The Business

Whenever I have to appear professional and polished, I invariably grab my navy suit and a red tie. What with menswear being known for it's general lack of change and variety, it's a fail safe combination. Who wouldn't hire me looking like this? I wore this outfit to an open interview (read: begging) session for a the position of beverage director (read: guy in charge of the booze) at a local luxury hotel.Outfits and situations like this are all about looking sharp without rocking the boat. Save that for later when they know you're indispensable. As anyone who reads this blog can guess, I revel in the attention of moderate dandyism, but there are times when everything must be kept in check. Normally I'd have gone for a white shirt, but all my clean ones had button down collars, so I stuck with a blue point collar. I probably shouldn't even have worn the white square, but I felt unfinished without it, couldn't help it.Generally speaking, I'm a brown shoes kind of guy. My favorite shoes to wear with this suit are my double soled brown longwings, but nothing says "business" like a navy suit and black cap toes. Good thing I recently picked up this pair of Hanovers (remember those?) for $7.99.Then, yesterday, these Florsheims came along, also $7.99. If only I'd had them three days ago, they would have really been perfect....Maybe not, lace-ups are way less affected, I suppose.

I've heard it said that any guy looks good in a suit. I think this is only true if you are comfortable in it, or at least can fake it well. That day it was about a million degrees outside, a million percent humidity. I nearly died in this outfit. Just beyond the opening of my jacket, my shirt was completely drenched. But I never took off my jacket, and I never loosened my tie, not even on the way home. Dudes are always complaining about the discomfort of dress clothes, but I say button up, tuck in, man up and discreetly sneak off to dab the sweat from your brow occasionally. That being said, it's nice to live in a time where tennis shirts and shorts are acceptable city wear. Suits are pretty cool, but then again so is not passing out from heat stroke.

p.s. this afternoon kid brother and I, along with the children, will be attending something called the "Rock and Roll Yard Sale"...sort of like a farmers market, but with records. If all goes well, I expect my next post to be a long winded installment of the sub-series "The Jams".