was a teenager, I really couldn’t do anything about our family income or give our house a makeover. But I could do something about how I dressed. In my little kid mind, I thought I’d get better treatment if I dressed like one of the richer kids. I may have been a little extreme back then. On my 10th birthday, as a treat, my sister Annette took me out to dinner at a fancy restaurant and best of all, she rented me a tuxedo. I was thrilled.
Me and my tux
I probably didn’t fool anybody but myself. I mean, I wasn’t buying Armani from my meager paper route earnings. But, dressing a little nicer made me feel that I was special. Maybe people would think that I wasn’t just some poor kid from the west side of Solvay. Maybe I was the next Batman or James Bond. Or maybe the next VP for Brunet-García.
And now I can wear whatever I want.
