Suited for Summer

Once you get a few years past college, it's likely that someone you know will get married. These events often tend to occur in clusters (one of my coworkers has a different wedding to attend each weekend this month!). And while weddings take place throughout the year, eventually your presence will be requested at an event that takes place during the summer. And if it happens not to be a wedding, then there will be some other situation (a job interview, a graduation, or a Derby Day party) that you will attend during warmer weather, where you will be expected to show up wearing semi-formal attire.

Do not even think about not wearing a proper, respectable outfit such as a suit, or at the very least, a sportcoat or blazer with a tie. I can tell your eyes are already sliding over toward your closet, and you're thinking, Why can't I just wear my "good" khakis and my nice blue button-up shirt? Forget it. If you happen to be still in high school, you sort of maybe get a pass, but beyond age 18 you need to dress like an adult.

Jesse Thorn of Put This On expressed the essence of this very well, but unfortunately I can't find the exact relevant quote at the moment, so I'll have to paraphrase: as guests of the bride and groom, we dress up for weddings as a way of acknowledging that it is a serious, important occasion and not just another day. In other words, you are a grownup, and you grasp the idea that there are certain occasions in life that require you to look like one.

You should be wearing a suit, and that's that, especially if you are attending this event with a wife, girlfriend, or significant other. If you don't it will reflect badly on her as well as on you, and it's likely she will suffer some embarrassment and end up feeling resentment toward you as a result, not to mention she will most certainly have gone to some effort to look her best, and it's disrespectful to her if you don't at least offer the appearance of having gone to some comparable degree of effort yourself. (Friendly advice: dressing in a way that upstages your date is highly ill-advised. You need to look good, but make sure she looks better.)

[Aside: During the past decade I have attended two weddings in California, one in the southern part of the state in July and one in the northern part in January. In both situations I was quite shocked to see how the guests, both male and female, were dressed. It's like they're living in another country or something. Extreme casual was the dominant look at both events, though it skewed slightly more toward streetwear at the first one and more than slightly toward hippie at the second. There were guests who looked like they had rolled out of bed maybe an hour before and literally grabbed the first pieces of clothing they could find. I still have occasional unpleasant flashbacks about this.]

Now, you probably own at least one suit, and that's swell. But trust me, you are not going to want to put on that thing made of wool in the middle of July, and I can practically guarantee you that the site of either the ceremony or the reception will lack adequate air conditioning, or that it will take place outdoors. I have been in both these situations while wearing a non-seasonal suit, and it's not fun at all.

Over a decade ago I found a very nice cotton suit jacket and matching pants the color of sand, deeply discounted at Banana Republic. I think I paid around $120 for both pieces, and I got more than enough use out of them over the years to justify the purchase. The lightweight fabric is a bit more forgiving in warmer weather, and the neutral shade gives you a chance to demonstrate your style with judicious use of bright color in your shirt and/or tie. (Incorporating bright colors in this way may not be the most appropriate choice for a job interview, but it depends on the situation; I did it once, and I got the job.)

Tomorrow: a few suggestions for you.