What’s with the suit?

For a change I thought I’d write a unique, personally-driven post instead of using Plinky or Utterli or anything else.  I know.  Shocking.

So here’s my question – What, exactly, is so wrong with a suit?  No, I’m not going to turn into The Art of Manliness (although it’s a great blog), but has the collective “we” come so far that a suit looks fundamentally out of place most of the time? 

Yesterday I decided to wear a suit to work, partially because I have a few nice suits, partially because I went to a party after work (fine, a Tweetup) and figured I’d dress it up a bit.  I didn’t wear a tie, and the jacket spent the majority of the day hung up.  But what surprised me was that I received more remarks about the suit than the people walking around the office in shorts.  “Are you interviewing?”  Um, no.  “What’s with the suit?”  Uh, just trying to class the place up a bit.  “Ooh, look at Mr. Fancy-Pants Business Guy!”  Yeah, well my tux is at the cleaners.

Have suits fallen so far out of fashion that I just shouldn’t wear one unless I’m at church or wedding or some other highfalutin event?  Hell, now that I think about it, my blue pinstripe job was out of place in the lobby of the W Buckhead when we were there last February.  The freaking W!  (I would have had to put on a pair of $600 jeans and an art-deco designer tee-shirt to fit in, by the way.)

I own 4 suits.  I look good in them.  They’re comfortable, with or without a tie.  And sometimes it’s just nice to look nice, no?  So, from time to time you might find me in the aforementioned blue, or maybe my gray pinstripe.  Call me out on it, that’s cool.  But I might ask when you’ll be heading to the beach in your wrinkled shirt, board shorts and sandals.

(picture from The Art of Manliness via Cathe Holden)